That was a real fun race and not just because I finished first.
I think I might owe an apology to Gareth? Maybe we touched on the tight right hander at the end of the straight when I went for the pass and we both ended up on the grass? If you think that I was at fault put in a report Gareth and let the mods take a look.
Before that moment it was an intense battle at the front with the more powerful Hondas and Ferraris jostling for position with the better handling Eagles that were being sucked along in the slipstream.
The trip onto the grass dropped me back to about 6th or 7th and I had to put in some seriously risky laps to get myself back in touch with the leading group.
The rest of the race was intense. Doni was hustling his Honda along and was definitely better on the brakes than I was and with any slipstream he threatened to ( and a couple of times, did achieve!!) a pass at the end of each fast section. When Tris blew his engine it left a 3 way battle for the podium places. Sam would tuck into the slipstream on the straights and regain lost ground under braking and better handling, only to lose out again when the Wazas used their horsepower on the straights.
When Sam made his unfortunate error and dropped back it became a straight dogfight between two Hondas and I felt that Doni had the better handling setup under braking and cornering, but I maybe had a small edge on acceleration. Probably we were running different ratios and diffs?
TBH Doni had me worried with his speed in my slipstream and superior braking, so with about 10 laps to go I decided that I had to get beyond slipstream range if I wanted to be sure of stealing the champagne. I gradually squeezed out a lead and eventually got beyond the magic 100metres which starved Doni of that tow. With the gap at 160 mtrs and only a few laps left I was beginning to feel secure.............................never a good idea in GPL!!
Then I caught a backmarker at the wrong part of the circuit and in seconds all of my hard work was undone with just 4 laps to go. That relentless Doni was all over my gearbox again, before making the move to take the lead with 3 laps left.
I sat behind him and planned how I might make this work. I had noticed that I appeared to gain an advantage through the Esses, but only if I was in front and could take my ideal line . So I had to pass him before that point and then run for the flag, what a brilliant strategy!
I reversed the slipstream advantage and followed Doni until the last lap before making my move at the end of the straight. Hope my attack was fair Doni, but it had to be there or nowhere. I did indeed pull a small gap through the Esses which was enough to keep me safe to the flag.
I felt a little guilty about denying Doni his win, you were a tough nut to crack Doni. Maybe next time you will be too strong?