With 1st & 2nd in the Championship already decided, I could focus on just trying to have some enjoyable races - the results didn't really matter.
Qualified and stayed in 5th in race 1, being in an all too familiar bubble of my own, between the aliens & the rest of the field. Then Ziu had an incident at the chicane, gifting me 4th. Barely avoided his car and thought he had damaged it when he didn't close the gap afterwards. Replay shows it was a spin only, so maybe his tyres were even worse than mine.
Late in the race, Dan crashed in the same place, just ahead of me and this time I couldn't avoid a collision, despite my best efforts. Sorry Dan, if that was what killed your car. My own wasn't pretty, but at least I could still retain 4th, and was elevated to 3rd when DD got a penalty at the end.
With Daz & Geoff neutralized in race 2 qual, I could put myself 2 places further forward on the grid. Nailed the start, stealing the lead and held it into lap 2. Got out of shape at the jump unfortunately and barely kept it together. Lost momentum, helping DD catch up and pass.
Some close battling with Daz the next laps, culminating in a bump sending me through the sand, but without losing positions. He dropped back a couple of places, but I was now chased by the Ziu-Geoff-Daz trio! Couldn't keep up with DD up front, but stretcthed the gap behind me, surprisingly enough. At one point, they had all dropped from view and I thought an incident might have caught them all. Can't see any in the replay though, so maybe their battling slowed them down - I shouldn't be able to outrun these guys...
Eventually and inevitably though, a Daz coloured dot (re)appeared in my mirror, gradually growing bigger. Another moment at the jump helped him past once he caught up. Around lap 15, the left rear tyre was gone, and behind Geoffers was closing. Struggled desperately to stay ahead for the final few laps, without losing it in the corners. Held to the end, so I stayed on the podium.
Grats to Daz & Dimitar on their wins, and to Geoffers & Daz for their 2nds!
Grats also to Geoffers for the Championship win and DD for 3rd!!
Find the car to be sweet driving on fresh tyres, but increasingly tricky once the rear(s) wear, especially in low wing setup. Have tried in some of the last races to always have some power-on through curves, trying to prevent the rear from sliding, as this just compounds the problem by eating the tyres even faster. Did work to some extend, but wear they do.