I'd never driven a Massa before and having spent the whole season reading everyones comments about its fire-breathing performance I wasn't sure if it would suit my driving style, particularly on this track. But I couldn't resist the temptation and opted for the lighter 4.5l version, hoping it would manage the bends better than the 5.7l car.
I always worry when I start mid-grid and within seconds was wishing I had qualied at the back when I was shunted into the barriers. Not knowing who was involved, a quick front-end check saw only a broken light so carried on, to see Jeep ahead and slowing as if to let me pass, which I did (thanks Jeep, having seen your comment earlier), a racing incident ivo what was going on around us
I haven't seen the replay yet, but from memory I remember being overtaken quite a few times (a normal experience), but also doing some overtaking of my own (edge-of-the-seat-excitement here). I had a few high speed chases down the main straight, particularly with Matt who always got the better of me in the braking zones ( my excuse this being my first Massa drive
A great deal of yo-yoing with positions seemed to be going on behind and particularly ahead of me, so I thought just ignore others' mishaps and maintain the momentum to the end.
There were several position changes between myself, Matt and Erling towards the end, with me finally keeping ahead to streak over the line for 3rd place, just a gnats whisker ahead of them.
Grats to newboy John the Jeep for the win and Zui for 2nd. This was only my second podium finish, yet my excitement was totally lost on wifey who couldn't get her head round a man of my age getting so excited over an online race, but we know better, don't we!
