Participants: 8
Qualifying: P4
Race: P5
Objective: Finish 8th or better PASSED
Qualifying:
Run 1 Dry qualifying. Went out on primes. 2 warmup laps, 2 hot laps, and an in lap, good for P4. I decided I wanted to go out one more time. Run 2 I put on fresh primes and, as I was short on time, did 1 warmup and a hot before the checkers waved. I improved a bit but stayed P4. My best qualifying result up until this session was P7 so I was very happy with 4th! Primes were at 91% so I was in good shape for the race. Have to wonder where I would have been on options, but I know a long first stint is my only chance to try and get something over on the 3 guys ahead of me.
Race:
Laps 1-3 I have great pace out of the gate. I'm able to take P3 away from Giles for a few laps but...Lap 4 Giles is back within 1 second. Lap 5 I make a mistake not covering the inside better on the straight after turn 2 and Giles gets the inside. Going around turn 3 I don't have as much room as I think and make contact with Giles, which sends me for a wee spin and drops me back to P4, but I get things right quickly and press on without losing any more positions, pulling away from Dizz behind me in P5. Lap 9 I jump FrenziedSine and Jaegermeister while they are pitted to take P2. This is the highest position I have ever had in a race. My pace is usually not quick enough to stay within the delta by the first pit cycle. Lap 10 I then jump Giles while he is pitted to take over the race lead! This is the first time I have ever led any laps in a race!!! Lap 12 Jaegermeister has caught up, but I do a good job keeping him behind me until I pull into the pits at the end of the lap for another set of primes. I debated going to options here, but I knew that some of the guys I had jumped had fitted primes and likewise some of my direct competition that were back a ways were going on a shorter option stint so I felt it wise to run long again while the car was still reasonably heavy and I would have less of a time disadvantage. I am P4 again after my stop. Lap 25 Pit stop for options. P4 held. I will have to make another stop before the end. Lap 32 Benny has been within 3 seconds of me since about lap 27. As we come around to start/finish he pits and I punch it wanting to gap him as much as I can for my planned stop at the end of the next lap. I figure this is better than coming out of the pits together. Lap 33 Last pit stop, for another set of options. Lap 34 I come out of the pits RIGHT in front of benny. I thwart him down the straight after turn 2, but I make another defending mistake by not staying wide out of turn 3 to cover the inside going to 4. He goes by on the inside and I drop to P5. At the end of the lap, I get a little gift when the lag gremlins put him back behind me lol. Lap 35 Benny gets a clean DRS pass on me down the first long straight, not much I can do. I kick it to mix 3 to try and chase him down. Laps 36-37 I get DRS on benny both laps, but its not quite enough to catch him. I have some opportunities when he makes a few mistakes here and there, but his acceleration out of the turns is just a tad better than mine. Lap 38 benny is getting away. Lap 41 Race finish, and I finish on the lead lap for the first time!
The only thing about this race that was a disappointment for me was dropping the one position from where I qualified. In the end though, I don't think there was much I could do about it. I'm not sure that the 3rd stop was necessarily what cost me, as I know at least one of the guys on the podium did 3 stops as well. I think benny really was just that little bit faster and it caught up to me by race end. Hard to feel bad about it when I had so many other great things happen that were real improvements like qualifying a personal best 4th, actually leading the race at one point, and being sufficiently fast to finish on the lead lap. All very very good things that combined to make it my best race so far.
Race Department Random Fun League Stats
Starts: 2
Finishes: 2
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P5 (x2)
Podiums: 0
Wins: 0
Points: 20
League Table Rank: 5th of 10
ABS/TC/Auto Gears/Dynamic Racing Line/Penalties Realistic/Damage Full/Tire Sim/Fuel Sim
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Race Department Lifetime Club Stats
Starts: 4
Finishes: 3
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P5 (x2)
Podiums: 0
Wins: 0
Points: 21
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