To be honest, I really didn't practice to much for last nights race. And the few laps I did do, prior to yesterday, I used strictly online setups to get a feel for cars and the track. I joined early yesterday and tried nearly every car before settling on the Viper. I had found a online setup which was a good stable base to work off of and the gearing was just amazing. So I started to make changes, adding a little rear wing, a little more camber on the rear and tighening the rear springs - all in an effort to get the car to turn in better. This resulted in a car that was running 33's in practice without being overly aggressive.
Quali: Did a 32 my first lap out, but grazed the wall on the second lap coming onto the back straight and gave up. Unfortunately this didn't leave me enough time to get another lap in. Congrats to Abdul for his killer 31 lap and setting pole - congrats man. Wish I could have run a bit closer with you in the races, was great fun in practice.
Race 1: Starting from third I got a reasonable start and drafted up behind Abdul on the outside of T1, passing Rafael. All was well and I was looking forward to a great fight at the front when I ran off in T11! Doh! I haven't had a problem with this corner before, but it turned out to be a big issue for me in the race. Luckily, I didn't hit anything and was able to rejoin in 10th. I managed to fight my way back up to 4th behind Eric and Abdul, whom both had offs on the last couple of laps allowing me to take a relatively unchallenged 2nd place in race one. If only I could keep it together for race two, perhaps I could challenge for the lead.
Race 2: Got another decent start, from 7th this time, but had to let off to avoid the chaos directly in front of me. Eric N. got a little squirrelly off the line and his Viper shot across into Abdul, forcing Abdul into the wall. Luckily both of them were able to straighten it out and carry on without any further drama. Then coming into T2 I glanced at my rear view and saw Dennis approaching much to fast. I moved to the left lane just in time for him to shoot by on my right and nearly running it off. Then coming down the back straight I had a great run on the group of cars up a head. I moved to the right of the track being that Saul was occupying the right lane. I got passed the first car without a problem, but once I got beside Eric N. one of us must have swerved just a little and we touched. No big deal, but it was enough for me to have to run onto the grass on the left, losing my momentum. I fell back and got back in line, picking up speed quickly. I pulled back out and flew past the Vette and was fully side by side once more with Eric N. braking for Mulsanne. We got around the corner without incident. A look in my rear view however showed no Eric - bam! - that's why. Eric ran it a little deep into the corner and had to utilize the run off area. Had I known he was there, I would have moved to the right lane giving him room to rejoin, but as it was I didn't and poor Eric ran into my drivers side rear fender, which sent him into the adjacent wall resulting in him spinning across the track. Really sorry I didn't leave you any room to rejoin Eric! Then three bends later in T11 "AGAIN", I miss my braking point and run straight on hitting one of the poles this time. I rejoined in 10th, but was gifted 8th just a few turns later as others ran off. On lap 2, I again ran it wide in T11. While I didn't run it as deep as previously it was just enough to put it on the grass and go head to head with Sam, whom was parked facing the wrong way. There really has to be some magical magnetic force between our cars. Really sorry Sam! As a result of the collision I lost my front splitter. I then had a bit of a battle with Kevin for a few laps. Sorry about the contact down the straight. It was my first time trying to take those little bends with no splitter and the car just drifted wide. I eventually dropped Kevin and was slowly catching up to Yuri whom had also lost his front splitter. Unfortunately I ran out of time and had to settle for 6th.
If you all get a chance, watch Yuri and me in the replay of race 2 coming up over the hill prior to Mulsanne. It was Viper long jump, I tell you. Caught so much air on the last lap that I thought my car was gonna snap in half after touching the ground.
Any ways, thanks for an awesome event everybody, was a lot of fun. Hope to see you all next week!
