TS: 137 (not reportable, no consequences)
Nicolai vs. Nicolas
I nudged Nicolas softly in the exit of Tamburello, but skillfully he kept control and the incident had no consequences.
TS: 225
Bob vs. Nicolai
At ts184 I try to make a pass on Nicolas, going side by side with him in Variante Alta but he defends well. At Rivazza, Alex makes a skillfull move on my inside, going side by side with him until I have to give in before the exit of Rivazza (ts201). Down the s/f I am almost a second behind Alex but still try to slip stream him to quickly close the gap. As I turn in at Tamburello I am unaware of Bob making a move on my left side/inside. My rear wheel makes contact with his front wheel and I am sent into a spin (no damage to the car).
Through Variante Bassa (ts212) Bob was right at my tail (and I think I remember noticing him in my mirrors) and entering the braking zone at the end of the s/f he was only 0,2 sec behind me. I was obviously too focused with Alex in front of me to understand what happened behind me. But it is a relatively short braking zone with a relatively high entry speed, so it is a tricky place to pass.
I think a lap or two later in the race, when things had settled a bit more I would have been more aware of Bob and left room at Tamburello, but the stress of the first lap obviously made me less attentive than I like to be. I will try to improve this in the future though J
It should also be noted that Bob claimed an absolute minimum of room when going on my inside. I think he did everything correct except:
a) He didn’t manage to get far enough up my side.
b) He didn’t consider “the early stage of the race syndrome” when trying a relatively risky move.
I think the fault is around 75/25. Had it been a few laps later I think the blame would have been closer to 60/40.
