2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

[xxPinkyKissxx]

Yes happy with that and a decent way to sign off for the season!

Annoyingly I would have had my first ever FIA pole position too if it wasn’t for some fool trying to race me through the final esses who was carrying a 3 second penalty with me half a second up on my fastest lap time grrrr, so 4th it was.

I had a blinding start and was into the lead by the time we got to the docks. Kept the lead for first two laps but got passed by a supra and AMG. Lost the slip so was sat in 3rd. 4th in a Beetle finally closed me down and got past. Then there was the beautiful sight of the AMG heading into the pits on lap 9 Up into 3rd and had a lonely race from there on! So pleased I decided to race!

 

[MCL1974]

when you have low expectations....

door number 13, qualifying went okay-ish; 1.57.5 was about halve a second slower then earlier qualifying attempts in the practice lobbies, but was not unhappy in the end. Went for a no-stopper on medium tyres.
Started 10th and was used as a bowlingball at the docks by a car behind me; and SSSSTRIKE!!!!

a lap later I served a 3 second penalty I got at the docks and was then in 17th, in a group with 4 others who were keen on murdering each other. So I stayed in the back and avoided the rolling moshpit. (And thanks to Seth Logan for putting the Sabotage song in my head!)

A few laps later I was left with only an AMG as others crashed and made several overtaking attempts on him, but as soon as I was alongside him he started banging into my side and had to back of to avoid being sent into the walls. Fortunately he and several others further ahead went in to the pits and I was suddenly in a calm place, no one around me, cruising in 4th.

A few of the front runners that pitted earlier overtook me in the final laps but could continue to do relaxed laps and try saving the tyres. Ended up in 8th place and not unhappy with that. Tyres were gone, but still felt like I could keep the Peugeot inder control. Really do love this car!

Hope the coming season has a few better races with mandatory pit stops. And please no standing starts, rolling starts are more idiot proof! Again my thanks to all in this forum for their support and advice!

 

[Zorz]

I didn't have particularly high expectations for this race in the Gr.3 Atenza, as it's slow down the straights and poor from a standing start due to turbo lag. However...

I started P8 after a 1:56.254 in quali (no slipstream), and then had a Jaguar, Chevrolet and a Nissan starting behind me. Oh dear. The start was mental as not only did the cars behind me get a better launch than I did, the Toyota and Nissan in front of me had a worse one. I must have gotten out of the right side of bed this morning though because then this happened putting me up into P4.

I didn't quite have the pace to keep up with the Dodge for long, and a track limits penalty through the docks (why are those limits so sensitive when you still have 2 tyres on the track?!) didn't help either. When I fell out of the slipstream it was very difficult to try to stop the delta to the car behind from coming down.

When all was said and done, I finished P6 for 157 points and a final season total of 348. Since my previous best from an FIA race before this season was about 168 points, finishing the season with an average-per-scoring race that's higher than that? Hell yeah.

 

[Lost Sheltie]

I really like that track, it just causes the right level of chaos

Started 19th after a mishap in qualifying, so just tried to save tires for the first few laps. Managed to work my way up through the field and up to 8th on lap 13, when I took a little bit of a tap from behind that dropped me to 11th. Managed to get back up to 9th in the end, so lot of fun with the close racing. Hope everyone had fun

 

[Tigerhawk87]

In the Jag. Qualified 12th, finished 2nd. 147 points (PB)

Mucked up and got a pen in the docks so had to ditch that lap and fly solo. Ended up a very mediocre 12th.

Get a great launch off the grid and up to 9th after avoiding a slow Renault and BMW along with a fellow Jag who'd been impeded. Down to the docks I move to the right and it paid off. I narrowly avoid the incoming torpedoes and emerge in 4th. Finish the first lap 5th after going wide on the pit hairpin.

Regain 4th and stay there until lap 6, gaining 3rd with an overtake at the hairpin. The leading Supra and second place Beetle pit on the next lap, promoting me to 1st! I'd lose it lap 8 after out breaking myself coming into the docks and exiting the complex in 4th. The 2nd place Ford GT now pits so back into 3rd.

It would stay that way until the final lap. I'm within range of the 2nd place Honda but wait until the hairpin. They defend the inside so round the outside it is. Fortunately I'm able to get on the power a touch earlier and take the position.

