Quick review and my POV video:
Race 1 - Wasn't stellar. Did 2nd in quali behind
@AndreasR /Simba but jumped the start (6:45) . The game didn't notice it but I did ... so I backed off to concede position back to Simba. In the process lost 2nd position to
@richroo. Followed them in the first and second laps. Coming to the end of lap 2 then Simba goes wide in the last corner (very uncharacteristic of him) and Richard takes the opportunity and the lead. Simba tries to keep him close and choses the outside line for Paddock Hill , almost side by side with Richard, but that proved a mistake because it allowed me (very close to both) to tuck with the inside line and keep at it all the way up to Druids where I managed to hold to second. So now it was Rich-Hun-Simba, closely followed by
@Saltyjoe90 in these opening laps.
Then, at the beginning of lap 4 ... disaster
! Rich had a poor exit from Clark into the main straight and defended the inside into Paddock Hill, I went to the outside and we eventually touched (you can watch it all from both POVs, mine starts at 9:05, Rich's at 10:40) . I have to say than when it happened I was all "WTF Richard!!!!!" but when the race ended my son entered the room where I was playing (he was watching the live stream in his laptop) and he said something like "you should apologize for taking out the race leader like that!" . I was all "Whaaaa .... ?"
. We decided we would do a full review of the incident so I saved the replay. After all the races had finished we did a complete analysis, with slow motion, several cameras, from both cars and from the car behind (Simba) and the verdict is ... shared responsability! Richard moved a bit left, I moved a bit right. Racing incident (but I'd like Richard's view also and now I get that from his own POV he must have thought I was a moron that crashed into him!).
But whatever, we both crashed and we both recovered to 4th and 5th, ending 3rd and 4th thanks to Joe going off track after Druids. I spent all the rest of the race trying to overtake
@Pantheons but he was a wall I couldn't breach. Could be better, sorry Rich!
Race 2 - The Random Grid thing wasn't too bad, I was 4th but noticed the very fast
@Saltyjoe90 and
@Pantheons were even better, and the previous race winner
@AndreasR was 5th. Should be interesting ...
my main goal however was to not jump the start once again.
First lap was interesting I held 4th place in the first couple of corners and even managed to overtake
@Saltyjoe90 into 3rd (22:30) when he went wide but then I had a brain fade moment and my car departed from teh track (not sure where it wanted to go ... Wales?) on the approach to Clark (22:40). I regained the track 7th, behind
@IfAndOr . All things considered, not bad for a first lap grass excursion.
From then on I did a "recovery race. Managed to overtake Paul into 6th, and litle after I watched (moment 24:00) a funny moment of confusion unfold before my eyes, involving
@beachboy6658 ,
@richroo and
@Saltyjoe90. They all went out and suddenly I'm 3rd (
@Pantheons leading,
@AndreasR in 2nd)!!
By lap 5 Simba (untouchable with the Seven at this track) overtook Simon at Druids (25:35). So, we were again in the same positions where we had ended the previous race, and at that point I thought "ok, now we're settled, only mistakes can change this outcome now"
And that's precisely what happened, Simon went wide after Paddock Hill Bend (27:10) and that's how I gained 2nd position. From that point on I followed Simba to the end, came close but no realistic oportunity to overtake. A flawless drive from Simba, again I do think he was clearly the best Seven driver yesterday.
Come mid-point from the racing night I was quite content with my results, my losses to Simba in the championship were minimal (2 points in race 1, 1 point in race 2, but since I had both FLs, in the end I was only losing 2 points)
Race 3 - I did a good quali, earning pole position, then it was a lights-to-flag race with nothing much to tell. I was keeping an eye on the menacing black shadow in my rear view mirror (Simon's car
), at times very, very close, but then I guess Joe caught him and they were entertained fighting each other, giving me some peace. In the end Simon lost 2nd position to Joe, and that's how it ended. Again I had done fastest lap, so I still kept denying that extra point to my competitors
and now I was mathematically the winner of the Cup, even if I was disqualified in the 4th race not even a victory by Simba (with FL) could change that.
Race 4 - Well, what can I say, my prayers and offerings to the Gods of Random Grid Making were once again rewarded with pole position!
So once again I did a lights-to-flag race, with Simon overcoming the field to achieve a solid second. And he could've won this because ...
1:19:50 happened !!!
Stupid me had noticed my best lap was a 1.22,0xx and I was trying to achieve that elusive 1.21 (with the help of boosts) in the last lap. So **** happened but thankfully I managed to (barely) retain the lead and win the race.
Here's my POV video
Final thoughts:
1 - I'm very, VERY glad that I met you guys and entered this cup with you. Regardless of the result (that obviously makes me happy also) it was great fun to be able to regularly meet up to practise and chat, and also to race and be silent!
it's a great group and I'm glad I'm now one of its members.
2 - Many years ago I used to be the organizer of online events with a group of people that by now has all but vanished from both gtplanet and online racing, so I know (and vividly remember) the work involved in keeping it all together, and attending to all, reviewing incidents, making judgement calls and in the end deciding what to do and where to go next. You can never think everyone will agree with you, in fact it is garanteed that you can't get everyone happy with yourc choices and decisions. All this to say that I have enormous respect for the work Paul has done and keeps doing to keep this group going and having fun events for all. I can only suspect the time lost in trying cars, tracks, options (length of races, tracks to use, lobby settings, etc). So a big THANK YOU Paul, if anyone is a winner here, you're that one.
3 - There are many outstandingly quick players here, I'd say Simba, xeronima, Richard and Napalm are probably the ones that more consistently occupied the front spots throughout the entire cup. I will however say that the driver that impressed me the most, because of his progression, is Simon. Came late into the cup, controller user (and that was noticeable to me at Bannochbrae) and that had to limit his ability to fine-control the cars. However, once Simon got a wheel, monday after monday the progression was remarkable. And his string of good results yesterday (with both cars (2nd - 4th - 3rd - 2nd ) is telling. Since I can't honestly consider myself a rookie, I vote him Rookie of the Cup! 👍
4 - The 300 ... Paul, I wasn't lying, soon before meeting you guys, I had made the Single Player Career championship with that car and I HATED it, kept spinning and I really didn't understand how I was supposed to drive that thing. By now I LOVE it, and I think I have an idea on how to race it! And so in a way I also grew a bit, and learned a lot, with this cup!
5 - A final word for my original teammate Skip, the first player from this group that I met online and practised with. I hope you are well and able to return to these races soon, I don't particularly enjoy being the oldest of the bunch while you are away, especially because I'm definitely not the wisest!
Cheers all, meet you at Spa soon!
(a good few seconds to go for me!). 
