Congrats Tristan and Axel! Tristan is very good here in the 66s. I've got a lot of work to do if I want to come close to matching that performance.
I apologize Piero. That wasn't a very good move on my part.
When you got sideways I thought you were going to slow down more than you did. If I could have held the car on the inside of the track better, I could have passed cleanly. I should have been more patient. I knew there was no way to stay close to Tristan after my slow start. I'm not going report an incident against myself but I wouldn't be surprised if you filed one against me. The only thing in my defense is, I made a mistake.
Qualifying didn't go well for me. I was 3 seconds slower than I had hoped. It didn't matter in my positioning but it didn't reflect how fast I was.
I'm still not very good in sector 1. If I can hold my position until Aremberg I can usually start pulling away from anybody behind me. Piero was able to get by me in Nordkehre. That made lap 1 rather intense. With Piero in front I had little chance to get away from Axel. Sandwiched between the two wasn't a comfortable place to be. Axel did a very nice job avoiding any contact with me. Piero didn't hold me back much in sector 1 but we seemed to be holding Axel back. Once we got to Adenauer, Piero began holding me up a lot. No place to pass so all I could do was try to stay close and look for a mistake from Piero. I wasn't able to stay close enough through Bergwerk. That eliminated any chance of passing at Kesselchen. By the time we got to Wipperman I was impatient since I'm fastest through sector 2 and 3. When Piero began sliding at Wipperman I knew I could get inside but I wasn't able to hold it inside. I slid wide into Piero, ending his race.
The spin dropped me back several places.
I caught Doni quickly. After the earlier incident, I figured I'd wait for the straight to pass him. He slid wide at the mini Karussell letting me pass sooner than I expected. I passed Andreas on the next lap when we got on the straight. Dean pitted on lap 3 and Clive spun in T1. That gave me two more positions. Axel was next. I was able to set him up well at Kesselchen. Another somewhat risky move, but one I've practiced multiple times. If it wasn't then, I'd probably have to wait for the long straight.
Luckily I'm fast from Bergwerk to Phlanzgarten. I opened a gap on Axel before I spun at mini Karussell. On lap 4 I was into 2nd place. I was hoping to get two good laps to finish. I made another mistake not far into lap 4. I spun again at Schwedenkreuz, a much more dangerous place to spin than mini Karussell. Luckily the car's still in good shape, the only contact being with Piero. The two previous spins probably kept Axel's hopes alive. Unfortunately for me I had another spin to do at the Schikane.
I had one last opportunity to drive a good lap. Lap 5 went well. Nothing more than tiny mistakes and from GPLRA, one speedshift out of 69 upshifts. I can't ask for much better than that. If I can find another 2 seconds to gain, I might be able to give Tristan a good race in these cars.
It's rare I don't enjoy driving here. Even with all the adversity the only thing I didn't really like was ending Piero's race. It made a fun and exciting event somewhat shameful.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the racing and thanks Axel for the server and management. And I owe you a favor Piero.