- 1,074
- United Kingdom
Since it's the end of the FIA rounds for now I went in for 3 races back to back.
First Qualifying was dirty and felt like theres too many cars on track to get any space (who chose this for the finale? It's a bit of an anti climax, but one of my good circuits so I'll take it), but the race went quite well. Qualified about mid pack and finished there. Did S10/S8/H1/S7
SR went up slightly and DR down slightly
Second Qualifying, gentlemanly behaviour of cars that had been penaltied moving aside through the kink before the back straight or keeping right while I and others were on hot laps. Great, but in the race it kind of went a bit mad by the end with a few dirty drivers ruining it for everyone divebombing the first and last corners eventually causing animosity and revenge tic tacs. Similar strat and results to before, but messed up fuel and had to come in on the last lap for a quick squirt to the end. The VW needs short shifting and I misjudged it a bit this time.
SR up, DR down slightly
Third Qualifying - Yeah, now people can drive, not catching up to cars in qualifying, which was mostly down to people going off a lot. Set a decent qualifying lap and start 3rd. Have a good feeling about this room.
Race starts smoothly enough, driver in a Citroen space ship behind is keeping me honest. The guy in 1st is in a Skyline, 2nd Lambo and after a few laps the Lambo spins out putting me in 2nd. I was about 2 seconds behind the Skyline by this point but for the points to count I needed Top 4 so this is my best shot and the final race.
I take the first pit stop after 10 Laps, take on new Softs and a dash of fuel to top it up to 10 laps, I come out still 2nd but the lead driver is a new face with 10 seconds lead on me. No sign of the Skyline, probably going for a proper load of fuel and then ended up in the pack, big mistake. At the time I imagined the new leader would pit some time soon, so 1st was an outside possibility. Ahead of the pack still as by lap 10 people had already stopped, were stopping, or were trying to last out on the same tyres for laps 11, 12 and maybe bridge the gap with a few laps on H to avoid the extra stop but at the moment would be sacrificing time on track.
Either way I still had to get the Hard tyres out of the way and take on a big load of fuel, so my 2nd place was maybe not earned. I come in lap 18 after getting the best out of the Softs and bite the bullet with the H, as I hate stopping and doing the final lap on H, it feels like you can't come back from it, all or nothing. Of course doing 2 stops back to back I am wedged between several cars and the silhouettes of two lapped cars so its a mess and you can't get the power down. After a decent but slower lap I go back to the pits to prepare for the final fight, get my best boots on back to Soft but only 6/7 laps so I can hammer it, put the required amount plus an extra lap or so of fuel in the tank so I can hammer it. It's hammer time!
All went well, got back up to 2nd place - the guy who took the lead after I first pitted kept 10 seconds ahead, totally outclassed everyone, so I was happy to settle for 2nd as long as I could bring it home, or even 3rd when I traded places a few times with a Porsche (same as my car, well, isn't a 911 just a posh Beetle?
). Despite putting in extra fuel come the last lap I was getting a warning 0.8 laps left before I hit the finish line of the penultimate lap! That Porsche was only 1-2 seconds behind, and I tactically coasted a bit round the early corners so they closed the gap but couldn't pass. Short shifting on the back straight, being caught, the Porsche looks like they are making a move, have I done this wrong?
Final corner, I am on the outside the Porsche takes the inside. As I get on the power I know it won't last the whole way to the line, the Porsche overcooks it a bit taking the tighter line and skids slowing their exit, I get a great exit and pull ahead by 0.7 seconds but I have nothing in the tank so I sit and hope, and a second from the Finish line the acceleration stops, and I coast over just before they did. 2nd place. Best result of the season, and a good hard clean drive from everyone in the race. Perfect end to a season!
First Qualifying was dirty and felt like theres too many cars on track to get any space (who chose this for the finale? It's a bit of an anti climax, but one of my good circuits so I'll take it), but the race went quite well. Qualified about mid pack and finished there. Did S10/S8/H1/S7
SR went up slightly and DR down slightly
Second Qualifying, gentlemanly behaviour of cars that had been penaltied moving aside through the kink before the back straight or keeping right while I and others were on hot laps. Great, but in the race it kind of went a bit mad by the end with a few dirty drivers ruining it for everyone divebombing the first and last corners eventually causing animosity and revenge tic tacs. Similar strat and results to before, but messed up fuel and had to come in on the last lap for a quick squirt to the end. The VW needs short shifting and I misjudged it a bit this time.
SR up, DR down slightly
Third Qualifying - Yeah, now people can drive, not catching up to cars in qualifying, which was mostly down to people going off a lot. Set a decent qualifying lap and start 3rd. Have a good feeling about this room.
Race starts smoothly enough, driver in a Citroen space ship behind is keeping me honest. The guy in 1st is in a Skyline, 2nd Lambo and after a few laps the Lambo spins out putting me in 2nd. I was about 2 seconds behind the Skyline by this point but for the points to count I needed Top 4 so this is my best shot and the final race.
I take the first pit stop after 10 Laps, take on new Softs and a dash of fuel to top it up to 10 laps, I come out still 2nd but the lead driver is a new face with 10 seconds lead on me. No sign of the Skyline, probably going for a proper load of fuel and then ended up in the pack, big mistake. At the time I imagined the new leader would pit some time soon, so 1st was an outside possibility. Ahead of the pack still as by lap 10 people had already stopped, were stopping, or were trying to last out on the same tyres for laps 11, 12 and maybe bridge the gap with a few laps on H to avoid the extra stop but at the moment would be sacrificing time on track.
Either way I still had to get the Hard tyres out of the way and take on a big load of fuel, so my 2nd place was maybe not earned. I come in lap 18 after getting the best out of the Softs and bite the bullet with the H, as I hate stopping and doing the final lap on H, it feels like you can't come back from it, all or nothing. Of course doing 2 stops back to back I am wedged between several cars and the silhouettes of two lapped cars so its a mess and you can't get the power down. After a decent but slower lap I go back to the pits to prepare for the final fight, get my best boots on back to Soft but only 6/7 laps so I can hammer it, put the required amount plus an extra lap or so of fuel in the tank so I can hammer it. It's hammer time!
All went well, got back up to 2nd place - the guy who took the lead after I first pitted kept 10 seconds ahead, totally outclassed everyone, so I was happy to settle for 2nd as long as I could bring it home, or even 3rd when I traded places a few times with a Porsche (same as my car, well, isn't a 911 just a posh Beetle?
). Despite putting in extra fuel come the last lap I was getting a warning 0.8 laps left before I hit the finish line of the penultimate lap! That Porsche was only 1-2 seconds behind, and I tactically coasted a bit round the early corners so they closed the gap but couldn't pass. Short shifting on the back straight, being caught, the Porsche looks like they are making a move, have I done this wrong?Final corner, I am on the outside the Porsche takes the inside. As I get on the power I know it won't last the whole way to the line, the Porsche overcooks it a bit taking the tighter line and skids slowing their exit, I get a great exit and pull ahead by 0.7 seconds but I have nothing in the tank so I sit and hope, and a second from the Finish line the acceleration stops, and I coast over just before they did. 2nd place. Best result of the season, and a good hard clean drive from everyone in the race. Perfect end to a season!
