RDHGP S5 - Round 3 - Arctic Circle Raceway Mo I Rana - 27th May 2010

[Stuart Thomson]

Welcome back to Round 3 of the RD Historic Grand Prix, Season 5

As you will (hopefully) find regularly this season, Round 2 was a deliberate contrast to the preceding round, a short complex track in comparison with Jops’ straights and sweeps. It was a very intense race, virtually no let up within the lap, and I was surprised that we had a relatively low attrition rate. My apologies go to Predrag & Kris, though – I missed that “shelf of doom” that you both got stuck on during all my testing.

There was some very good racing right the way through the pack, the vehicles mixed up pretty well, belying again the worry of one car dominating. I will make special mention of Gary, who took his lumps manfully in the most ill-matched car & track combination of the season. He kept going until the end, knowing that future tracks will suit him far better. Like Switzerland before it, I’m declaring that Sweden joins the ranks of classic RDHGP venues.

There were some discussions after the race regarding light flashing, chatting etc. and I hope that all positions were listened to and reasons for any and all decisions were made clear to any and all interested parties.

I - again - received no Driving Incident Reports for which I can only commend the gentlemen of the RDHGP.

I won’t be reminding you again of the items I outlined for Round 2 – there was a major drop off of potential and actual issues, so you have definitely taken the points on board – another reason for my thanks.

For Round 3, we leave Sweden, but remain in Scandinavia, moving north some 700miles, 1,100km to the Arctic Circle Raceway at Mo I Rana in Norway.

Circuit Notes

The Arctic Circle Raceway is situated (perhaps unsurprisingly considering the name) just 20 miles South of the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway. It is a 2.3mile / 3.7km track, with a total altitude change from lowest point to highest point of over 100feet / 31m. It is also one of only 2 tracks in our season to run anti-clockwise.

ACR first opened in 1995, and retains the original layout to the current day. Due to it’s extreme Northern location, it has the possibility for 24 hour racing in full daylight because of the midnight sun during the Norwegian Summer.

It is a relatively fast track, generous in width all the way around, allowing a multitude of racing lines to be employed. It places emphasis on high speed sweeps rather than tight turns, but like all the best tracks, it uses gradient to add another degree of difficulty to what appear at first glance to be simple turns. It doesn’t have a jump like both Jops & Knutstorp, but the gradient is extremely cannily used and means that over late braking or over eager acceleration can easily result in loss of control through the corner, or more importantly on exit.

Mo I Rana starts with a good length straight with the S/F line about 50% of the way along. The grid boxes are not particularly tightly packed, which means that some of the lower qualifiers may find themselves starting on the exit of the last hairpin. The straight is long enough on a normal lap that you will be at very nearly full speed as you approach T1L.

T1L drops away and to the left, and is in itself not a tricky corner. However, it is immediately followed by the climbing and slightly off-camber T2R, so any over indulgence or overambition through T1L will result in a severely compromised T2R, which you can ill afford as it exits onto an uphill straight, where all possible momentum is needed.

T3L needs to be attacked as aggressively as possible, as it is another uphill turn followed by another uphill straight, but then it’s hard on the anchors for T4L. This is the highest point on the track, and is a heavily cambered, cresting hairpin. A good laptime needs T4L to be handled well and cleanly, because the exit begins a long decent under hard acceleration, and any time lost in T4L will be very hard to make up.

The downhill section following T4L begins with a short squirt and into T5R, which some cars will be able to take flat out, and once negotiated, the downhill section continues through T6L, which is really just a kink taken flat out and poses no real problem.

The hard acceleration continues down to the T7R & T8L, the Esses. These are very high speed Esses, guarded on the outside by some very sticky sand. At the end of that straight is one of the best corners on the track, T9L. This is a heavily positive cambered turn that, if you get right, feels glorious, but as with so many of the ACR corners, anybody taking liberties will be punished by sudden loss of grip, compromising their times quite badly. T9L is followed by another downhill straight, which leads up to one of the more testing corners, T10R.

T10R needs to be taken fast, but to be quick through here is difficult, as the fairly high inside kerb will throw you across the track and into the waiting sand if you go too tight. Another downhill straight and you arrive at T11R, the lowest point of the track. Another medium speed, slippery corner, it leads you into the penultimate straight where you start climbing again, before standing on the brakes for the final corner T12L.

A climbing hairpin, it’s difficult to defend if someone is closing in behind you, as it allows various lines through at near optimum speed, so it’s always a test, right to the end of the Race, and complacency will be punished.

The Race Director has some notes for drivers. Please see the track map above for location of Race Direction note:-

• All Corners Without Exception – The kerbs are not deemed as track, therefore 2 wheels must be within the white lines, on the tarmac, At All Times. Again, there are NO exceptions to this rule at any point on the circuit. Any exception to this rule is deemed illegal, any advantage gained by this method must be ceded immediately. Report people deliberately and excessively cutting.
  
• T1L & T2R. This is a high speed section and one of the few places on the lap where the track narrows and funnels the pack. People could easily drop a wheel onto the sand and suddenly spin. Be aware of people around you, and of the racing line, as there is a lot of lateral movement through this section
  
• T7R & T8L – Esses. The temptation is to straight line these Esses as it is a very fast section of track, but all drivers need to make sure that 2 wheels are kept on the track at all times. Please report any persistent and deliberate cutting through this section.
  
• T10R. The kerb can throw people across the track, so you will need to be aware of sudden changes in line from people immediately in front of you.
  
• All points on the track – General Items
  No lights are to be flashed at any stage, under any circumstances, during the race.
  The Track must be re-entered safely so as not to ruin other peoples races.
  Car damage must be assessed realistically to know if it is possible to make the pits or not.

