Very fond of this track
Aston worked well here last season, so seemed a safe, if somewhat unimaginative choice. Firming up my very soft setup from last year allowed me to knock a few secs off my pb from last year. Shaved a few tenths more off in qual so well chuffed with that.
Very surprised to almost immediately have a small gap to the rest of the pack, when the start went. Fully expected Clive to jump me, as he mostly does when we're close on the grid. He seemed to have dosed off however judging from the replay.
Ran wide onto the grass both entering and exiting Rudingshain village on L1, which may account for Clive's notion that he was gaining on me. Heart sank when I saw the message that he had left, early on L2. Based on qual-times, he seemed my best hope for a close race.
Could do 6 laps on a tankfull, so had a fairly narrow pit window from end of L4 to end of L6. No particular reason to pit early, so went in after L5, so that I still had enough fuel for another lap, should I somehow miss or overshoot. Fuel only, and as I was exiting, 3 cars came roaring by, dropping me to 4th. Caught and passed Roger, and a little later John, recovering after a moment between the trees. Caught and passed Matt the following lap, as he was recovering from a spin. Did wonder if those Ferraris ever had to stop, as the gap was still only around 20 secs at lap 8.
Thus most of the race was a lonely affair. Had to find a balance between going fast enough to keep it exiting, but not so fast that I risked throwing it all away.
Grats to Roger & Matt for the other podiums, and commiserations to those that met with misfortune; especially Clive
Cheers,
Erling
