Sandbagging??!! lol I was being absolutely honest pre race, in saying that the best lap I had managed was a high 1:54. I had not raced or driven this circuit before Friday night and although I memorised the sequence of bends realtively quickly, dealing with those bumps gave me a real headache.
With a choice between the Lotus barge or the BRM barge, I chose the Lotus purely because I had a setup from somewhere else that had worked ok once upon a time. It did not work at Monsanto
but you gotta start somewhere so.....
I tried all sorts of ride heights and suspension settings to try and smooth out the potholes but with no great success, so concentrated on getting a race setup that was half comfortable.
Prib promised a potential 1:55 up until a short session on Sunday, when suddenly a 1 :54 was possible but 1:57's were reality!!! Obviously it was more to do with my approach to the track rather than the actual setup.
I actually rasied a few gear ratios to try and tame the sudden smack of torque that was throwing the tail of the Lotus out in the most inopportune places and it helped.
I was feeling reasonably confident of scoring a few points in the race. I did not expect to match Hristo's pace but thought I might have a chance against Tim (and the McLaren of Hristo might just struggle for sheer grunt if I was lucky) Early qually was encouraging with Hristo posting a blistering pole time and Tim not far behind, Goran was fast but a 3rd or 4th grid slot looked possible. Then a few of you posted some quick laps with about 5 mins to go!!
Went out for a banzai lap and promptly sent the car into the scenery.....tried another and did the same.....time running out!!! OK take it very careful on the out lap and brake early for every bend on the 1st flying lap. "nd lap with about a minute to go and nailed it. I actually improved my previus best by almost 2 secs I think to post a 1:53 and 2 rd spot.
The start almost went t*ts up when Hrsito bogged down in front of me and I had to jink out around him with the ass of the Lotus trying its best to overtake the front wheels!! But I was in 2nd and right behind Tim's Brab.
Hrsito some 2 secs back and he was not closing noticeably ( craft sod is playing it cool and saving his engine!!), Tim was pulling us along at a jolly pace so I was content to sit in for the ride. The trouble is when I relax too much my mind wanders and yes I missed my braking point for the hairpin by about 25mtrs. That was just ( only just) enough to take me slightly wider than was wise and find yet another bump, frantic pedal work and gear changing almost saved it, but the rear wheel hooked those sticky magnetic bales and my race was over!!!
I was really really miffed!
Grats to Hristo and to Dave and Tom.....commiserations to Tim.