Delighted with this result. Best of luck to everyone yet to run or going again.

 

[ChewParker]

What a race! Went in not expecting much with Mercedes here.


Exhibition, season 1, round 6

Tokyo Expressway- South Inner Loop
2nd Slot 8.20pn
Door - 19
Quali - 5th


Had a fairly okay quali, and got some helpfull slipstream from a few. Saw a few familiar Aussie racers too. I surprisingly stuck it in 5th. With 2nd down to 7th roughly covered by only 0.1 seconds.

But in my moment of admiring the closeness of the quali times I forgot to change my tyres from soft to mediums as I heard the no stop was the ideal strat.


As soon as the race intro started I knew I had stuffed up. This was going to be a tough race. Oh well. Let's have some fun and see what happens.


Race

An Aston in front of me bogged it at the start. I take evasive action and get promoted up to 4th.

Coming into the hairpin slipstreaming a fellow Mercedes in front of me to get the inside line of a Nissan. A few people behind me go too deep/get punted. The Nissan driver gets collected. And the other Mercedes and myself manage to get away safely from the carnage.

Up to 3rd now.


I decide to bump draft the Merc but he goes defensive into the 2nd hairpin. I go a little deep around the outside but manage to get a better run out. He must not see me as he squeezes me towards the pit exit barriers. I nudge him a little just so I don't die of Barry R to the face.

I squeeze past and I'm in 2nd


The Aston out in front was seriously quick. He was a good 1.7 seconds faster in quali. So I was pretty sure I wasn't going to give him much of a challenge. I did however keep him honest for a few laps while I had a tyre advantage. Just nipping at his slipstream. But come lap 7 my softs were starting to fade.


The Mercedes in 3rd behind me pitted lap 8. He too must of admired the quali times lol. I watched as he tumbled down the order and out of sight on the grid list. This was what I was fearing when it came time for me to pit. The fighting. I was just hoping I had done enough to stay in front of as many cars as possible.


Lap 9 I came in for mediums and came out just in front of a wild Subaru. I unghosted unfavourably for him and I went to let him pass on my tight as I was following the racing line. He decided that he was going to make an example of me and plough me into the wall. Whatever. I had a big tyre advantage now and that little incident wasn't going to break my concentration.


Coming into the hairpin I go around the outside of him but go a little deep. We go side by side cleanly through the chicken and I end up pulling ahead.

Into 6th.


Now the hunt begins.

With just under 5 laps remaining i have a bit of work to do to catch up and pass as many people as possible. I just try to be as smooth as I can and make sure I get those good exits on to the long straights.


The next few passes are almost all carbon copies of each other as the drivers all protect their inside line. But with such a big grip difference I'm able to scoot around the outside of them cleanly.

By the 2nd to last lap I had caught the Nissan who had worked himself back up to 2nd after he was taken out in the first lap carnage. Again he protects the inside line into the final hairpin and I again go around the outside.

2nd place is mine!


The last lap was a formality for me as there was just no way anyone behind me could keep up with my pace but the driver in the Aston out in first was in a class of his own. 24 - 26 sec up the road and cruising.


I bring home a fantastic 2nd and 180 points. Really happy with this one as I thought I had stuffed up my strat. Luck finally falling my way and I get a really enjoyable final race.


Yes this will be my final race for sometime. As I'm packing up my wheel and my house as the wife and I are moving out of our home and will be renting for 8-9 months while our new house is built.


Thanks all for reading and watching.

Highlight Vid

 

[Adam Barber]

Sounds like there's been some shenanigans going off at the docks, sounds like a wise move for me to miss this round. My arm is sore from the you know what vaccine yesterday anyway. Good luck to those yet to race, looking forward to Laguna Seca myself in the Cayman cup.

 

[OJBrit]

Oh hey I forgot the clocks changed and the race is at 3 rather than 2. Whoops.

Logged on before 2pm and got caught out by this too. Not sure it needed to be changed tbh.

Not as tense as the practice I did a couple of days ago. Thankfully because of the practice I'd say.
As usual I let everyone go first. I also forgot that you will go straight into a qualifying lap until the first sector time popped up. Luckily I wasn't sandbagging but I wasn't going all out either. Then surprisingly I crossed the line with a 1:57.6 to go purple. (My fastest lap of the week.)
I ended up 4th in the end.
Though apparently my lap was 14 days quicker than pole.

