. . . . . . . ah, that's better - I needed that!
What month is this? If it's January, I've been having this run of terrible luck, not the least of which, was running out of fuel with a lap to go at The Glen, and watching Billy pass me as I pitted, on the last corner, of the last lap!!
But hang on - not to worry, this is February 1965, and all is well. Even better, I'd found a nice, well balanced setup, and an early 2nd on the grid, so hoping for a fight towards the front. Except when 2nd then turned into 6th by the end of practice - thus is life in the fast lane. Perhaps I could yet hang onto the front runners tails, and pounce on a mistake?
My plan worked well for all of 2 or 3 laps. But ye car wasn't enjoying the ride, and I was soon left to wave a furious foursome on their way. Had some glimpses of the action following me, in the following laps, and it all looked quite interesting. Excitementwise for me however, there was none to be had. The gaps just grew larger, and I can verify that, "It's lonely at the top." Or in 5th place in my case . . . with the main interest being the sporadic changing of the guard to my rear, every few laps. (Note : must stop using so much anti-contact spray at racetime.)
The countdown to the finish eventually commenced, and with a lap and a bit to go, the unthinkable also commenced . . . "Oh no, not again!!" Hindsight would suggest it's a track, where a lot of time is spent near redline, and it's thirsty work, or so my car insisted on telling me, rather late in the proceedings.
Grumble! Wretched hindsight! So now I had to decide if I could make the finish line, still waiting a lap away from my obstinate machinery?
At Watkins, in a '67, I'd decided to reset, and lost out to Billy's opportunism. So this time, I went for glory - figured I could still stay ahead of the next car, while running on fumes. And it was working out beautifully . . . right up to the end of the long back straight, with 2 corners to go, at which point, the engine died! Grumble! I consequently stopped in sight of the last curve, watched a driver called Billy scream past, reset, and blasted over the blasted line! At which point, there was steam emanating from my helmet. If someone had come up with a push mod, I could've almost pushed the car across the line instead!
The slight problem at this late point in the proceedings, was, how to pay penance for my refueling on the track? The pits were a half a lap away, and my race had now finished? Would I be disqualified for reversing a half lap? Turning around would very likely DQ me. And would the other finishers still finishing be disturbed by this? Mike - some ponderance and adjudication required here!
I actually did an extra lap, and a stop & go, in case it's of interest to anyone. Putting annoyance aside, it looked like a superb driving display by the dominant front four, so my helmet's off to them. And by the way, if I see a Spec. race official with syphoning equipment, anywhere near my car before the next race, there's going to be trouble!!!