A better end to the season than I had expected. I had missed the race that had been aborted earlier in the season and was somewhat alarmed to see the laptimes that were posted.
By sheer cunning and strategic planning I had dropped out of the Group 1 cars by fluffing ( deliberately of course!!) some recent results and now had the enviable task of choosing between the 2.5 ltr Brabham and the Lotus.
My first thought was to take the Lotus and a few laps had me into the mid 1.05’s, but I found the handling was almost at the limit of what I could push and there did not seem much scope for improvement. So, I dragged out the Brabham barge expecting it to be slower and less nimble.
However, it had very smooth power delivery and more stable in the corners, although it did not feel as fast it immediately knocked half a second off my PB.
Some setup tweaks and I was running mid 1:04’s on full tanks…………..progress!
)
I fully expected Hristo, and a few of the other usual suspects, to be into the 1:03’s and was surprised to be leading the qually with a few mins to go. I could see that my fellow Waza was struggling and positioned myself to give him a helping tow in the last few mins. I just did not mean to give him quite that much of a tow!!
The first few laps were very tight and although I felt that I could go a little quicker, I was reluctant to make a move that might take Hristo and myself out of the race, or screw up and allow the chasing pack the chance to squeeze through!!
I sat back for a couple of laps and drove defensively in the hope that Hristo would get faster if I left him alone and allow us to ease away……..but that did not work and Al and tim were getting impatient behind me.
I was in danger of getting passed ( SHE would not approve of that!) and found that I was having to brake earlier than I wanted to, to be sure of avoiding Hristo on the entry to corners, although he was making marginally quicker exits. I think Tim discovered this problem the hard way.
I decided that I had to pass Hristo if only to wind him up and get him to speed up! so I stuck it down the inside at T1 and held a tight line. I hoped that the extra grunt of the Brab would pull us away a little, but al and Tim were sticking with us and H was using the slipstream to launch his own passing moves.
We swapped positions a couple of times over the next few laps and failed to drag a gap back to the 3rd place car. Somewhere Tim lost touch, but Al was lurking!! Then Hristo dropped a wheel onto the grass at T2 and speared off into the boondocks ..scaring the crap out of me as I was close behind him!!
I think that Al and I both had the same thought..”now’s our chance to get away” and I pushed hard with Al in close company for the next few laps. I’m not sure what happened but I suddenly had a couple of seconds lead over Al and was able to break the tow and ease away. It was about then that I realised I did not have enough fuel to finish the race!!! So I spent the next 20 laps short shifting and trying to keep things smoooooth. Hristo recovered and was closing but I knew I was running a steady 1:05 pace and he must be pushing quite hard, so I waited as long as I dared before turning up the wick again and dipping into the 1:04’s to try and keep him behind.
Then he had his second “incident” and I was clear of any hassle all the way to the flag actually finishing with a couple of laps worth of fuel to spare and a much enjoyed win.
The early laps were great racing with about 6 cars in close company, all looking for a chance to pounce.
Sorry that a few of you suffered disco’s or freezes with 4 laps to go..maybe we need some research into why this is happening more frequently this season? as it does not seem to be circuit related…or does it?
Grats to Hristo on winning the Championship for HER…looks like it might be a WAZA 1-2 ( subject to moderation of course ) and thanks to all drivers for a great series of races. Lets do it again next season.