Importantly I switch across to Mediums and got the TCS on. However the car barely sprung off the line. I get a love tap from behind. By the time we get to the docks I am 8th as cars swarm past my sluggish car. I brake and end up tapping a GT-R. I hold back and thankfully the melee behind prevents anyone getting past. I am able to keep up with the pack behind. (thanks slipstream.) I pass a couple due to pens and even pass the GT-R with a lovely up and under at the pit hairpin. It was obvious that I was able to throw my car into the final esses no issue. This along with the docks area was my strong suit and I was half held up and half dragged along in the slipstream. A Jag and a F1 were fighting into turn 1. They took each other into the barrier. However there was no space to get around I had to hold station behind. Eventually all those ahead pit and it's me verses the Jag. After a few laps it is apparent that we were the only 2 doing the 1 stop. He starts to pull away but understeer towards the end drags him back into my clutches. Then on the penultimate lap I manage to go side by side into the pit hairpin. He takes the inside and covers off the apex brilliantly. I am right on him into the esses. I ease off the gas early but he brakes (which I wasn't expecting.) I tap him. In an effort to stay behind I follow him into the barrier and loose more time than him. By the end of the last lap I had caught up a second to be 0.8 seconds behind to come home 2nd.

I apologise at the end and congratulate him on a close race. I'm not sure how it panned out behind but everyone running in a pack at the front seemed to play cleanly. It's a narrow track so some bumps are to be expected but there was no punting or wall swiping to be seen.

The Frenchman who had been leading seemed surprised we had done a no stop. I said we could but the tyres were dead. In fact they seemed to handle a lot better than they did at the practice lobby. A couple of squirms but I never felt any danger of spinning out.
Happy with the result and I go above 100 points for the season.

 

[Famine]

That was faintly mince.

Got Haased in qualy by a numbnuts who passed me on the warm up lap then just blocked the rest of it. Started 20th after a corner-cut penalty on my clean lap, was 8th by the end of lap two as everyone had massive crashes and penalties, ended up 9th after accidentally passing a Toyota FT-1 who was then a massive tosser about it and kept trying to rear-end me off at both the big braking points, only to both be passed by an Aston who was sticking his car in totally stupid places, and then the Aston and Toyota spent the rest of the race bouncing off each other while we were all catching 6th instead of racing properly to catch and pass 6th. Ended up with an 8s gap to 10th behind me, as he apparently kept getting penalties.

I was second of the non-penaltied drivers Same points as my first race, more or less, so one and done. RX-Vision isn't quick here!

 

[stpatty]

Started 2nd. Pole (who I fought through the field with last time) made an awful start (think he forgot to put traction control back on) but I was in 2nd coming out of turn 1 and feeling good and then of course this happens:

Ended up 11th then quickly 10th after someone served a penalty, then spent the rest of the race working my way back up.

Pole had re-taken the lead by this point and was followed by a Corvette I'd dropped in the previous race on my way back through, an Aston who was also in my last race who started on softs and pitted for some reason and @Winnie847, who presumably went through that first docks section holding a cigar and a glass of brandy while laughing at everyone in the wall. Once it was just me and Winnie we tried working together to catch the Supra ahead but it wasn't going to happen

If I could survive the first lap I'm pretty certain I could make a much better attempt at winning this race. With my DR now at 40.8k I'd be in for a lot more points next time too, but I don't think it's worth the stress. Standing starts in Manu are a bit stupid, standing starts on this track are a death wish.

 

[Winnie847]

Started 2nd. Pole (who I fought through the field with last time) made an awful start (think he forgot to put traction control back on) but I was in 2nd coming out of turn 1 and feeling good and then of course this happens:

View attachment 1002015

Ended up 11th then quickly 10th after someone served a penalty, then spent the rest of the race working my way back up.

Pole had re-taken the lead by this point and was followed by a Corvette I'd dropped in the previous race on my way back through, an Aston who was also in my last race who started on softs and pitted for some reason and @Winnie847, who presumably went through that first docks section holding a cigar and a glass of brandy while laughing at everyone in the wall. Once it was just me and Winnie we tried working together to catch the Supra ahead but it wasn't going to happen

View attachment 1002016

If I could survive the first lap I'm pretty certain I could make a much better attempt at winning this race. With my DR now at 40.8k I'd be in for a lot more points next time too, but I don't think it's worth the stress. Standing starts in Manu are a bit stupid, standing starts on this track are a death wish.

