Surprised to find the Ford the fastest of my options, but loved driving it so not at all unhappy.
With two 917s present, I was surprised too to be 2nd on grid, but no complaints
Too much wheelspin at the start saw Geoffers slip in front, but got 2nd back when he then ran wide at T1. Ziu soon disappeared, and I got a fair gap to the rest of the field, so the race turned lonely. Approaching midrace, I was in a fairly comfortable 2nd place, when things were turned upside down. Rounding the downhill lefthander, a very rapidly reversing Matt cut across my path and I couldn't avoid hitting him. Car damaged; didn't track straight, steering wheel at an angle and wouldn't corner right anymore.
Advanced my pitstop to do repairs. Spent 1½ minutes on those, in addition to the normal pit time (Note to Bob: repairs worked in my case - skipped body repairs, but replaced suspension). Lapped and down to 6th when I finally rejoined. Up to 5th when Dan pitted and then 4th when Dom left. Had a steady 58 seconds to the car in front despite my best efforts, but then the pit board suddenly showed a 3-sec gap
Spotted Fulvio rejoining from the pits and managed to fly past approaching T1. Thus up to 3rd and game very much on then !! When Geoffers left, we were fighting for 2nd, which didn't exactly lower the intensity.. Drove my wheelnuts off to stay ahead. Did so for around 10 laps I think, but tyres were taking a pounding and gradually cried enough. My one advantage, which seemed to be corner exit speeds, evaporated along with my tyres, when the rears started slipping massively. Thus Fulvio got closer and eventually just sailed past down the straight. Tried to hang on, to at least keep him on his toes, but with ever diminishing grip, there was little I could do, and the gap stretched after a couple of minor offs. It was an uneven struggle, but fun while it lasted - just wish I could have held on a little longer
Grats to Ziu & Fulvio - and Dan for finishing. Commiserations to all the early bathers.
