Finally getting a bit of time to add my race report.
Another GREAT event! I had a blast! OK it's my home track and got more laps here IRL than
Keith has going to the Beer Cooler so that adds to my joy!:rotfl:
Quali super pole was ok. Ran a low 54. I thought a 53.7 was possible but my POS MOMO red wheel decided to suddenly orient itslelf offset left and it dropped wheels off after the climbing turn and that checked my speed a bit. gotta get aG25 soon.:dance2: So I grid P5.
The flag drops and
Rhys gets a jump on me and heads to the grass on my right but can't pass. It might have been evasive more than agression? I enter
Big Bend in P6 and 3-4 lengths behind the front pack. I suck in FWD cars.
Yves, Abdul, Keith,Peter and Brandon are 1-5 rspectively at
Big bend. I have
Dennis on my outside and even with me. He lifts and I enter in 6th safely. we all hold position thru
big bend and I gain big exiting and entering the
left hander in the "esses" on
Brandon. I put the wheels up on the curb and it shoots me into
Brandon who is a 1/2 car width wide of the line and he turns sideways and we both go off on the outside. Sorry
Brandon my Bad:bad: I wait for Him and we set off again in P12 & 13.
Robert Isles comes off the
righthander entering "NO Name Straight" and just swipes my passenger side a hair. I am P14 now. oh well now I am going to get to race a few guys working my way back up the order! good plan Eric:drool:
I bump draft
Robert down the 1st 1/2 of the
main straight. he ends up wide entering
big bend and runs through
Dennis's lawn! I am P13 and climbing! ha ha ha ha ha I get 1/2 way thru
Big Bend and I see
BRandon, Rhys, Yves and Abdul off on the outside. I gain 4 spots to get to 9th. OK thats fortunate for me.:dance2: IT seems Dennis has gone massive agricultural and he is preparing the fields to plant corn in 2 nice neat rows from the entry to the
left hand esses all the way to the entry to
no name straight!:wink2: I am P8. huh luck is with me so far. 5 cars 1/4 lap!
I get on the wheel and start closing on
Paul wood about 1.5 seconds a lap.
Phillip A. runs off the track exiting
Diving turn and
Paul and I pass. I am P8 and driving well. I am gaining on almost everyone in front of me as they are now visible. Then
Willie extends
Dennis' AG work from where he left off to the outside of
no name and we all pass him while he fights for control in the grass.
Johan is out there w/
Willie now in a solo slide.
I am flying onto
no name hoping they won't enter to for into the line.
John gets it going in P5 I am following in P6 about 7 lengths back. 3 laps I cannot pass
Johan or even get a chance. He is driving very well and holding a lead on me.
Brandon has crept up behind us now.
Flying down the straight I drop off the track (MOMO POS problem again like in quali).
Johan cooks the entry to
big bend and hits the escape road.
Brandon goes inside me and we nearly collide. HE check sup to avoid me and
PHILLIP A shoots on the insode of him to take P6 from
Brandon. Brilliant move!
I close on
Paul wood and he and I pass
XOSE who has an unassisted off exiting the
diving turn. I am P4 and Paul is P3. on lap 7 or so.
Paul gets sloppy through the
big bend /esses complex and drops off the track entering
no name. I slide to the curbing on exit and just swipe
Paul. Sorry
Paul I couldn't change line in a drift. I am P3 and on for a PODIUM. MAYBE
I run out the stint and assume P1 when
Yves and
Keith pit. Now I have to pit because I know those guys will lay down very fast laps on the fresh rubber.
I had finally workd on manual pit and had it down in practice. I bring it in and have all kinds of problems. :drool: I don;t realise the car in the pit space behind me is a ghost and I struggle to get in my stall. I then have troubkle restarting the engine! but this went sooo well in practice!
I exit in P6. Well done NIMROD! I gain a spot when
XOSE pits. I am now chasing
Yves and gaining pretty easily. He must have damage as this is not normal at all. I get right up on
Yves on the
main straight. He slides to the inside and locks me out of a pass. Well done
Yves! Classic
Big Bend defense! We are both gaining on
Paul Wood while we battle.
Yves gets past
Paul and I am bumper to Bumper w/
Paul entering
Climbing turn. I get side by side on him in the
short chute and pass him inside at
West Bend. I drift wide and drop wheels.
Paul fights to get me back and I hold him off exiting
Diving Turn. Hope it wasn;t a surprise
Paul! no contact so I think we're good on this.
I finish P4 behind
Yves. It's a good race but I am disappointed about the pit stop.
On to R2! I start P4 and its an all HONDA front 4! then
yves in the BIMMER to my right and
Keith in the Peugot behind me. I spin the start and get passed by everyone to hold it togethr in P8.
Willie Spins exiting
Diving turn and I assume P7.
Paul,
Peter and
Robert Isles Are just ahead about .5. I can catch these guys maybe! They get very close thru the
big bend / esses and I close w/
Phillip right on my bumper.
Robert gets a bit of an oversteer slide going at the end of the
lefthander and
peter and he both leave the track for a brief second. They both get on the race surface in the outer of the
right hander offline.. I pinch in as far as possible against the curb to avoid contact.
Peter and I make contact when he comes into the line. I put 2 wheel on the inside grass to avoid but no joy.
Peter and
Robert spin off outside. Sorry guys. I had nowhere to go. Since I didn't hit yo ufrom behind I felt I could continue in good conscience.
I am chasing
Paul in P4. he bobbles the exit of
Diving turn and I pass him entering
Big bend for P4.
Paul passes me when I drop off into
Dennis's lawn.
John passes also and I am P6 w/
Peter not far behind in 7th.After a few laps I repass
Johan w/ a big slide job entry to
Big Bend.
Back to 5th and feeling good!
I catch
Paul after 3 laps and pull a ballsy pass on the apex of the
diving turn w/ wheels up on the curb to stay contact free.
I assume P2 as leaders are pitting again. I pit in P3 as
Paul continues on. I TOTALLY nail my pit stall! BUT I CANNOT GET THE CAR TO FIRE WHEN UP ON THE JACKS! I reenter P9 and am not mentally well.:drool: I string out a bunch of good laps and am gaining on
Rhys a bit each lap. He goes off track and I gain to P8. I am chasing
Paul Wood again! And along my drive I nearly KILL
WILLIE WATT! way to get out the way!
I catch
Paul about the time
Dennis drops off track exiting
Esses to
no name straight.
Paul passes and I follow. this is the last lap! I bump
Paul a bit on no name and he slides a bit right but holds it together! I lift a hair to give him room at
Climbing Turn being off line.
I try to get inside in the
short chute but no joy.
So I set
Paul up for a pass exiting
Diving Turn by tapping the brake entering
West Bend to get space for a run off that next corner.
Dennis fills the gap inside! he has inside wheels on the curb. We smack door handles and I go off outside scattering corner workers. Dennis drives off going down the hill.
Paul scoots away to hold his position.
Dennis. we're OK here on this contact. I looked at the tape and see it as a racing incident and I would have likely done what you did given the last lap and all. :laugh2:
So I finish P6 and again am thinking it could have gone better!
Lesson Learned: YOU HAVE TO HOLD DOWN THE IGNITION BUTTON TO START THE ENGINE! you don't just tap it!:rotfl: what a moron!:wink2:
Thanks Eric for putting this together!
Sights from LIMEROCK PARK!
the start of RACE 2!
johan B showing us that Scandenavians have mor FUN! nice exit from a really fast corner!