Troubles for a backmarker in the rain:
Driving as D.Leitner, I get in my Eneos SC430 '08 for the Eifel race.
I start the race in 12th place on IM tires with 0% surface water.
On lap # 1 at the tight right-hander at the top of the hill (turn # 10) I follow the 10th place Nissan Calsonic and the 11th place Nissan Yellowhat off the track and into the kitty litter. This allows GTsail driving an Audi R18 TDI to drive past.
Being a very considerate driver, I also allow the 15th place and 16th place cars to drive past before I get back on the tarmac, but I beat the two Nissans who are still stuck in the kitty litter
so I'm now in 14th place. It begins to rain at about the 1min35second mark, so even though I'm on IM tires, I slide off the track and smack the Armco on the outside of the button-hook corner which allows the 15th place Nissan Yellowhat to drive past me. He's on IM tires too, but seems to be faster. At the end of lap # 1, just at the S/F line I draft and pass the Nissan Yellowhat and begin lap # 2 in 14th place after a 2:41.217 lap.
It gets quite wet on lap # 2, maxxing out at 45% as I finish the lap with a time of 2:32.955
I begin lap # 3 in 12th place because the Lexus Bandai and the Honda Epson NSX have pitted. On lap # 3, at the 1min and 23 second mark, I catch and pass the 11th place Lexus Petrona who is driving quite slowly on RM tires in the rain which is coming down at 66%
At the 1min and 57 second mark, I catch and pass the 10th place Toyota Yellowhat who is also driving quite slowly on RS tires in the 69% rain. At the 2min and 10 second mark on lap # 3, I catch and pass the 9th place Lexus Denso who is driving very slowly in the 72% rain. At the 2min and 26 second mark, I catch and pass the 8th place Honda Weider who is driving slowly on RM tires in the 74% rain. Three of the leading cars pit at the end of lap # 3, so when I begin lap # 4, I find myself in 5th place
after a 2:57.199 lap. 5th place!!
Must remember to thank my pit crew for putting me on IM tires at the start of the race!
As I begin lap # 4, the rain begins to ease. The rain falls all the way to 0% by 1min and 20 seconds into lap # 4. even though the rain is at 0%, I drive off the track going thru the button-hook corner and lose my 5th place position to the Nissan WoodOne who is driving on full Wet tires.
At the end of lap # 4, the 5th place Nissan WoodOne pits to get off the full wet tires since the rain is still at 0%, so I begin lap # 5 in 5th place again after a 2:38.216 lap.
Looking up the road, I see a couple of more cars, can I catch any of them??
About 30 seconds into lap # 5 it begins to rain again. By the end of lap # 5 the rain is at 30% and my left rear tire shows a 3 bar and my fuel gauge is down to about 20% so I will need to pit soon. Lap # 5 takes me 2:38.765.
I begin lap # 6 just behind the 4th place Nissan Motul who has just exited the pits on IM tires. The Nissan Motul has cold IM tires so he's struggling a little, so I drive past him before turn one and take over 4th place in the race!
4th place! Visions of a 3rd place podium finish dance before my eyes! On lap # 6, going thru the tight right-hander (turn 10) at the top of the hill, the Nissan Motul drives back past me showing off his fresh IM tires. I check my left rear tire and see that it shows a 2 bar.
Its now raining at 43%. On lap # 6 at the 1min and 45 second mark my fuel gauge turns red.
Going thru the final long right-hand sweeper, I get passed by the 6th place Lexus Bandai. At the end of lap # 6, I veer towards the pits and get T-boned by the 7th place Honda Epson NSX who is on my right side but doesn't want to pit. He pushes me past the pit entrance!!!
Picture of my Eneos SC430 making a last second dive towards the pits:
The Honda Epson NSX drives into my SC430 because I cut across his bow:
My Eneos SC430 has now been pushed past the pit entrance by the Honda Epson. You can see that the fuel gauge is nearly on empty so another lap without a pit-stop is going to be tough!:
So I begin lap # 7 with about 4 liters of fuel and with a dodgy left rear tire after a lap that took 3:00.801. The rain is at 65% to make my plight even worse. At the 1min mark on lap # 7, I run out of fuel and slow to 50 mph.
At the 1min 28 second mark on lap # 7 the 8th place Nissan Calsonic drives past my 50mph SC430
At the 1min 52 second mark the 9th place Lexus Denso drives past me. At the 1min 55 second mark the 10th place Nissan Yellowhat drives past me. At the 2min 12 second mark the 11th place Toyota Yellowhat drives past me. At the 2min 17 second mark the 12th place Lexus Petrona drives past me. At the 3min and 31 second mark on lap # 7, GTsail driving his Audi R18 TDI drives past me and puts me a lap down.
At the 4min 12second mark the 13th place Nissan WoodOne drives past me. Finally at the end of lap # 7, I drive into the pits for some much needed fuel. I loose three more places while getting fuel and tires so I'm now shown in last place.
Lap # 7 took me
4:45.554
At the 36 second mark on lap # 8, I get lapped by the 2nd place Nissan Xanavi
At the 1min and 43 second mark on lap # 8, I get lapped by the 3rd place Honda Keihin. Lap # 8 takes me 2:38.470 which is a decent time since my RH tires match the 0% rain conditions.
On lap # 9, at the 1min and 13 second mark the screen goes blank
I guess the race is over because GTsail has finished 10 laps in his Audi R18.
Maybe I will have better luck next time!