5:15 Skippy, and I'm 10th behind folk who've qualified with 58s (groan)...T1 is a disaster for the fast rookies at the front (who would've thought it?).
Suddenly I'm 4th, then 2 more folk fall off and I'm 2nd! 1st place boy chunters off into the distance, and at about two-thirds distance the ravening hoards catch me up. Determined to be as horrid as possible, I take the inside line into T1 where needed, and am aided by the fact they're all racing each other as well as me. 3 laps later one gets past, then I make a wee mistake and lose speed at T5 (the uphill) and they come past - ALL of them! I'm desperately trying to keep the unfamiliar outside line at T6 and T7, and it all goes well (except for me 3rd to 7th in 2 corners - I laughed out loud). They were very trusting, weren't they?
A bit more luck ensues - 2 of the silly sods knock each other off again for a very satisfying 5th, +SR and +iRating. A scrappy race that I enjoyed and benefited from. You get very Smug when a fastboy can't get past
