Fun racing last night! Another good track selection for the GT beasts.
I decided to use the Saleen since I don't recall every using it previously. It seemed like it should have been a good fit...at least it did at the time
Qual: Didn't quite get as much practice as I hoped prior to the race, but in the dozen or so laps I did I was running around 22.0 in offline prac with race fuel. I figured with some qual setup tweaks I would settle into the upper-mid-pack with a 21.x. That plan was thwarted when I decided to alt-tab just as practice was ending - when I came back my game still showed the server was in prac mode, while clearly over TS I could hear that qual had started. Long story short, I restarted the game and steam and when I got back there was 5:00 left in the session. No time for adjustments so I just went for it - ran a 22.0 with 2 seconds to spare on the session timer :eek:. Started P13.
Race 1: A controlled start by the pack in front seemed to cut down on L1 incidents, and I maintained P13 for the first lap or so. I started slowly working through the field via a combination of passes and various offs in front and soon found myself in P8 or 9. I began chasing down Glenn, who was in a battle with Alex W. for position. Chasing them down the start/finish straight I could see things getting a bit physical between them, and it looked like Alex got loose on the straight and gave a hard knock to Glenn. That sent them both off and allowed me to get past. A short time after I got past Jarrod as he slid wide at T4, which started the battle the lasted for much of the remaining race. Jarrod was quicker and my car was handling erratic in the middle laps, so he was able to get past after a lap or so. However he gifted the position back not long after, and for the remaining laps I saw the gap between us vary from 5 sec to .5 sec as we would take turns making small errors. I thought I was safe heading into the final lap and tried to dial it back a bit, but that caused me to lose focus and he once again cut the gap too close for comfort. Not sure how close it was at the end (probably <1 sec) but I crossed the line just ahead of him in P7.
Race 2: Started in P2 and stayed there for 3/4 of lap 1. Then a sudden presence of grip surprised me and I got caught up on a curb, which pretty much forced to me to slow to halt to avoid a disastrous spin. I fell back to P5 or 6, just in front of Keith who passed me shortly after. Cristian eventually made his way through the pack and passed me as well to put me in P7. I sat back here and put in some solid laps watching the Keith and Cristian battle. They each had a few small offs, allowing me to pass for a short time - however they quickly regained position. Still in P7, and my Saleen starting to handle like a giant barge, Glenn began to close in. We stayed in a close battle for the rest of the race, with less than 0.5 sec separating us the last couple laps. Cristian ended up taking too much cumulative damage near the end of the race, gifting me P6. Glenn made a strong push on the final lap, and his vette nearly won out in a drag race down the straight to the finish. I'm not sure what the final gap was, but it had to have been small - I was just able to hold on to P6 through the finish.
Great races and another impressive crowd on the grid. The car variety was awesome to see as well!
