Grats to Ziu on 3 wins, in 3 different cars.
Still wondering where he found a second a lap in all 3 cars over the rest of us. Assuming that we all had similar gearing for the straights, there are only 2 ( maybe 2.5) corners worth talking about and he was gaining around 0.5 secs per corner............that is depressingly quick!!
The other issue with Mallory is that finding a passing place is almost impossible, if the car in front is close on pace, unless they make a mistake.
Race 1 and the Anglebox. Followed Ziu for the first lap and then watched in frustration as he slowly eased away no matter how hard I tried. But with a big gap back to Erling in 3rd I was able to keep things comfortable.
Race 2 and the Hillman Limp. Things were OK and I was watching Tony and Erling trading door handles and paint schemes in 3rd and 4th spots. Eventually it all ended in tears at the hairpin. Just when I thought I might sneak through and take 3rd Anglias started moving in all directions and I opted for the wrong route around them. I found myself on the wrong end of Erling's car and Tony was able to escape.....rats!!!!
I squeezed ahead of Erling and was then subjected to a great deal of harassment for the next laps as I tried to keep him behind me. Coming towards the hairpin I defended the inside, if Erling wanted the pass he would have to go "the long way around". Well that's what I thought, until a yellow car zipped up the inside at exceptional speed!!
. I was impressed that he could carry that much speed AND intend to make it around the hairpin. The state of awe lasted around 3 seconds as Erling severely tested the barriers on the outside of the hairpin. Our battle had allowed the leading trio to get around 6 seconds lead and I just could not close that gap...lots of ambition, somewhat less ability. $th looked safe and certain until I spotted a distant blue car in the mirrors.......Geoffers was recovering from an early off and was now hunting me down!!
I upped the pace and with a lap to go I thought I had him covered........until the engine coughed and spluttered out of T1.
I was out of fuel and had to let Geoffers past before I coasted around the hairpin and stopped. If I could have gone another 100metres I could have coasted down the hill to the finish
Race 3 and the front wheel drive Minge. Never been a fan of the front wheel drive Mini, but I had done a little offline testing and with a seriously radical setup I could hustle the beast around. Erling absolutely nailed the start to jump onto Ziu's tail.
I managed to hang on to Erlings Imp and there became an almost race long battle looking for a chance to attempt a pass. There were places where my Mini was quicker, but Erling had the important places covered
Eventually I tried a little too hard and almost threw it all away at the hairpin, but just managed to scrabble around the outer edge of the tarmac and survive......but it gave Erling that little gap he needed to escape.
For the rest of the race I was shadowing Erling hoping for a rare error......it did not happen and I rolled in 3rd, but better than I had expected.
Great fun and a very enjoyable format.