Great driving and what a comeback! Congrats man!

I’m struggling in this M6 but it’s tires are just a little better than most other cars toward the end of the race. That first lap I went from 12th to 3rd at the dock, it was hilarious! Fun racing with you. I just need to get this qualy lap sorted out for my races later.

 

[OJBrit]

So who here isn't coming 2nd?

 

[DK]

I somehow managed to line up 8th despite my M6 being 2 seconds off the polesitting GT-R's pace. 8th became 7th without turning a wheel as someone ahead either quit or got DC'd, but I was unable to take advantage of the free space ahead as I got slammed into the T1 barriers, and got a penalty for good measure. Thankfully I made up for it by braking on time for T3 unlike half of the cars ahead, and managed to hold onto 5th by the time I served my penalty. I managed to pick off a pair of default skinned Mazda Atenzas in the following laps without any drama.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of starting on Softs, so I had to pit on Lap 11. That's when I had all of my fun sapped away, as I had to fight my way back from 14th. Whatever straight line advantage the Beemer had was useless against weaving wankers who thought nothing of squeezing me against the wall. I somehow avoided any further BS penalties to climb back up to 7th by the end. Oh, and the polesitter won by a country mile.

 

[GR33N]

First 2 slots in the Genesis: twice last on the grid because I couldn't find a slipstream partner -> 16th and 19th at the end -> 3000 DR lost -> worst races ever (as far as I can remember) both in terms of pace and driving standards -> see you in a few weeks in the official season (with a different manu ), hopefully with a Penalty System update.

 

[Benay79]

Just got beat to pole as someone came out the pits just as I cane round the hairpin and blocked me on my quick lap. Got a good start and had already pulled out a second gap by the time I came out the docs. Pulled away from there up to a gap of about 8 seconds. Then all but a couple of cars behind pitted so it ended up being a comfortable win in the end. Lexus felt nice on this track until last 2 laps which was like ice skating

 

[Seth_Logan]

I didn't have particularly high expectations for this race in the Gr.3 Atenza, as it's slow down the straights and poor from a standing start due to turbo lag. However...

I started P8 after a 1:56.254 in quali (no slipstream), and then had a Jaguar, Chevrolet and a Nissan starting behind me. Oh dear. The start was mental as not only did the cars behind me get a better launch than I did, the Toyota and Nissan in front of me had a worse one. I must have gotten out of the right side of bed this morning though because then this happened putting me up into P4.

I didn't quite have the pace to keep up with the Dodge for long, and a track limits penalty through the docks (why are those limits so sensitive when you still have 2 tyres on the track?!) didn't help either. When I fell out of the slipstream it was very difficult to try to stop the delta to the car behind from coming down.

When all was said and done, I finished P6 for 157 points and a final season total of 348. Since my previous best from an FIA race before this season was about 168 points, finishing the season with an average-per-scoring race that's higher than that? Hell yeah.

Nice clip. What was the name of the song playing?

So who here isn't coming 2nd?

My wife gets very frustrated about that particular fact sometimes

 

[OJBrit]

Nice clip. What was the name of the song playing?

He uses the in house playlist. In the first few seconds of the song it tells you what is playing in the bottom left corner of the screen.

My wife gets very frustrated about that particular fact sometimes

 

[Zorz]

He uses the in house playlist. In the first few seconds of the song it tells you what is playing in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Aye, just the game's regular soundtrack. Nothing overly fancy on my end, just streaming the game as-is via a capture card while doing FIA races.

 

[Stoobert]

So who here isn't coming 2nd?

Me. The braking on the McLaren F1 is atrocious compared to the other cars so in both slots I have been murdered at the docks by people not expecting me to brake where I do. First race I qualified 10th and decided to try the 1-stop Soft/Med and got a massive boost off the line and in to P1 by the end of the first lap. There was a Chevvy who was doing the no-stop and rather than work with me to push ahead (we were 3-4 seconds clear of 3rd) he decided to start fighting. This brought the rest of the grid (who were saving) back in to contention meaning when it was time to pit, I came out behind nearly everyone. Medium stint was going well and I started to make places back through the pack from raw the raw grunt of the Pocket Rocket only to be sent in to the wall at the docs. The physics engine then decided to be an absolute 🤬 and wouldn't let me off the wall I was planted on (wanted to spin in the opposite direction that physics said it should, so turned the wheel and it decided that it wanted to go back the ORIGINAL direction.... grr). For all this effort I also picked up barrier collision penalties meaning I finished dead last.

