After the trauma of starting the Clubman's server and being faced with a group of somewhat agitated club men
who did not appear to be able to access the race, I was less than relaxed about my Masters debut
I never expected to be anywhere near the podium, even in a diminished field and once again I had been suckered by the advice of someone who shall remain anumptynous. I happened upon this individual only a couple of hours before the race and was "advised" that the Lotus was good for 1:18 laps no probs.
That might well be the case in more skilled hands, but I did not have a single setup for a Lotus on any circuit and I dont think I have driven the green goddess in a race for about 2 years!!
"But that is the whole point of masters...you can run the faster car without pitstop penalties" was the advice freely given
So I had abandoned my Eagle preparations in favour of a Lotus hoping to snatch a quick 15 mins practice right before the Masters race started and after the clubmans were merrily on their way.
Instead I arrived in VROC stressed as a stressed thing with no real setup and only the qually to get it sorted.
But, being the idiot that I am it never occurred to me to revert to the Eagle and a certain degree of comfort zone.
Qually was spent on race fuel feeling the Lotus around the circuit.
Think I ended up about 6th on the grid and watched an Eagle perform a solo salsa when the flag droppedand numerous green things take serious avoiding action. Strangely despite the Eagle being completely sideways on what appeared to be at least 2 occassions it did not seem to lose momentum??? and was still way in front of me at T1 !!
For the first few laps I was still feeling my way in the Lotus and the "PRO RULES" warning klaxons were heard loud and clear.
gradually settled to a steady race pace and had a good dice with Mike, getting almost alongside a couple of times into T1 but unable to make it stick safely. We passed a very slow brab that turned out to be Kruger recovering from a little agricultural excursion and then I made a mess of things and went wide allowing the Kruger mobile to slip through and Mike to get away.
Set off after Kruger and slowly hauled him in over the next few laps until I was examining the exhaust valves in his engine via the tail pipes. Suddenly as we rounded the esses he almost stopped and I was forced to administer the merest hint of a nudge to his gearbox
. as he moved off again I could now see the reason, Mike had lay in ambush and had set up a temporary road block which Kruger had seen but which I could not ( being so up close and personal with his rear end).
No damage done and we cleared the stricken Mike and went on our merry way. I new Kruger was a very steady and consistent driver and try as I might I could not see a place where I had a clear advantage, except braking into T1. I tried half heartedly on acouple of occasions to "test the water" but was wary of the distinct possibilty of taking us both into the veldt.
I tried in my amateurish way to pressure Kruger and eventuall he went just a little wide at the hairpin and I sneaked up the inside and made the pass. I was able to ease away and build a couple of seconds cushion whic I was happy just to maintain until the end of the race, watching for Kruger in my mirrors . As with all plans this was doomed to failure because it left the alien element out of the equation, as Lorenzo and Hristo put their oar into my progress, catching me just before T3 so that I had to give up most of my very soft and comfortable cushion to allow them free passage at the same time affording Kruger the opportunity to close up again.
Tried to regain my rythm but it was difficult with that pesky brabham looming large in the mirrors, but eventually a small mistake from Kruger gave me a moments rest and I gradually eeked out a second or two gap which I held to the finish. 5th place on my first outing was better than I expected, but there were a few alien entities absent, so maybe the euphoria will be short lived, and normality will be restored at the next round!!!
