Congrats Axel and Mark! That was a nice drive by Axel. I was glad to see him finish well after a lousy lap 1.
That was fun. It was nice to be allowed the 330 again. I'm still trying to master this car. I did a lot of counter steering here, often with full opposite lock. That much counter steering in a 67 F1 would have resulted in many spins and wrecks.
As long as I didn't make a mistake, I don't think anybody could get away from me. Just as I thought Mark might be beginning to lose Tristan's tow. I dropped the left wheel off the track before Lesmos. I couldn't save the car. It threw the car sideways then I spun into the guard rail. Luckily the car still worked well.
It didn't take too long for Axel to catch me after that. Once he did, I quickly let him pass. I thought he might tow me back to the leaders. The first lap behind Axel was a few tenths faster than my previous laps. The second lap behind him wasn't that great. When the third lap behind him was very good, I knew it was best to follow him for a while.
Mark faltered not long after Axel passed me which meant we were back to 3 cars running nose to tail. I got nervous at times with him behind me but I tried my best to be consistent. Still though, I carried too much speed into some turns. I thought you were going to nail me, one time into Lesmo 2. Axel probably thought the same thing about me, two or three times. After some of my minor mistakes had dropped Mark and me back from Axel. Closing on Axel again and Mark clipping the curb allowed me to break the tow to Mark. Once the slipstream was broken Mark didn't stand much chance to catch me and Axel.
Axel drove well. I tried to keep a little distance so I could compensate for any minor errors. He was a little slow in the middle of Parabolica at times and clipped a few curbs but the gap and early braking worked well most of the time. I had a few intense moments where I let the car slide wide just centimeters off Axel's tail. Whew! Any higher latency could have been disastrous. He locked his wheels into Parabolica once. That was scary. That was a lap I waited a little longer to brake, hoping to stay on his tail exiting Parabolica.
Passing Axel was going to be very difficult. While using his tow to hopefully catch Tristan, I took a couple looks at possible places to pass. I almost passed Axel on the very lap Tris was taken out. Now I know why Doni's Ford was sitting on the side of the track. Axel's lucky I left him plenty of room. I don't think I would have looked for a pass had I known what was happening in front of us. It was two more laps before I realized Tris wasn't leading. After slowing Axel from looking for a pass, I followed again to lower my lap times. One lap of that and I realized Axel was leading. From then on I looked for any opportunity to pass. Unfortunately I made a third mistake. The car snapped sideways trailing Axel closely into Lesmo 1. It hit the inside guard rail and then ran over the sign. I thought my butt was kicked at that point. But I was still getting a slight bit of tow after the accident. I was trying as hard as I could to get a little closer. If I could get a little stronger slipstream, I'd have really set a nice lap time. Instead Axel makes a mistake at Curva Grande. I close before Lesmo. It was tempting to make a banzai charge, but not that tempting. At best I would have wrecked again.
I got second opportunity for a pass. I took the inside line away from Axel into the Parbolica. Trying to make sure Axel had some room, I carried a bit too much speed into the turn. I slid wide but kept the car on the track. I faltered on the exit though. For a second time I dropped a wheel slightly off the track and spun. That was it. Axel had kicked my butt.
Thanks Dave. It always nice to put my faith in the other drivers skill and discipline and not be disappointed. Dave took the outside line into Curva Grande to allow Axel to lap him. I was impatient to not lose the tow. I was totally reliant on Dave and Axel to not make a mistake. And they didn't.
The slightest mistake by any of us, would have been disastrous. It was thrilling threading the needle like that.
Commiserations for Tris.
With Axel's poor start, he was in good position to win. That was a silly mistake Clive.
I enjoyed that race. It's the type that keeps me coming back for more.
Thanks guys.