Grats to Greg, Clive and Phil and to all those who finished the race.
I knew that if I wanted to catch Clive L in this championship, then a win at Hockenheim was essential, or he had to have a DNF. The latter option was unlikely as he is too experienced a racer to make that sort of error. I had the luxury of spare tokens, but Clive already held the Lap Record in a Maserati 250, so whatever car he took he was probably going to be able to run in the slipstream quite comfortably
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My recent surgery was still affecting my left shoulder and I would have preferred a circuit with all Right hand corners lol. I spent a little time offline reducing my ( usually quite strong ) FF and trying to create a soft and compliant car. I think that this is the first time I have tried the Merc in anger and I found it difficult to get a comfortable balance, like I have with the Connaught. The Merc is obviously fast, but also heavy, and once things start to slide it is a handful...probably more like 2 handfulls!!
I deliberately cut short my qualifying time to save the stress on my shoulder and I was disappointed not to hook up a slipstream when I tried a banzai lap, until I crossed the line and saw that I had stolen pole position. TBH that does not matter at this track, anywhere in the front 2 rows will put you in the slipstream queue and being in front simply makes you a tow truck for the other cars.
Well, I gave it a shot for half the race and things were beginning to look possible. The first few laps were hectic with Greg and Clive in close attendance as we eased away from the pack. It was clear that Clive was doing exactly what I would have done in his position and sit there in the slipstream.
The power of the Mercs was evident at times, but so was the ability of Clive's Lancia to brake later and close up again. As my tyre temps settled down and I began to find the rhythm I became aware that we were setting a very fast pace. I had set my 5th gear up one notch just before the start in anticipation of some serious slipstream, but tucked in behind Greg, I was still approaching the max revs far too often. The oil temp was also higher than I wanted, so I decided to drop back maybe 75 mtrs and simply follow for a few laps.
It was around this time ( lap 7?) that Clive suddenly dropped away by 100mtrs and I wondered if the sheer pace of the Mercs was stressing his Lancia a little too much. Maybe he was just playing safe and sneaky, knowing that a finish was more important than risking a blown engine?
Gradually Greg and I eased away from Clive and I was comfortable with the pace and happy to sit 100mtrs behind, knowing that I could push just a little in the slipstream and close that gap whenever I wanted. Unless Greg made a major error, this race would not be decided until the last 2 laps
and anyway, my shoulder was beginning to complain.
Lap 9 and I had to drop my left hand off the wheel and relax along the straights, but at least I was holding on to Greg. Lap 10, and I was thinking that if I can just stay relaxed and rest my arm I might be able to challenge Greg at the end of the race, no need for heroics just yet.
The biggest handicap with my arm is trying to wrestle with the steering quickly from lock to lock....it hurts!!! lol and approaching the end of the straight I was caught out when just as I eased on the brakes and downshifted for the critically fast right hand loop. The car snapped to the right and I corrected with some opp lock, but then it snapped left and I just could not react quickly enough to catch the slide. When I ran wide onto the grass, I was pretty sure that the race was over for me and sure enough a couple of wheels dropped off when I hit the outer barrier.
TBH, given the pace that Greg was running I doubt whether I could have endured another 10 laps, so maybe it was better that I was forced to quit.
A shame as taking the challenge to the last race would have made it very exciting. Now, short of Clive L making a total mess of the final round and scoring a DNF it looks like I must accept that he has at least one hand on the silverware.
