Was struggling to get the laps in during qually, but in the end, wouldn't have been able to beat Maikel's time
Heading into T1 at the start of the race, I braked a bit later than Maikel, almost outbraking myself. Then I got a punt in the side, which gave me severe aero damage. It was a tap that would have meant nothing in real life, but with these high damage settings, it meant my car lost a lot of aero. I lost 0,2 second on each straight, and the car was hard to turn right. Because of that, the tyres were even colder and under pressurized, which made the car a second per lap slower than normal
. So from turn 1 onwards, it became a frustrating race.
Tried to make a pass on Maikel a corner later, but with cold mediums, was too cautious to make it stick. After that he was able to drove off, as I didn't have any pace anymore.
In lap 7 I decided to do something I normally never do during a race, and try to push to the limit every lap, and see if I would be able to keep up that way...lap later Maikel fell off the track
. I should do or die more often, was quite effective
.
But I was surprised at how little he lost, and he was only 3 seconds behind, so I knew I woulnd't be safe till the end.
Laps later, he was right behind me and tried a move down the back straight. Because I lost a lot of top speed, I was a sitting duck there. But he favoured grass over 1st place, so I had a 3 seconds gap again
.
Last few laps I was struggling even more, tyres were yellow and stone cold, so had a few wobbly corners. That put him right on my tail again on the back straight. Had to brake a lot later after the straight than I normally dare there. Saw Maikel went for the cut back and was just able to steer it in on time.
The last right hander was a nightmare for my setup, which was very soft and made the car bottom out there. That made my exit to the finish worst than Maikel and it was a dash to the finish. Didin't think I would have been able to hold it. Made sure I took the inside line and make him go the long way around. Just made it in the end, with only 0,021s.
Frustrating race, with a great last lap