RRE Season 7 (2020) RRE GT4 - Zhuhai - Oct 4

[BillThomas]

Sorry for my non appearance but we had guests for the weekend, by the time they left and we had cleared up I was too knackered to race!

[Geoffers]

Like the last GT4 race at Shanghai, this was another battle between Glenn & me for the lead, only this time it was me that made the crucial error near the end.

Evora felt really good around here except for the final corner where it was prone to losing rear grip especially if driving over the inner kerb which almost always resulted in a spin, so I had to be very cautious through there. Glenn was able to capitalise on this a couple of times in the race getting a better run through the final turn & passing me on the S/F straight. We swapped the lead a number of times but the race was resolved when I got on the grass out of T7, I kept the lead but got on the power too hard on dirty tyres at T8 & spun the car. Kept my 2nd place but a lap later the final turn eventually caught me out & I had a second spin. Everyone had gone past by the time I recovered & I only reclaimed one place before the finish when Matt went off at T8.

Congrats to Glenn, John (nice to see you back) & Toni. 

[Glenn Richardson]

Think my luck is definitely in at the moment, well done to John and Toni on the podium and hard luck Geoff - you deserved the win.

The M4 seemed stronger through the last corner, along the straight and through the first corner but Geoff was stronger out of all the hairpins and tighter corners, the BMW seemed to struggle getting the power down over some of the bumps on exit of the tighter corners.

I managed to sneak through into the lead early on but it soon became apparent I didn't have enough fuel to finish the race. Short shifting I couldn't build a gap and didn't fight Geoff's overtakes too hard as I needed the slipstream to save more fuel. I didn't really want to keep passing again down the start finish straight and going side by side later in the lap but knew if I stayed behind where I was strong, Geoff would then pull a gap where he was strong every lap and I'd lose touch.

Just as I was getting ready to throw the towel in, Geoff's car came off the kerb at the last hairpin and rotated. Having been alongside on the straight I'd cut back inside, the front of Geoff's car rotated into the front of mine. I thought the nudge might have straightened him up but he was unlucky to then spin the other way - I suppose the Lotus has no weight on the front end.

The last few laps I had to coast and try everything to save some fuel. I did the last three laps on 1L of fuel and John got very close over the line. Great battle with Geoff but luck favoured me this time.

[azaris]

I knew the BMW was probably favoured here (although most people picked the Lotus) but felt like I had decent pace. Apparently everyone else was just faster. I had the same problem as Geoff in the last corner so opted to take it very carefully, which probably cost me several seconds over the course of the race.

I started off cautiously because the tyres take a while to get up to temperature. After a close call with Tudor's spinning Porsche, I tried to chase the top 4 but since the pace was very similar and I was 4-5 seconds behind it was never going to happen unless mistakes came about, which they eventually did. Stephen was pressuring me from behind so I couldn't take it easy either. Then I saw Geoff had spun and figured I had enough of a gap (3-4 seconds) to hold 3rd place until the end.

The last few laps were done with TC at full just to avoid spinning out of corners until the clock ran out. Congrats to Glenn and onwards to more interesting venues.