After pipping Hristo for pole...nothing else really matters
....but as you asked, the Wazas did take the front 3 positions as she had instructed.
Starting from pole ( which is actually quite rare for me ) at Kyalami is always a stressful position with the thunder of hoofs approaching J1 and watching for the dive up the inside or the one that gets the braking all wrong and sails straight through like a bowling ball. So, I was relieved to negotiate J1 unscathed and the pack had sorted itself into T2 ( or is that now J2?) so that was a little easier. I caught a glimpse of ariel action in my mirrors and when I had the opportunity to glance at prib I realised that Hristo and Tim had apparently committed Hari kari!!!
So i thought I was the lone Waza after only 1/4 of a lap.
John soon closed in and announced his presence by giving me a kick up the a** into T1. His Brab? was very obviously handling better on full fuel than my Honda especially on the brakes!!
I could see JW lurking behind him waiting for his chance to pounce, but was confident that as my fuel load came down I could match most of the opposition.
A lap or so later John got a better exit onto the straight and made his pass...almost...until warp appears to have intervened and the computer gods decreed that we had made contact and sent both cars into orbit!! Miraculously the Waza survived intact again and I recovered down in 9th place with the disconcerting sight of a Dino Ferrari driven by Phil in my mirrors?? ( must remember to change that for the next 65 race
)
The climb back up through the field was fun and both Clutch and James proved just quick enough to make a clean pass difficult until they made mistakes. The leading group all made mistakes and after much switching of positions eventually I was up to 2nd and chasing James who had slipped into a comfortable lead. I was closing the gap each lap and was confident of catching James long before the end of the race.. then I decided for some reason not to bother braking for J1!!!
I plead old age and failing faculties. This dropped me back to about 6th after I was careful on my rejoin and allowed a few cars through. The next few laps simply compounded my brain failure moment and I made a few more mistakes before regaining my composure and starting the chase all over again.
I made it up to 3rd with Tim and James a speck in the distance and not enough laps to get on terms, so I settled for bringing home a 3rd podium slot for HER.
All in all a great race and although it seemed very long it did allow the opportunity for recovering from mistakes and getting back up to the front. I guess the real secret would be not to make mistakes, that might be good in theory but............