FIA Nations Round 7
MINI Clubman Vision Gran Turismo
Dragon Trail - Seaside
After a few draws at the high end of the DR in recent races, was happy to be assigned to a lobby with #19. Recognized few of the drivers, some of which I knew to watch out for, and no one I would have hoped to race with, unfortunately. Surprised myself with a 5th place starting position, when I really fouled up the second sector and missed by FP time by a bigger margin than usual, after some decent practice.
Planned on a straightforward 6/7 race on Softs, but as we started racing in the top 5, and pulled away from the rest, with plenty of fuel saved in the first several laps, I decided to go 5/7 S/M and try to use that fuel and better tires at the end to gain a spot or two...
Bad call. The M's were just as wretched as the S's after 5 laps, and I was a sitting duck having given up the track position in the first part of the last stint. I was also held up on the out-lap by a scrum from 9-12 who only then battled each other and me just to dive in the pits... 🤬
Regarding my strategy choice: 1) I don't usually get the ultimate pace out of Softs, though with a FF/AWD car I'm usually a little closer. I thought I'd be nearly as fast on Mediums... I was, but only for a lap or two. 2) I'm actually ok saving tires, I though combined with 1, that I'd have steady pace at well under what people would be running the last several laps, but that was proven wrong when the M's went down to 50% after 5 laps too. 3) I had really saved fuel well the first few laps and thought with decent tires the last few laps I could really gain on people at the end... again... wrong. I'm kinda curious what scenario
@Mistah_MCA would suggest it, since he noted it as an option in his guide (as always... thanks! It's the one thing I look at before running a race, especially if I haven't practiced much).
I ran out of fuel about 100m from the finish line... along with a few others! But a 7th place, at this point, with 121 points and 600 DR to add to my marginal A rating, overall, a successful one-and-done at this fun, but tough race. I like one-spec races! Glad I had won the Mini VGT on a Daily Bonus wheel, one of the few good ones I've won. Good luck to everyone who is still running later tonight. (I think it looks pretty good with the standard KosmoKazi livery applied, too...)