What an awesome car–track combination that was!
Here are my replays from yesterday's race at the Glen:
I decreased the size of the inlet a little to gain more visibility for right hand corners. Please lemme know if you can still see enough details in it.
So here we go: I really, really enjoy driving my Lotus 49 on this track and it shows. I qualify P3 behind the usual suspects for the front row
but 3rd to 6th place are separated by only 0.2s.
At the start,
@beachboy6658 next to me misses his timing and moves before the lights turn green. He realizes it, slams on the brakes and hopefully avoids a time penalty. When the race does start, however, this gives me an advantage off the line and my starting position remains unchallenged. Having the extra space behind me, I break early for turn 1 to avoid any unnessecary shenannigans.
The leaders quickly build a gap and I expect to defend my position all race to
@richroo, who had a great opening lap and is yearning for more. But wait: All of the sudden I'm catching up to
@lancerevoo This is new and we will continue our battle for P2 for the next 20min. I love it!!!
We trade places back and forth, often sponsored by yours truly, the slow down penalty. This is great stuff because we keep it fair, leaving racing room whenever it gets close (checkt out lap 9 turn 1 or lap 12 turn 11).
As the pit window opens on lap 9, I try the undercut but
@lancerevoo is one step ahead and we dive into the pits simultaneously. Guess I'll have to get the job done on track, then
It gets a bit hairy on the following lap:
@lancerevoo loses traction through the fast Esses and I can't see his car through a cloud of tire smoke. When I do see it, I realize I'm heading for a collision. I slam on the brakes and am able to shed enough speed that, when I hit him, we escape without serious damage. A contact warning by the race director tells me to give back the position, and I do so on the approach for the chicane. However,
@lancerevoo misses his braking point, and this time I have no remorse taking the position. I can't defend it for long, anyway, as we continue to trade places
We even start making mistakes at the same time, but independently, like through the Esses on lap 13
All the while,
@richroo behind us creeps closer and closer as we squabble on track. I don't notice and am mightily surprised as my spotter tells me after the afore mentioned incident through the Esses: "Watch your mirrors! Right side!"
This is getting really interesting!
@richroo's pace is fast, but mine is a bit faster. But the difference is small and he's positioning his car well on track that getting back to P3 seems like a tall order. I see that he has trouble negotiating turn 10, the second to last corner, and make a mental note. When I get a good exit out of turn 9 on the next lap (lap 14), I decide to go for it, use the slipstream as long as possible and send it down the inside. He's leaving just a car's width of space but it's enough to literally slide past him. I just cannot believe the way this has worked, and my heart rate probably jumped at least 100bpm right there!
3 laps later,
@lancerevoo has another moment through the Esses, this time losing control of his car completely. I don't ask twice, take 2nd place and stay there until the end, despite constant pressure from
@richroo behind.
When I cross the finish line, I'm soaked and breathless, having enjoyed every single moment of this race!
This is the first race for quite some time where I don't have a minute to relax and I'm proud of myself that I managed to drive through it consistently. I'm racing for fun, not for results, but it does feel great to be on the podium again. I celebrate my season best finish with a dram of Ardbeg Uigeadail
Cheers to all of you and may the remaining races be as fun as this one!