A barn-burner of a race! Fulvio aced me at the line to steal P2. Grrr... Not hardly. It was a toss-up and he out-foxed me. Great stuff, FP! And after the debacle of Panorama where we had some coming togethers all down to me, I was relieved not have made a stupid move that jeopardized either of us.
I fitted a tall first gear and was somewhat slow off the start. Perhaps that turned out to be a good thing as an almighty shunt occurred at the very first corner with Bastian running on the apron...that's really out of bounds...and then losing it big time when he tried to back up onto the banking. This is always a recipe for disaster. I managed to squeak through but it caught out so many others. Bad luck, gys.
I was pleased to be able to tack onto the lead serial but was fearful that my Matra V-12 was only moments away from grenading. It was running really well above my comfort zone for revolutions. After early laps with Evil Clive challenging from behind and Fulvio leading the way, the laps reeled off without dramas. It seemed that Fulvio got a better launch up onto the banking and most likely, that was due to my tall first gear. No matter. The slipstream had me close through the banking and I could threaten as we crossed the SFline. I was in no hurry to make a bid for the place and tried to gauge my chances for a last-lap attack. We lost Clive around mid-race so it was down to a two-car duel for the final placings. I made a pass just as we entered T3 on Lap25 but Fulvio re-passed just before the SFline. Starting the last lap, Fulvio had a decent lead as we gained the banking but I got a lovely tow to close rapidly and be right on his tail as we entered T3. I couldn't quite make the pass there and followed to exit T4 and approach the SFline just a whisker behind. Fulvio, the old fox, covered low forcing me to make a bid on the high side and I just couldn't quite make it. NUTS! Great race!
Late in the going, I was concerned that I might be a little short on fuel and started to short-shift to save some for a last-lap attack. Crossed the SFline with only 26psi left on the dial. Wouldn't have been able to make another lap at speed.