Made a bit of a mess of the start, although Ziu had an even worse one, and I ended up in 3rd having been jumped by Erling !! Oh the shame of being passed off the grid by Erling of all people!!! :'( :'(
Well, I'll admit to having a bit of a giggle as I roared past you...
Quite liked the track, once I had spotted the hard to see brake markers - those before the chicane tended to disappear in the background clutter in my early practice. Mentally confusing this track with Zandvoort doesn't help either; on my first outing, I was desperately looking for something - anything - I could recognize..
Was 1-2 tenths off my pb in qual. Could have gotten ahead of Clive if I had matched it, but jumping him was much more fun!
Do believe I was 5th on the grid originally, but someone must have dropped out just before the start, advancing me to 4th.
Ended up 2nd after the start. Couldn't match Ati's pace of course, so he disappeared quickly. Behind me, I had Clive in my mirrors over the early laps. Drove as fast as I could, which seemed to hold, or maybe stretch the gap a little. Then suddenly he vanished from view. Probably meant he had gone off. Not good at all, as I depended on him holding Ziu at bay. Unless of course the two gents had taken each other out - that would be excellent on the other hand
Alas, my 5-sec gap soon started to dwindle, and Ziu's white car showed up in my mirrors. Still took him quite a few laps to reel me completely in. Once he did, he quickly squeezed past at T1. Gave chase as hard as I could, and later that lap, we came upon Roger's stationary car, in the process of a CTD. I barely avoided it, and it looked like Ziu steered clear too. However, just after this, his car started putting down a heavy smoke screen. I wondered if he hit Roger after all. On the following lap, Ziu ground to a halt, as his engine gave in, and I sailed into 2nd again.
His message about exploding engine made me check my own engine health. It was at 48%. Was much higher at the start. Had (mis)read it as 83%, but was more likely 63%. Watched it over the remaining race, where it would drop roughly 1% each lap. Really need to watch it with these cars - or resist revving them as hard as they are tempting you to do.
After Ziu's exit, I had a fair gap down to 3rd, so if I could maintain a decent pace and avoid major screw-ups, 2nd should be in the bag. That's how the remainder of the race panned out. Lonely, except for a few cars lapped.
Grats to Ati & Marc for the other podiums. Commiserations to those that couldn't join; hope the problems can be solved before the next race. The usual thanks to Tony for organising.
Do love these cars; the outside howl they make in the replays is just spine tingling
Clive: With regards to braking, I often find in GTL, that a light touch on the brake pedal is what gives me the most efficient braking - nonwithstanding that my pedal is calibrated and activation seems linear.
Cheers,
Erling
