Moderator's Report
Round 5 and we enter the former Czecholslovakia and find ourselves in the cobbled delights of Brno. This street and country circuit is just a Sunday drive. Cobbled streets, cornfields, walled gardens and all at a 100 mph. One word – difficult.
Qualifying was notable for the fact that it was really hard to set a lap, let alone get a good time so goodness knows how the championship leaders whizzed round in under six minutes. Lucky there wasn’t a 107% rule in place or the grid would have been very thin indeed. There would have been precisely 5 drivers racing. As it was eleven drivers had driven in qualifying but unfortunately Rogerio was to disco before the start. The race start was delayed somewhat as drivers who beat the chequered flag weren’t exactly nippy round the circuit. Some seven minutes after the qualifying finished we were ready to go.
Would anyone challenge Tim and Hristo up front? Basically No.
Tim got an excellent start and shot past an unusually slow starting H. They showed a clean pair of heels to the rest of the field and settled down to their customary battle. It was close for the first four into the hamlet of Troubsko (that is probably pronounced Trouble!). Goran was slightly further back and Fulvio, Juha and Phil were a little bit further back still. Juha and Phil had been held up by Badblood who had clearly not found the choke...
It was when they got back into the countryside that things got interesting...
Tim and H went on their merry way but Raoni decided to experiment with weaving in and out of the trees. This clearly distracted Goran who decided to follow suit. As he was coming to earth on the right side of the right hand side of the track he was overtakne by Nigel going backwards somewhat further right. Nigel managed to get back on track but sideways and on the left. Raoni decided sticking to the tarmac might make better sense and drove off. Goran reversed himself out of trouble startling a fast approaching Fulvio who weaved between the Swede and the stricken Waza. Juha waltzed through and Phil then joined the party. Badblood, who had been tuning the radio, looking for ‘The Archers’ was somewhat surprised to find Goran and Phil in his way (he thought they were long gone and decided to give this driving through the trees lark a go.
Generally, driving off the track is not the quickest way and this left the leaders away and gone. Clive, who had been close managed in true Clive style to get it sideways and span which gave Raoni a chance to catch up. Raoni and Clive still managed to clock respectable lap times despite the less than perfect lines. Unfortunately Clives addiction to grass continued at the Start/Finish line and he found that the magic melting haybales would allow your front wheel to straddle the trackside objects but wouldn’t allow you back. This let Raoni back through into third but a fair way back of the leading duo.
Badblood had had his own trip into the ‘melting objects’ but unlike Clive he didn’t give up and managed with a lot of revving and wheel sawing to free his whale. Unfortunately it had put too much of a strain on the engine and after his 8 and a half minute lap he had to retire on lap two. Still he did catch up on the goings on at Brookfield (don’t worry – if you don’t listen to Radio 4 you will have no idea what the Archers is).
Goran found that his engine too had had enough as he started lap two and he rolled sadly into retirement.
Nigel had not even made the full lap having had an incident packed half lap. So one lap gone and more than half the field retired.
As lap three starts then it is Tim and H from Raoni miles ahead of the others... but H is now leading as Tim has had a spin in the esses just outside Zebetin. H has a lead of eight seconds and Tim leads his Brazilian foe by eighteen. The rest are struggling round on lap two.
Juha, Phil and Fulvio are battling round but by the S/F Fulvio is a full two minutes down. The pace up front is relentless. Tim and H battle on with Raoni slightly further back and that is how it stays.
Lap 4: Where has the Brazilian gone? Raoni has nibbled one kerb too many and at the sharp right hander just after entering Zebetin, he has found a very solid hay bale. Race over.
So now it is a straight fight between Tim and H for the win and they are very close with H having the advantage in town and Tim seeming to be able to close in the countryside. Juha is in a comfortable third, Phil next and Fulvio is a distant but safe fifth.
After twenty minutes hard racing H finds a slippy patch of cobbles just next to the long wall on the left in the outskirts of Brno itself. Clive had earlier come to grief at the exact same place. H has time to perform a three point donut and get himself pointing the right way when Tim shoots through. H sets off in chase and it isn’t long before he gets a chance. Tim nearly loses it at the chicane after the long wall and H closes. Next village and H gets a really good exit out of the last cobbled turn and passes Tim easily but Tim has the slipstream and between the earth walls he regains first. That is how lap four ends.
Of the five remaining one will not see lap 6. Phil finds that he too cannot extract himself from a very flimsy looking fence. It is an oddity of this track that you don’t bounce off the objects but they can trap you. Frustrating for the Ferrari man.
As lap 5 starts H attacks Tim with a brave dive down the inside as they hit the cobbles at Troubsko. Tim counter attacks when they get to the esses where he had spun earlier but to no avail. They stay close until frustratingly H disconnects which hands Tim the win. The race (and H) deserved better.
Juha has built up a very handy lead over Fulvio but his engine decides it has had enough on lap 8 and he has to watch as he is replaced in second place by Fulvio who has put in a steady performance with good solid lapping. No heroics but a well earned second.
So only four score points. Thank goodness that we do not come here too often. Fast countryside mixed with twisty town sections – its very tough. Anyone know what the Sachsenring is like – whats that – “Fast countryside mixed with twisty town sections”. Oh
Driver of the day – Full Metal Gasket – cracking driving and a fantastic victory.
Paul "Badblood" Whitfield
No incidents were reported
Server replay time: 0h02m49s
After some grass driving and a haybal struggle Göran is back on the track with a slow car ahead when Phil is comming in full speed from behind. Göran does not check his mirrors and just turns left to pass the slow car. Phil has nowhere to go but the grass.
Inconsiderate Bad Rejoin: Penalty 1 Places + 1 places for first lap incident.
