Team: Lotus
Participants: 5 + 7 Legend AI
Qualifying: P5
Race: P3
Objective: Finish 11th or better PASSED
Qualifying:
I set my best lap on the first of two runs on primes doing one hot lap. 1:16.420 gave me P4 up until the very end when benny nipped me for that spot, dropping me to P5, last place among the human drivers.
Race:
Lap 1 Spin coming through the first corner after some minor contact with Giles. The rebound off of him in concert with my trying to accelerate ruined traction and around I went. I DID come into the turn hotter than I wanted. Unfamiliar car + wet setup + high fuel = oops. All of us coming in there 4 wide probably didn't help either but of course I was the only one that spun out *sigh*. Really must learn how not to continue having this problem. I righted myself pretty quick and press on in P12, dead last. Then benny wrecks out in the final turn! P11. Lap 2 I'm finishing my pass on Schumie (AI) for P10 just as the safety car is deployed and I get a drive through penalty for passing under safety car. UGH. Lap 4 Safety car goes in, and I dive for the pits to serve my drive through. Drop back to P11, dead last again. Lap 9 Get the DRS pass on Schumie (AI) AND Maldonado (AI) to claim P9. Lap 10 I've caught up to Giles and start pursuing through traffic. Lap 11 DRS pass on Massa (AI) for P8 but I overcook it going into turn 1 and go wide and he takes the position back. I finally get him for good entering the chicane. Lap 12 DRS pass on Webber (AI), but again too hot into turn 1 and I get into contact with Rosberg (AI) as he turns in on me and have another spin, which drops me to P10. Lap 13 Catch pitting drivers to claim P6. Lap 14 Catch Massa (AI) when he pits for P5. Lap 15 Pit stop. I ask for another set of primes instead of the scheduled options to make sure I don't have to stop again before the rain comes. Drop to P9. Lap 17 Pass on Schumie (AI) for P8. Lap 18 DRS pass on Webber (AI) for P7. Lap 19 DRS pass on Hamilton (AI), but he gets it back when I get wide through turn one after he hits me going aggressively inside. Scary moment as I come up on and thankfully drive through a ghosted crashed car. Now P6. Lap 20 DRS pass on Hamilton (AI) and this time I make it stick through turn one to take P5. Rain drops start to fall. Lap 23 DRS pass on Alonso (AI) for P4. Lap 24 Its getting pretty wet, so I decide its time to pit for inters. Drop to P8. Lap 25 Pass Hamilton (AI) for P7. Lap 26 Massa (AI) goes buggy and I drive through him (!!!), but he gets back in front of me as we exit onto start/finish. Lap 27 Finally get the pass on Massa (AI) at turn 1 for P6. Webber (AI) ahead spins out and I drive safely through his ghosted car (but it scared the buhjeezus out of me!) to pass him and take P5. Lap 29 Pass Alonso (AI) while he's pitted to take P4. I am last among the remaining human drivers, but my pace is really good now that its wet. Lap 37 I've been slowly reeling in Giles when something happens to him (he took his wing off battling AI driver) and I blow past to take P3!!! He goes into the pits for repairs at the end of the lap while I carry on. Lap 39 I've got the delta over Giles and I make my last pit stop of the race for a set of fresh inters. I come back out still in front of Giles in P3 by 20+sec. Lap 42 Giles behind me in P4 destroys his car. I had accumulated and was maintaining about 24sec gap over him since my stop. Lap 52 I finish 1 lap down, but ON THE PODIUM!!! WOO!!! FIRST PODIUM WITH MY CLUB, FIRST MULTIPLAYER PODIUM EVER!!! YEEEE-HAAAWWW!!!
I do wish that it had been a more, shall we say, "honest" podium. Even being able to race Giles to the end would have done the trick in spite of the small grid since he usually beats me. The two humans I beat both had DNFs, and after they were out, the AI was no threat at all. BUT...benny's crash is something that happens in real life, and Giles crashed out due to a controller disconnect, which is the same as a mechanical. Giles taking his wing off on the AI a couple times tho? Legit mistakes that I took advantage of. I'm not sure that he would have caught me after I passed him, had he not wrecked. And I'm not so sure that I wouldn't have caught him anyway, sans wing losses. I had such good pace even in the dry, and especially once it got wet, that I think I could have challenged for P2 against Jaegermeister, if not for the spins, the one involving Rosberg in particular, and penalty setting me back. FrenziedSine (the winner) was on another planet with his pace though lol. Ah well. Part of racing is being able to take advantage of whatever luck is thrown your way, and I was certainly able to do that. After spending most of the race thinking I wasn't even going to beat all of the AI drivers, which would have been massively humiliating, it was still a sweet podium, and I think a heck of a drive. I was super fast once the rain came. I think P3 or P2 is what I had the pace for and about what I deserved if I had made no mistakes. Rainmeister? Perhaps I am. I'm certainly starting to think of myself as the comeback kid.
Race Department Random Fun League Stats
Starts: 4
Finishes: 3
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P3
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 35
League table rank: 6th of 10
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Race Department Lifetime Club Stats
Starts: 7
Finishes: 5
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P3
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 44
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