Second race I again qualified 10th and went for the no-stop. I got spun at the docks lap 1. I decided to push a little harder than I should and the fighting in front coupled with again, the raw grunt soon saw me back in the slipstream. Penalites, pits, and consistent driving saw me move back up the order to 9th where I stayed for most of the rest of the race. On the last lap out of the docks, a Lexus with fresh tyres overtook me and joined the four-way battle in front (Lexus, Mitsubishi, Mercedes and Porsche). A good (relative term given the wear) exit off the red stuff ensured I had a slipstream entering the tunnel. I watched as they went through the initial right/left two abreast, and the Lexus decided he'd rather barge his way through than wait to use those superior tyres at the hairpin. This barge sent the Mercedes in to the wall before the final right-hander who then bounced off in to the path of the Mitsubishi and Porsche, taking all three of them out. I anticipated there would be problems and backed off enough to take advantage and overtake all three, cementing an 8th place.

I am not happy with both races considering they were nearly 30 seconds slower than my pace in a private lobby, so now after a few beers I'll see if I want to join the last slot.

 

[Hasnain282]

Just completing my 2 race quota. Anything above last I'll take

 

[crusselz]

So who here isn't coming 2nd?

Thankfully I actually joined the club, lol.

Door 16
Q6

Absolutely chaotic start, the Atenza is terrible off the line. Lost 2 positions.

Down to P8, needless to say, the docks played a major role in what happened next. Hugged the inside, but still got pushed, Unfortunately there was another car that bore the brunt of the impact. Leaving the docks, was up to P4.

The next lap, I was overtaken by a Portuguese driver, I've raced before. So down to P5.

P3 and P4 collide, that put me right in-between them. As soon as we got on the straight coming to the hairpin, I pulled out of the way, to avoid being collateral damage. Sure enough they completely took each other out.

Running in P3 now. The leader goes in to the pits. Up to P2. With P3 slowly pulling me in.

Lap 13, The audi in P3 has me lined up, figured it wasn't worth fighting, so let him by, hoping to hang on to his slipstream and come home with P3. Guess the slipstream he had from me, caught him out. He crashed in to the wall at the docks.

Finished P2
151 points
Dr +1600

 

[Hasnain282]

Was put on the back foot at the beginning as I understeered into a wall penalty, after that I just tried to make up what I could and in the end was higher than I thought I'd be

 

[Stoobert]

Decided to do the last race with a few beers down my neck. Qualified 3rd, just a few hundreths off pole which was definitely my best qualifying lap today. Got off the line brilliantly but made a slight mistake in to turn one which let 4th past, but without the slipstream I retained my 3rd position going in to the docks... Where for the third race in a row I was punted brutally in to the docks. Recovered with a barrier penalty only to be hit by someone in 15th who was also punted which span me around. Last place AGAIN. Spent the rest of the race getting put in to the barriers by a Mitsubishi who was frustrated with not being able to pass me on the straights so dived in to me on the bends. All the punting and sliding meant the tyres were shot lap 14 so spent the last 2 laps just fighting to keep the car in a straight line.

Penalty system in old state: Erroneous penalties all round. Penalty system in current state, get booted in to the barriers get a penalty for wall colision. Perpertrator gets off scott free.

I'm not doing the Laguna race on Wednesday as today has made me start questioning GT Sport again. Couple that with doing 4 weeks of in-patient post-COVID rehab in May, I may just now vanish until the summer.

 

[crusselz]

Decided to hop on my FIA account and give this combo a shot again. Same DR as my other account, so up against many of the people from the previous race.

Not much to report. Qualified further back, got off to a worse start, but thank goodness for the docks once again.



Brought it home in P5. For 132 points.

Not the best result, but a little bit of repair work, after the Bathurst disconnection that cost me some DR.

EDIT: @Stoobert you were in the same lobby. Sorry didn't know the name beforehand.

 

[joetoml1n]

L1 at the docks is crazy. Even in decent point scoring lobbies, people can't get that right.
I just decided to play it smart, stick to the RHS and let them all cruise down the outside and into the wall.


