OK, here is my race report folks! Apologies in advance, as it is rather a long post, but I enjoyed myself so much that I just had to write all about it
Wow, what a race! This was probably my most consistent drive that I can remember, in terms of lack of mistakes (aside from my maiden, and thus far only, Sunday Cup win at Monza last season, a track I seem to gel with). The fact I was able to get around Paddock Hill bend without beaching the car in the sand for the whole race was really satisfying! Also, seeing my best lap of 55.700 was also a nice moment, not too far off the pace of the leaders (5th fastest lap I think)! In terms of mileage completed prior to the race (looking at my car’s dashboard), it was still one of the lowest of the field, so considering this fact I can be very satisfied that I had such a consistent run.
Qualifying went OK – I was dithering in the pits for a long while about which tyre to choose, because I hadn’t really given it enough thought beforehand. In the end, I went with CM to start the race with, but didn’t leave myself much time to qualify… so P13 (3rd out of the 6 CM runners) was fine, lining up just behind the ever-quick Weescotsman.
After the lights went out, I followed Will into the first bend, but Bo had a difficult start and I got alongside him. For the rest of the lap it was close between us, but I got a run out of Graham Hill bend and was side by side into the next fast left-hander. But, Bo then took a bit too much kerb in his effort to recover lost ground to the other CS runners and ended up sideswiping me (unintentional of course), and I was bounced onto the grass at a critical point!
I thought, “oh no!!”, but somehow managed to control the slide coming back onto the track, losing a bit of ground but not disastrously so. Poor Canary, I think, got caught unawares and lost a place behind me as a result. But, with this big scare averted, I was able to knuckle down and try to follow Will up ahead, as I was aware he was on the same tyres. I didn’t have a clue about my tyre/fuel strategy, so I figured I would keep an eye on Will ahead and observe what he did, and potentially mirror it.
So, in the early laps, I was able to follow Will (obviously being a great benchmark in terms of pace), and was pleased to keep him in sight. It was most enjoyable to watch from my perspective, his tussle with Cobani, I remember thinking “wow that’s ballsy” as he re-passed Bo whilst on the CM tyres into Paddock Hill bend! Great stuff!
But, then Scholesy started to catch me on his CS tyres, as he recovered from his unfortunate start. I had a most enjoyable few laps battling with him to stay ahead on my CM tyres, which I achieved for around 3 laps of close and fair racing, but in the end he inevitably got past me. This battle cost me time and I slipped a bit further away from Will. I was sorry to see Scholesy retire within a lap of him passing me – hope you enjoyed the battle while it lasted though, it was fun pal. 👍👍
Will pitted earlier than me (I wasn’t sure what the tyre wear would be like on CS’s of the duration of the race and he could well have been on a two stopper, which I wasn’t keen on), so I stayed out for a while longer. In fact, I did stay out a few too many laps, I think it was lap 24/25 when I eventually pitted. Prior to this point, Shin_roh was behind me on track. But he had pitted earlier, and the net result was that he got the undercut and ended up ahead of me when I emerged from the pits, as he was able to make progress on his grippier tyres whilst I was still running on the CM’s… but, this set up nicely the key battle of my race! Also, I noted afterwards from the replay that Shin’s pitstop was about 3-4 seconds quicker than mine, and Ade’s was 2-3 seconds quicker. Perhaps I was too long on the fuel hose or wasn’t very lucky, but whatever, this cost me more time and potentially the position to Shin.
So, it took me a few laps to get in the groove, and Shin was posting some nice times up ahead, but gradually, I was able to reel him in, bit by bit. In between this, I had a most enjoyable couple of laps following Ade, as I was keen to un-lap myself as I was fully aware we were on different strategies, and maybe, just maybe I could get Ade in sight near the end of the race. Ade and Bo were both struggling on worn tyres, I managed to pass Ade and then Bo (narrowly avoiding contact as Bo was about to head to the pit entry), but that meant I could knuckle down once again and I started to pull a gap on Ade on his worn tyres. I could see a backmarker ahead, it was GC, whom I was worried did not see me behind as I was trying to close the gap on Shin with laps running out. I completed a slightly heart-in-mouth pass on the outside of Paddock Hill bend…. My tyres were holding out fairly well but I definitely noticed a drop-off towards the end. I could see my main adversary in this race on a similar strategy (Shin_roh) up ahead, and he managed to make the pass on Goodwolf for 8th position. I too completed the move on Goodwolf not long after; my worn CS tyres still proving more grippy than GW’s CM’s…. I then set my sights on Shin up ahead, whose earlier stop for the CS tyres was perhaps now beginning to take its toll, as he had a slightly scruffy lap it enabled me to fully close the gap, and then, I was through to take 8th position!! Wow, this race was getting better and better! Then, for the final few laps, I knew that Ade was somewhere up ahead on CM tyres, and there was a small chance I could reach him… I could see the gap decreasing, but alas I ran out of laps and finished some 5 seconds behind easing off at the line…. Damn it, if only I changed to CS tyres a couple of laps earlier and had a slightly quicker stop, I may have been able to get that 7th place… but 8th, in the quality of this field of driver’s, is not to be sniffed at.
What a great race though, I thoroughly enjoyed racing this delightfully well balanced car on the Brands Indy circuit!
Well done to all competitors throughout the field, and to Soka GT’s most impressive drive to victory
