If you were Walter at the beginning of L7 or Billy during L11, I do apologize to both of you.
Actually, I think the L7 contact was at least 51% my fault. I was going to be patient. Then the temptation of using the Lotus' power down the front straight was too great. I had to guess whether to go on the left or right side, and I guessed wrong. But it is not your fault this time. I give partial blame to the narrow straights. I was glad to see that we were both able to keep going. I am sorry that I didn't give the place back afterwards. However, you were able to regain the position with two laps to go when I had to do a stop n go.
During qualifying, I realized that my internet connection was not as good as it should be. I tried restarting my PC, but did not improve much. I was cautious at the start. I was able to narrowly miss Bastian and Billy (which looked like avoidable contact). I was happy following the car in front, and trying my best to be consistent. I may have only managed four clean laps before I dropped a wheel off causing the first of many minor off track excursions.
After the L7 accident, I recovered quickly and caught up with Fran. I learned from the previous incident, and I used more caution. With the Lotus advantage on the straights, I knew it was just a matter of time. After a few laps of looking for a good opportunity, I finally had one down the front straight. Scary enough, Fran's car disappeared for several seconds (my internet again). Luckily, he reappeared in my rearview mirror, and I had plenty of room for T1. I only had the position for a few corners and then I messed up my braking and gave the position back. I was back in chase mode, and my laptimes were improving. But I started making mistakes more frequently, and I lost sight of Fran.
Then with two laps to go, I spun in Canada corner and ended up on top of a hay bail. I did a reset, stop -n- go, and just lost two positions to Pepe and Billy. I was able to stay with Billy until we crossed the checkered flag making the finish very interesting.
Congrats to the Podium finishers, and to everyone that had a clean, consistent race!