Front row f the grid proved crucial here. Just like Monaco I got a very nicely hooked up start and got ahead into turn 1. In fact I was well ahead and was shaking with nerves. If I span the car now, I would be hidden behind a plume of smoke while the other 11 cars stampeded towards me!
@Harsk100 seemed to bog down badly at the start. It was like Hamilton losing out to Rosberg!
@richroo had nowhere to go on the tight grid and lost all his speed to avoid damaging both cars. Sad for him, awesome qualifying and entered turn 1 several positions below where he deserved to be.
Lap 2 was a dream for me.
I set a 1:31.422 and the car felt fantastic. Those tiny change give away some agility but added so much stability in the never ending 90% gas corners.
Lap 8 was a rude wake-up call! My lead had been 1.5 to 2.5 seconds but I lost my mojo in that technical section again. This time I was super careful in the downhill left and got a half-decent exit. By the start line the gap was barely half a second.
There was almost nothing in it as we went through the technical sector.
Again, I lost my line and put a wheel on the sand! For once my throttle stick skillz were up to the task - I rejoined the track still a few car lengths ahead. Braked firmly before the downhill left, the exhaust spitting flames as if telling
@Harsk100 to keep behind! We both got a solid drive off the corner and hurtled to the ultra fast final turns. Jut 0.4s between us.
I was on the ragged edge through the last turn, outside front screeching and burning as I tortured it in the fiery hell of DS3 stick mashing. But it paid off and I pulled a couple of tenths by the line - with 2km/h more speed, too.
@Harsk100 was keeping ultra tight and smooth around the first part of the long right at turn 2. But the car couldn't hold the line and he was losing out mid corner. These subtle differences now gave me a 1.2 second lead. Our middle sectors were dead level, fastest on track. My final sector was a couple tenths better, consistent pace.
My advantage was nearly 1.4s now as we started lap 11 with 9:30 left to go.
Entering turn 1 cautious I got hooked up on the inside kerb. It nearly span the car and I lost a lot of speed! With a scruffy line through the technical section, the gap was again just half a second. This time the outside left could take no more, I slid off Kaz's grip paint all they to the outside of the final turn. I kept 2 wheels on the track by the smallest of margins but was 20km/h slower than
@Harsk100 off the turn.
An easy pass and I tried to refocus. Just wanted to hit my marks for the remaining laps. If I could do that, my pace advantage might create enough pressure to crack the leader. But
@Harsk100 immediately put in a great sector 1 but I finally did a neat sector 2, restoring the gap at 0.5 seconds.
I got a strong entry into the final turn, V-shaped middle and drove off strong.
@Harsk100 was on a great line and holding huge speed.
He hit the apex slightly too hard! The car shimmied away and scrubbed sideways, going half onto the sand at the exit!
The different in exit speed was just enough for me to regain the lead as we crossed the line. To keep 1st place I had to keep my nerve and not mess up sector 2. The lap was far from perfect but it was good enough, under pressure with slightly worn tyres. The timer ticked down to 0 just a few seconds before I crossed the line.
An unexpected win! If we had gone to another lap, I honestly don't think I could have held it all together.
EDIT: Thank goodness I didn't get
disconnected like last time I was leading.
Thankfully I'd built a gap over @buybon55 and held onto whatever place it was.
