Got so annoyed by my performance in this race I still can't go to sleep.
Qualied poorly in 9th (race setup minus fuel, med-med, hence no wonder, still have no idea why I didn't load Q setup I built this afternoon...).
Spun TT out in T1 of the first racing lap. No comment.
Fought with Brian at the back (while we were both recovering places) but he eventually got by. Had same dilemma as he did, "Am I racing this guys or what? Passing on braking or throttle...hmmm hmmm"
After few laps of "so... what's up with that front tyre temps?" I realised there's a huge front grip problem (balance problem to be precise) which effectively led to cutting (at same sector) like... every few laps (and fighting it had even worse results, lifting off got me in a position where car wanted to spin so I simply did it on purpose every time front end stepped out, too late to correct the bloody thing. Oh well, at least I knew I wasn't gaining time, laps done properly were much faster
).
Anyway, seeing I've climbed to P3 prior to pit stop and realising I've lost too much time at the beginning of the race I've decided NOT to change tyres during my pitstop (started with 100L with predicted 46 laps and yeah Rusky, I know we were racing for position but it seemed stupid to position myself right in between yourself and other two aliens that just got by, felt better to let you by too and have fun with them plus I didn't want you driving behind me, was just prior to pitting.
) there wasn't any other way to gain back some 25 seconds lost in early stages (and later on, had one... semi-spin and a full one
).
So in the pits we go, lost some 7-8 seconds keyboarding like crazy to not change tyres and not repair the damage, sat there for some 28-29 seconds then went out.
And voila, plan worked, came out 8th (running 11t prior to "pit stops window") but gamble didn't help much, tyres were... let's say two thirds worn already, tried to hold back Gazza and TT for a while (great battle, a bit of touching here and there, but lots of fun), then disaster struck (remember the cutting thing from above? Well... this is what happens if one gets stubborn and sticks to the groove no matter what, at the time I was determined no cutting would occur while in close combat, was feeling guilty enough already.).
And so I've visited the armco.
Parts flying, FL tyre went kaput.
Crawled back to the pits (with lights on, was hoping it'll warn others I'm in trouble. Giggle. After seeing the replay I've noticed lights were not the thing that caught the eye, sparks flew everywhere while that front splitter tried to... plow or something
).
Pit stop number two, changed tyres, repaired everything (it was clear any good result was down the drain so I figured at least I can see how fast I could go in... normal trim. You know, that rare experience when one drives a car with everything that belongs on a car actually being there).
Disgusted really, ruined TTs race and, for reasons unknown, not checking track temperature before the race start and pressurising tyres accordingly led to actions I despise. Moronic.
