Since I was away during the last round at Sardegna, I will start this post with a quick summary of my points finishes in Manufacturers Season 1. Completed the season with a total of 930 points (5th at Lago Maggiore, 6th at Nürburgring 24H, 4th at Laguna Seca and 2nd + pole at Spa), which were good enough to finish 7th for Subaru and 209th overall in EMEA. An excellent first half of the main campaign.
Having read through the schedule for Season 2, I'm genuinely excited for most of the Gr.3 rounds coming up where I've already picked up great results in the WRX (Red Bull Ring, Brands Hatch GP) or last season with the mid-engined Ford GT LM (Blue Moon Bay). I have a feeling the WRX could also be strong around Tsukuba and possibly at Lago Maggiore as well if the straight-line speed differentials don't hurt it too much.
Interlagos is another track where I can get good results with the right car, and I distinctly remember the Gr.4 Mazda being particularly strong on the infield complex there. It was this reasoning, coupled with the need to log a decent score early in case anything bad happens in Gr.3, that convinced me to bring the pink WRX to Brazil. The problem is that the Gr.4 car is still not the kindest machine on front tyres with x6 multipliers, which forced me to experiment with brake balance settings and tyre strategies to help mitigate the wear for racing conditions. In the end, I was able to set a 1:35.698 in Free Practice and complete a number of sub-30:15 test races, which was more than enough to make me feel comfortable attempting the 17:00 EMEA slot.
17:00 Manufacturers
Got drawn with
@Hasnain282 and Wifi Password for the first time in a while, along with a few other fast names I recognised from testing and previous rounds. Qualifying was another case of looking after my tyres on the out lap before setting brake balance to -1 and going for it. Set a tidy 1:36.798 to start 6th with minimal drama. Front row was locked out by two Sciroccos; as I made my way round on the second lap, I began noticing that the majority of the grid were switching to Mediums.
Experience from testing suggested that starting on Softs would give me an early advantage, but result in the tyres dropping off mid-stint and (in most cases) forcing me to pit earlier. Mediums, on the other hand, would leave me vulnerable to cars fighting behind in the early stages, but guarantee less wear and a faster car in the second stint providing that I remained gentle with steering and braking inputs. Lap times had been fairly consistent between each compound, and in the end I decided to start on Mediums for a half-and-half strategy as I found that this suited the WRX best.
I fully expected Wifi Password and the Greek TT Cup to be immediately on the attack, but found myself pulling away quickly as they fought each other instead and the TT picked up a track limits penalty at Descida do Lago. This allowed me to concentrate on following the Lancer Evo, the first of two Ferraris (on Softs) and the M4 who beat me at Spa last time out. The Evo initially lost out in the resulting scuffle, but on Lap 4 the M4 suffers a worse fate by trimming a little too much out of the Senna S apexes. Almost immediately after picking up a 1-second penalty, he pulls to the centre of the track, ghosts and waves the Evo and myself through before quitting half-way into the lap. What followed next was a close and clean battle with the Evo which results in me surging up into 4th on slightly healthier Mediums.
Already, things were looking fantastic for the Soft stint, and the chance to fight for a podium again was growing stronger as I closed the gap on the Joker's Scirocco. By the half-way point, I had the potential to snatch the temporary lead, but decided to hang back as to not compromise his own strategy or to let the Evo take advantage of any time lost. The Ferrari and the Halfords Scirocco got a jump by pitting a lap earlier, as did Wifi Password who, as I later found out, traded in his Mediums on Lap 5 (!). This was a major surprise to me as I had expected him to peel off into the pits for a few laps. Gradually, I got close up to the Alfa until he decided to let me pass on Lap 14 on the run down to Descida do Lago.
The Ferrari (who I got on well with in test lobbies) was next up the road, and seemingly desperate to cling onto his 3rd position. By desperate, I mean he was prepared to weave across Reta Oposta and park himself on the apexes so that I didn't get the run down the inside. At any point, Wifi Password could have slipped past so it was fairly intense trying to make sure he didn't catch me out while we were bundled together in this short train. To further complicate things, on Lap 16 the Evo misses his braking point for the Senna S and clouts the side of the Ferrari. He backs out immediately as an admission of his mistake and for a while seemed to settle in the background as I continued pressuring the struggling Ferrari. Wifi Password also started piling more pressure which forced me to become more defensive through the infield.
Last lap, the Ferrari cuts me off as we exit Curva do Sol, then lifts off part-way through Curva do Laranjinha while at the same time blocking the inside line. This allows the Evo to dive up my inside at Turn 8, though I was able to fend him off by covering the apex at Pinheirinho. By Merghulho, the Ferrari again lifts off and swerves to the inside; I was completely boxed in at this point as the Evo swept and pulled off a seemingly impossible move around the outside. To make matters worse, the second Ferrari (who started 11th on the grid) appears out of nowhere and pulls alongside me between turns 12 and 13! I am back down in 6th with only two corners to go and only just manage to hold on in front of Wifi Password as we follow 3rd-5th home.
Frustrated to lose out on a certain Top 5 finish like this, but at the same time I can't let that take too much away from what was another fantastically competitive outing in Gr.4. Fighting for podiums at 57-58K DR was not something I had expected with the aforementioned tyre issues at play, but to give the WRX credit, it managed the fronts well enough for wear to not be an issue against the other cars I fought with. Qualifying and racing laps were comparable with the best I managed in testing, so I'm not complaining about a lack of pace, either. While I'm certain 3rd or 4th would have been achievable under ideal circumstances, I'm still happy to take home 225 points as it should give me a useful head start before the crucial Gr.3 rounds.
