This was one of the hardest races I've ever had, but also one of the most unexpected race finishs and results as well!
I was struggling during the whole Qualifying session, unable to come to terms with the car setup and car handling. It seems I've forgotten how to drive in the smooth manner that Monza demands. It's probably habits picked up from driving the BT7 so much these days - it requires almost no throttle control and almost no steering input, and this doesn't really work with the RA300 at this track.
I was making corrections all the time and even though eventually managed to slot to 3rd on the grid, I went on with a race setup which was supposedly tested in whatever was my previous Honda Monza league race here and I expected it to work well. Wrong! It didn't!
I had an OK start, but a Lotus made a rocket start and went through in the middle of the track, so I just kept my position on the left and dropped to 4th. Tim was soon putting pressure on me and passed me after a couple of laps, and I had no response to that. In the meantime Pelle was gone into the distance while Bob and Al were locked up in their own battle, until Bob made it through and opened up a gap.
I was struggling to keep control of the car in almost ever corner. It was very unstable under braking and corner entry, then understeering in the middle of the corner, and then very loose under throttle. It took me some 2/3rds of the race distance to adjust my driving style well enough to be able to increase my pace, but by that time Al had opened up a 3 seconds gap, with Tim another 2-3 seconds ahead of him.
I was so preoccupied with driving the car and trying to maintain and then reduce the gap to Al, that I never saw Pelle retiring so early, so I thought I was still going in 5th. If Tom was to be believe, 5th was all I needed to take the title, but I didn't want to give up on a higher position yet. JR was keeping me honest for the first half of the race, running 2 seconds behind, until he disconnected.
Even though I began to close up the gap to Al, it was happening at a painfully slow rate - no more than 1-2 tenths per lap, and sometimes not even that! With about 6 laps to go I was finally within 1 second of him, but I was putting so much pressure on myself that I made 2 little mistakes and dropped half a second back, which made me really angry.
I pushed as hard as I dared and closed up on Al once more, but with 2 to go it didn't look possible unless I made zero mistakes and/or Al made a mistake at all; he was flawless throughout the whole distance until that moment. Still thinking I was in 5th place, I never noticed when I moved up to 3rd with Bob's unfortunate retirement from the lead with just 2 laps to go.
On the start of the last lap I was already getting a decent tow from Al, but his Lotus was accelerating rapidly and I needed to take Lesmos MUCH better than him if I was to stand any chance of attempting an attack. Well, I didn't take Lesmo 1 much better as I lost the car a bit, but then much to my disbelief Al went wide on the entry to Lesmo 2 and even though I messed it up a bit as well, I managed to accelerate earlier and glue myself to his back on the run down to Ascari!
I had to lift up to stay behind, but then floored it and used the slipstream to go for a pass on the outside of Parabolica. I always like passing on the outside there as it just seems the easier thing to do, allowing you to carry more speed and accelerate earlier, which is what I needed to stand a chance in maintaining my position until the s/f line.
Just as we entered Parabolica side by side, I saw a car in the gravel with my peripheral vision and thought "This must be Tim, so I have a chance to take 3rd place now!". I accelerated earlier as planned, but didn't have as much gap in front of Al as I would've liked, so he instantly tucked behind my Honda and his superior acceleration allowed him to move on my right as soon as we continued in straight line towards the chequered flag.
It appeared as though I was going to lose 3rd (or so I thought) in the very last moment, but Al changed up a gear a few meters before the line and lost just enough momentum to remain behind me - we finished 2 hundreds from each other!
And then it turned out I had won the race! Say what?! How was that possible, lol! It goes to prove that you should never ever give up, no matter what position (you think) you're running at and how faster the cars in front are! It also goes to show that even my awareness has its limits and they were put to the test in this race.
Anyway, I'm extremely pleased with the result, although it was my lucky day/evening apparently. Shame that Tom could not attend the race and defend his Championship chances though.
Commiserations to Tim for losing the race on the final lap (I'm still fresh from doing the same at Edmonton, so I know how bad that feels) and to Bob who disconnected from the lead with 2 laps to go.
At the very least, I hope SHE will be pleased, because...ALL MY VICTORIES ARE BELONG TO HER!!!
-=Hristo=-
