The start of the race threw me off because the last thing in the chat window was "Rolling" By Parle and I was confused as to if this was a rolling start or not.
Sorry about that - I was seeking clarification... Despite having been relatively well prepared for this one I'd completely neglected to register what type of start it was. I got totally caught out too and got passed by about 4 people.
Qualifying went pretty well - after a few laps off the pace I finally got a decent lap in and broke into the 1:49's.
As I mentioned, I wasn't sure what format the start was taking .... I got my answer soon enough! About 4 or 5 people shot past me - DOH!
Martin "Blunder" Mason shot past me on the back straight using the Falcons muscle - and that's where things got a bit tricky. Me and another car (forget who) were all over the back of his car, but because his car was warping massively we couldn't overtake for fear of getting punted. Think I got spun out after nudging the stricken car, which was frustrating but led to the most enjoyable period of the race for me.
Me and teammate Steve had some cracking racing. I was all over the back of him in parts, and then the Falcon would stretch its legs on the straight and leave me for dead. Was excellent racing with you Steve, I kind of wish you hadn't let me past - I was quite happy racing as it was.
Having been let by I stretched out a bit of a lead and eventually caught the still warping Falcon. After one particularly big warp I hammered into the back of the stationary car and ended up on my roof -
.
By now my concentration was shot, and I wasn't really having any fun. Thankfully a few people pitted allowing me some clear air and a bit of a break as I got back up to 7th (courtesy of the pitting). After a couple of cock-ups mainly due to a lack of concentration (and indeed motivation) I came into the pits, ready for a few litres and to see where I was once I came back on track.
To put a long story short .... I did a Jonzo.
Yep - in too much of a hurry - I checked the fuel, it was set for 15 laps - and launched into the pit. Of course I already had more than 15 laps in the tank, so nothing was added ... when of course I wanted an additional 15 laps
. That was bad enough as I'd need another stop - but they replaced all 4 tyres and repaired all the damage I'd accrued. I was in the pits for a couple of minutes!
When I FINALLY got back on track I wasn't really looking to race, just chuck the car round a bit - which led to mistakes. After one such mistake I saw Steve closing in on me from 9th (to lap me that is) and that was the final straw - to be lapped by Steve when he'd let me through earlier in the race was just an indication of what a shocker I'd had.
With the next place driver half a minute up the road and no-one quick enough to catch me up, I wasn't really in the mood to go hot-lapping in a beaten up Cortina so I called it a night.
It should have been a much better night.
