- 149
- mrcasado296
Monza The Italian thoroughbred
Weather it wasnt supposed to rain
Monza, a track that I was very familiar with through the plethora of Formula 1 games in the past, I felt fairly confident coming into this one. I worked my way through the screens, not paying attention too much and as the cars lined up on the grid, my carelessness to check the screen was going to bite me in the backside. It was drizzling, and I was on the wrong tyres many expletives flashed through my head, this was going to go horribly wrong. I should add that I had started the championship at this rate and I wasnt going to exit and waste all that time.
So I made the decision of doing a lap, see how the car was holding up and make the pit stop if necessary, and work my way back through the field, lets hope the gods were smiling down on me.
The race started, I was able to accelerate quicker than the rest this time around, had they sussed me out already? I took the right side of the track, out of the way of all the traffic as we all approached the first chicane. Ensuring I braked later than everybody I moved up the board but I made the first turn too early and clipped the hoarding send the car into the chicane, backside first, carnage ensued, cars hit me, avoided me. By the time I had righted it I was 9th, time to flex my muscles and show that I can drive.
The 1st lap was very aggressive, taking the inside line on every corner, taking the first chicane at a ridiculous speed that I shouldnt have got away with, I worked my way up the field, the more I could make up, the better. But as I went around the track I noticed something very odd indeed, firstly the rain was only light drizzle, and it wasnt raining over the entire track, some sections were bone dry. This could influence my tyre decision as I approached the end of the lap as I came to the last high speed corner I was 3rd. My tyre decision was then made for me, as the 1st 2 cars went in I decided to take a gamble as they all changed tyres, Im staying on softs and will see if I can maintain a gap.
By the time 2nd crossed the line at the end of lap 2, there was a 19 second gap, and 18 laps to keep it. As the laps progressed through to 7 and 8 the Ai cars were taking a second to a second and a half a lap off me, and I was doing early 1:22 laps. At the end of lap 8 the gap was down to 11.5 seconds, there was no way I could keep the gap at this rate. But then I did something rather stupid, as I went around the first chicane I pulled away but I let one of the wheels touch the grass, control was taken from me as I moved across the grass into the Armco sticking out. I didnt spin, but Id lost time, and by the end of lap 9 the gap was just 5.5 seconds.
I had to stop this gap from closing any further, and the AI was putting in 1:21.5 laps, so I had to go faster, sqz out as many mph as I could without losing it. I start hitting the late 1:20s as the gap crept up ever so slightly, the laps tumbled as I moved closer to victory. But then lap 16 happened, and there was nothing sweet about this 16. I made it through the first 2 chicane, 30 seconds into the lap it started to crumble around me, I tuned out on the next 2 right handers, going over the Armco and onto the sand, not spinning, but slowing me down. Meaning that 2nd closed right up on me, sticking to me until we approached the final corner. Braking as normal but I stepped on the gas too early coming out of the corner I found the sand again, 2nd and 3rd went past me.
2 seconds down with 4 laps to go, and the cars in front were not going to let me pass them, so I needed some more pace, consistent pace. I upped the aggression with nearly every corner to close the gap down, Id been to the beach enough today and had no intention of returning. I threw in 2 sub 1:21 laps as the gap closed to less than a second, lap 19, it was now or never. Braking late on the straight I was able to sqz past the car in 2nd, without losing much time as I set off on the long bend after 1st, I took the inside line for the 2nd chicane, I had him, the lead was mine, and I was keeping it.
I attacked the last lap with venom, Id got close to breaking 1:20, this was my last chance, every corner perfect, my eyes on the time, I could do this, all I had to do was not mess up the last corner. Have I built the tension enough
I crossed the line, 1:19.92, oh, I came first as well.
Weather it wasnt supposed to rain
Monza, a track that I was very familiar with through the plethora of Formula 1 games in the past, I felt fairly confident coming into this one. I worked my way through the screens, not paying attention too much and as the cars lined up on the grid, my carelessness to check the screen was going to bite me in the backside. It was drizzling, and I was on the wrong tyres many expletives flashed through my head, this was going to go horribly wrong. I should add that I had started the championship at this rate and I wasnt going to exit and waste all that time.
So I made the decision of doing a lap, see how the car was holding up and make the pit stop if necessary, and work my way back through the field, lets hope the gods were smiling down on me.
The race started, I was able to accelerate quicker than the rest this time around, had they sussed me out already? I took the right side of the track, out of the way of all the traffic as we all approached the first chicane. Ensuring I braked later than everybody I moved up the board but I made the first turn too early and clipped the hoarding send the car into the chicane, backside first, carnage ensued, cars hit me, avoided me. By the time I had righted it I was 9th, time to flex my muscles and show that I can drive.
The 1st lap was very aggressive, taking the inside line on every corner, taking the first chicane at a ridiculous speed that I shouldnt have got away with, I worked my way up the field, the more I could make up, the better. But as I went around the track I noticed something very odd indeed, firstly the rain was only light drizzle, and it wasnt raining over the entire track, some sections were bone dry. This could influence my tyre decision as I approached the end of the lap as I came to the last high speed corner I was 3rd. My tyre decision was then made for me, as the 1st 2 cars went in I decided to take a gamble as they all changed tyres, Im staying on softs and will see if I can maintain a gap.
By the time 2nd crossed the line at the end of lap 2, there was a 19 second gap, and 18 laps to keep it. As the laps progressed through to 7 and 8 the Ai cars were taking a second to a second and a half a lap off me, and I was doing early 1:22 laps. At the end of lap 8 the gap was down to 11.5 seconds, there was no way I could keep the gap at this rate. But then I did something rather stupid, as I went around the first chicane I pulled away but I let one of the wheels touch the grass, control was taken from me as I moved across the grass into the Armco sticking out. I didnt spin, but Id lost time, and by the end of lap 9 the gap was just 5.5 seconds.
I had to stop this gap from closing any further, and the AI was putting in 1:21.5 laps, so I had to go faster, sqz out as many mph as I could without losing it. I start hitting the late 1:20s as the gap crept up ever so slightly, the laps tumbled as I moved closer to victory. But then lap 16 happened, and there was nothing sweet about this 16. I made it through the first 2 chicane, 30 seconds into the lap it started to crumble around me, I tuned out on the next 2 right handers, going over the Armco and onto the sand, not spinning, but slowing me down. Meaning that 2nd closed right up on me, sticking to me until we approached the final corner. Braking as normal but I stepped on the gas too early coming out of the corner I found the sand again, 2nd and 3rd went past me.
2 seconds down with 4 laps to go, and the cars in front were not going to let me pass them, so I needed some more pace, consistent pace. I upped the aggression with nearly every corner to close the gap down, Id been to the beach enough today and had no intention of returning. I threw in 2 sub 1:21 laps as the gap closed to less than a second, lap 19, it was now or never. Braking late on the straight I was able to sqz past the car in 2nd, without losing much time as I set off on the long bend after 1st, I took the inside line for the 2nd chicane, I had him, the lead was mine, and I was keeping it.
I attacked the last lap with venom, Id got close to breaking 1:20, this was my last chance, every corner perfect, my eyes on the time, I could do this, all I had to do was not mess up the last corner. Have I built the tension enough
I crossed the line, 1:19.92, oh, I came first as well.
