FIA Exhibition 2020-2021 Season 2
Manufacturers Cup - Round 7
The Nurburgring Nordschleife (YES!)
Gr4 - Porsche Cayman Clubsport GT4
Was again just hoping for a solid top-10. This race was going to be about qualifying well with only the one shot for a hot lap, and then not making mistakes while protecting your position.
Drew #20 in a nice lobby with
@afc5150 (who I knew would be fast, in his alt account) and
@Master Weasel, along with some other familiar names. A sketchy driver or two, to avoid if possible, as well, including one that someone gave a clear warning about... which was helpful as I needed to heed the caution during my race later.
Was first out of the pits for qualifying... that was nice. Protected the tires while warming them up, and put in a conservative but overall solid lap, with a couple of record-best segments and too many other slower segments, but still was satisfied with 8th.
Was running decently, pressured for a bit by a VW, who eventually took himself out on the first lap, but then lost the draft up the hill, and was overtaken by the two behind me, including one of the potentially race-busters. Sure enough, he was driving with poor sportsmanship, so I resigned to letting him do whatever damage he wanted to the cars in front, but I wasn't going to engage. One of his dirty tricks, however, is to back up into you on corner entry, to force you to stand down even further.
But I avoided any problems and was running 7th or 8th on lap two, with a nearly 5 second lead on the guy behind. From there, an Aston that had been bothered by the aforementioned guy, made a mistake in the carousel, which prompted me to lose my own bearings and make one too... until I was at a stop in the infield...
By the time I recovered, I looked in the mirror and thought it was clear, but I nearly took out
@Master Weasel ...sorry, man! must have had you cursing as you cleared me! But I held up the guys behind him and hoped for a tow on the final straight to finish better than I was... unfortunately, I lost his tow, and allowed another VW behind me to catch mine, which left me defenseless heading into the final sequence of turns... we had a good strong side by side row but both clean drivers, and ultimately I had to yield. Nearly got him again on the last turn, but there's just not enough room there to finish a move, so we finished overlapped at the line, me in 10th.
So I got that top-10 I targeted, though it was disappointing as I lost positions in the race and made a dumb mistake in doing so. The points are a little better than my prior 4th-best, so it might help me move up slightly, but I threw away 20 or 30 more with the gaffe at the Karousel. That's racing...
Gained a hundred or So DR, and kept my 99 SR rating. Could have been better, but given that it was a top-10, don't think I'm going to re-try it later. Been trying to stick with the 'live with it' approach and not expect to run again when things don't go perfectly. Plus, in a higher rated room, probably a cheap way to collect the 105 points. Good luck at Fuji and Lago Maggiore in the next round, everyone.
; he amde contact with the Jag and both went of track and I went past them and was now fifth. When coming again on the final straight I was only 1.4 seconds in front of the chasing Jaguar and it was coming closer and closer. I saw the distance between us going from 1.4 to 1.3, 1.2, 1.1, 1.0, 0.9, 08 seconds and then thankfully I was at the last corners, braked well in time and went over the finish in fifth, just before the Englishman in the Jaguar. not unhappy with that result, a very intense drive.
another idiot tries to get passed, but can't control it and spins off giving me another 3 secs
) it was just a matter of keeping it on the road and bringing it home.
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