Ended up P3. The BMW has no top end, as soon as I loose the tow it's like running through treacle.

 

[Stoobert]

Decided to hop on my FIA account and give this combo a shot again. Same DR as my other account, so up against many of the people from the previous race.

Not much to report. Qualified further back, got off to a worse start, but thank goodness for the docks once again.



Brought it home in P5. For 132 points.

Not the best result, but a little bit of repair work, after the Bathurst disconnection that cost me some DR.

EDIT: @Stoobert you were in the same lobby. Sorry didn't know the name beforehand.

Glad to see you managed to survive it, but damn the divebombing even from that far back >.<

I wanted to get on the right, but the mistake forced me to the left hand side.

 

[challenger001]

We qualified of the back of the Gr.4 car. The Gr.3 car was useless back then. Hyundai as a manufacturer is very bipolar. At some track the Genesis' can be one of the best cars, and then you get to a different track and the cars will be useless.

I mean you could argue that's what happened in 2020 with Audi and Volkswagen - they got in because of the Gr4s, and in the tours (done in the Gr3s), they were nowhere?

 

[barak181]

Great. First FIA race in weeks and the pit bug hits qualifying. Qualifying also never wants to end.

This should happen at a World Tour event. Maybe then they'll fix it.

 

[Rotary_Pilot]

Well, that was an interesting race, especially through the first two laps.

95 points on offer, door 10.

With the chaos at DR B, I decided to go out for Q last and alone and it paid off. Since you get into the first hotlap quick, I was able to run a solid first lap that had me sitting P5. Second lap I pushed, still alone and was feeling good until someone came out of the pits, across the pit stripe and right in front. There was enough time I wasn't sure when he would unghost so took a little weave around but still managed to improve and set a time for P3.

I had a great start, into P2 right off the bat. Standard bumping and banging through the docks, but I survived only down to 5th. Lap 2 the porsche that's been in my slip pulls out to pass at the pit hairpin, but brakes way too late even for the softs they were on, I just wait and turn underneath with a great exit to break the slip.

After that I ended up lapping by myself until pitting started at L6. No stop for me, and up into 3rd. 1st and 2nd are gapping me by .8 per lap, but I am gapping 4th by .5 a lap, and consistent and steady. P2 who has a 7s gap on me pits L10. No hope of catching P1 so settle in. Guy who was P2 ran M to start so comes out of the pits on S and screams through the field, catching me out of the docks on the last lap. No point in fighting, at this point he's 3s a lap faster.

Finish on the podium for 83 pts best positions and points of the season.

One and done.

 

[GTWolverine]

In spite of qualifying a few tenths slower than what I'd been able to do in practice race, I managed to start 7th. Had I set a time comparable with practice, I could've started around 4th, which would've been beneficial giving what happened at the start...

The polesitter (also in a Corvette) outqualified 2nd by over 0.2s, so I figured he'd run away with it and I'd finish last of the Corvettes regardless of where I finished. Of course the polesitter jumped the start and caused a pileup behind him. I got knocked down to 12th briefly before reclaiming a spot in the Top 10 after T1, then managed to get up to 5th after chaos inevitably unfolded at the docks. I eventually dropped to 7th or 8th. I gained 1 spot after someone ahead pitted, then another at some point after someone unseen ahead of me disconnected (I think? Maybe I passed them after they crashed and didn't notice). I then found myself staring at a pack that included 3rd place. The polesitting Corvette messed up the esses and I got to the inside at the final corner. He then ran me into the inside wall on the front straight, for which I promptly returned the favor at the outside wall at T1. I was up to 4th at this point, with an Aston in 5th pushing me down the straights. We eventually caught and passed 3rd, then 2nd on the start of the last lap. I was now looking at 2nd place and over 250 points, but the 3rd place Aston that had been pushing me had better tires and got by me at the docks. I unfortunately also lost one more spot at the hairpin when the Aston I'd just passed for 2nd somehow found enough grip to drive around the outside of the hairpin despite me easily catching and passing earlier in the lap. In the end I finished 4th, but could've had 2nd (realistically 3rd). In fact, I probably could've won this on pace if not for getting caught up at the start. Still, it was my best finish and points score of the season with 230, improving my total by 17 points.