Good to see Robert on track, although somewhat envious of his panoramic monitor setup !!! \\That looks awesome Robert and has definitely set me thinking.......... I need to upgrade my old PC anyway ( 2.3ghz , 2gb ram and winXP with a hard disk that is very short on space ) and there are deals out there with 3 screen setups and some decent hardware specs.
I might just treat myself!!
I thought that I had used a successful BT11 at Brands before, in fact I am absolutely sure that I have! but I think I must either have deleted the setup, or I created it another another driving alias. So qually was spent tweaking and adjusting the race setup and I managed only 1 low fuel run to get a decent grid spot.
Even then, as the session ended I committed the cardinal sin of making a further adjustment to the diff before joining the grid
The car had been showing a tendency to oversteer if I got on the gas too heavy or too early so I upped the power side of the diff by one click...................and just hoped that I had not screwed a 90% decent setup.
I almost bogged down off the grid and Ronnie zipped past into Paddock Hill bend. But after a short while it seems that he was either struggling with cold tyres or the blistering pace set by Robert in that screaming BT7. Ronnie eventually ran wide and I slipped through to close up on Axel who was running in 3rd behind Robert and Tris. I was easily able to stay with Axel, but I could see Robert and Tris easing a small gap, so I closed up on Axel and persuaded him that he needed to go faster
At about half distance Tris suddenly lost pace and Axel and myself made quite easy passes. By this time Robert was a couple of seconds clear and I wanted to get after him if I could. I felt that I was quicker than Axel, but not quite quick enough to make a pass as his Lotus had more acceleration out of critical corners. I think I might need to look at my setup and drop 3rd gear by a click as the revs were just too low out of Surtees to get max warp speed.
For lap after lap I hassled Axel, hoping for a mistake that would create an opening but he drove a tremendous defensive line and the small errors he did make were not enough to let me through. Then we passed a recovering BT7 at Surtees and we were now running 1-2, but with a dangerously quick Robert not very far behind!!
By this time I knew that I could go quicker as I was often backing off mid corner to avoid a Lotus gearbox and I was, by now, catching occasional glimpses of Robert's BT7 in my mirrors. Then I got a run on Axel out of Stirling's down to Clearways and forced him to take a tighter inside line. That slightly compromised his exit and I was almost up the inside approaching Paddock Hill. Again, this kept Axel on the wide ( but slightly faster) line and I hugged the inside kerb and nailed the gas. So glad that the diff adjustment had cured the oversteer as we powered up to Druids. I was now completely alongside Axel and had the inside line, but I knew I would have to brake as late as possible to keep him wide.
Apologies to Axel for the contact at the apex of Druids. I was really trying to keep the car tucked in close to the grass. I'll submit a report and let the mods take a view on that incident Axel. When Axel's engine sound vanished I hesitated and looked in my mirrors to see what had happened, but the only thing I saw was a blue BT7 launching out of druids and I knew that I was potentially in trouble with Robert on my tail.
The next 2 laps were a lesson in how NOT to drive when under pressure as I was outbraking myself into almost every corner and losing valuable time applying opp lock and correcting wild slides.
A few choice words to myself and I got things under control to put in a few neat and controlled laps that eased me away from Robert ( I did have the faster car, so I won't claim to be a better driver!!) and I was able to keep him at a safe distance until the flag.
Grat to Tris on a dominant championship, sorry to hear that he had probs with his connection. Huge respect to Robert on his performance in the BT7 and relieved that Axel could continue to take 3rd place for the season.
