Grats to Ziu and Erling and to Geoffers, they were all in a class of their own.
Hard Luck To John for his disco it looked like we were set for a battle after a close qualifying with Bob. Erling and Ziu were light years faster in their Div 1 cars, Geoffers was in Div 1.5 and nothing to do with us mortals in Div 2
I know now that I really should have tried and practised this track a lot more, well let's say that I know that now!!!
By the time qually had ended I had finally got the track fixed in my mind, although there were several places where I was most definitely not on the optimum line. What I had not realised was just how critical tyre wear might be
.
In an attempt to find more pace I had tweaked the setup that had served me well for several races. Big mistake!! Yes, it was quicker for the first few laps as I had dreams of glory whilst holding on to Geoffers tailpipes.......until it dawned on me that I had expended about 25% of my rubber inside 3 laps???!! I abandoned my pursuit of Geoffers after running wide on rapidly wearing tyres and tried to smooth out my driving to make it to the flag.
But the damage had been done, and by half distance I was truly struggling to keep the car on the track. A multitude off "offs" and spins that involved some contact with barriers, which had damaged the suspension making control even more difficult.
By lap 13 the car was almost undriveable and each spin was removing more grip from the tyres to such an extent, that I was never going to get to the finish.
SO I MADE A PITSTOP !!!!!!!
I was switched on enough to cancel any fuel and was intending to just get fresh rubber. But just as I punched the "Enter" key to get Arnold and Mabel changing tyres, I noticed that there were two entries on the clipboard for "repairs"
?. Too late!!
Over 2 minutes later I emerged from the pits with a new car and tyres....but as others have warned previously pit repairs=strange handling The car was as bad ( if not worse ) after the stop and 2 laps later I had spun, hit the wall and run wide too many times.
Running dead last and at least a lap behind with a car that was an absolute nightmare, I took the coward's way out and quit. I was going to be a hazard to cars that would lap me because I just could not guarantee to drive in a straight line or stay on the tarmac.
Last round at Suzuka can't come soon enough....looking forward to seeing Erling and Ziu fight it out. But, I think I might have to do some proper preparation for that round