Incidents, Investigations and Penalties

There are 3 “No-show” infractions now being levied on Drivers after Round 2.

Sam J. Simpson
Jakub Dylewski
Jakub Borucki

These infractions will be carried for 1 race and then rescinded. Any further infraction of this type after that time will result in removal from the League.

There is 1 Conduct infraction being levied on a Driver after Round 2.

Andreas Löffler

This infraction will be carried for 2 races and then rescinded. Any further infraction during the period of the infraction will result in removal of qualifying privileges in the subsequent round. Once the infraction is rescinded the driver reverts to a clean record.

Please note the difference in the infraction types, and subsequent punishments if further breaches occur.

2 drivers who were carrying a No-show infraction from Round 1 now have that infraction rescinded.

Fernando Rees (subsequently retired from the League)
Michal Mroczek

Any further No-show infractions will result in removal from the League.

Please remember, the League staff will only review incidents if they are reported to them.

No report = no review.

Please try and remember the incident reporting guidelines: review, cool off, review again. Only after following the above process, and if you are convinced you still need to report it, should you let the League staff know. Please give as much information as possible during the report (time of incident, drivers involved etc.)

Any accusations or complaints aired in the Chat during or after a race will mean a penalty levied on the person complaining or making the accusations, even if a subsequent official complaint gets found in their favour. I simply will NOT tolerate any post race finger pointing.

Liveries

You have chosen your car and livery already, and you must only drive your chosen car at any time during an RDHGP event. Every driver has a unique livery in this season of RDHGP.

Scoring System

I have extended the points distribution method down to P20 (75% distance completion required) so people can fight for some points no matter where they are on the track, and hopefully have a season long battle with people around them in the League.
The Distribution is as follows for 100km events :

P1 - 25 pts
P2 - 22
P3 - 20
P4 - 18
P5 - 16
P6 - 15
P7 - 14
P8 - 13
P9 - 12
P10 - 11
P11 - 10
P12 - 9
P13 - 8
P14 - 7
P15 - 6
P16 - 5
P17 - 4
P18 - 3
P19 - 2
P20 - 1

1 point for fastest race lap
1 point for qualifying on Pole

 

[Predrag Drobac]

Qualified as 8th, finished the race as 19th. Not much to say, I made some cruicial mistakes thankfully to SHADOWS in braking areas, I've missed the braking spots several times, christ! I didn't saw racing groove in braking areas at all!

 

[Hans Sneep]

Not my night to night ,could not concentrate,could not find a rhythm an my stomach was talking to me,(my wife make hot chili con carne, will ask her not to do that on race day again!)
Q on p 21 fin. on P20? only thing that was good was the start making a few places but on the uphill corner it ended all hit the wall shoot back a cross the track must hit somebody ? sorry for that an was back on p 20 lost the car more than one time ,Warren passing an could not keep up the speed, eventual was on
p 23 with Bjorn an Ondrej having a good fight together Ondrej lost the car so Bjorn an me fight it out to the Finnish,great racing Bjorn ,Carlos back to he pits so that was p20, 1 point fore the trouble .

Thanks Stuart,track was great ,Grats to Ryan an the podium up to round four St.Jovite hoping to do better there

 

[Senad Subasic]

Points, preciousssss pointssss :drink: :woot:

Slow as usual. Managed to avoid two or three larger incidents, and was rolling around 18th place. Had a close couple of laps with Marc, hope I didn't block too much. When he was behind me for the second time, I was actually trying to let him pass, he was faster, and Manuel was close behind, didn't want to lose time fighting. But he wanted to slipstream, so it got a bit messy

Didn't enjoy the track too much. I didn't pass T10R nicely once in the whole race.

EDIT: also, kudos to Marc for letting me pass when he spun out near the end of the race. I thought you had just about enough time to safely return, but you decided to play it safe:good:

 

[Stuart Thomson]

Results are up

 

[Bob Hutchins]

For now until race report tomorrow, I would just like to thank Stu for a great track and top organisation. Thanks to all the drivers tonight, you were all brilliant, grts to Ryan on the win, wd mate, thanks to those I raced with tonight you made it very memorable.

I would also just like to apologise to Jay for the racing incident and not saying sorry at the time but things were a little hectic at that moment but great racing with you tonight.

 

[Manuel Spierenburg]

was my best race so far in this league.

quali:
Due the lack of training and no time to make a good setup I was not able to do 42er times. which was my target after I was able to to some 43 after some laps.
I just managed to do a 42.9 in the last lap but quali time was just over so the lap didn't count. But I would have started at position 20 anyway.
Was quite happy with that.

race:
ok the nsu takes off like a rocket. I managed to overtake some cars and was battling with carlos in the first corners. But in the fast S I took my wheel offroad and got me spinning. again a spinner in the early part of the race and again I collected some of you guys. Big big sorry about that (think it was Senad, Warren and Ondrej). Marc was just able to avoid me but he had to brake really hard. Had some nice fights after that with senad and warren. At the end of the race Warren and Marc had an incident somehow and I got them. But Warren rejoined the race behind me with a little cap which he closed down until the last lap. In the last lap I had some problems again in the fast S and Warren got me in the next corner. Actually I thought it was the second last lap because I forgot I got lapped already by the leaders and so I had only to do 26 laps. Was already hoping for a last lap fight with Warren and was surprised the race was over when I crossed the line .
But managed to take 16th again and some more 5points.

Makes me a happy panda (or banana) :banana:

Thanks RD, Stu for setting this up and all the racers

 

[Warren Dawes]

Not the most enjoyable morning racing for me, but good to finally join this League.
Qualy: Drove the wheels of the Mini, managed a 1.41.5 secs, probably the best I could ever get out of a Mini, only to find myself P15. This was going to be hard work.

Race: Basically, it all fell in a heap on lap 1. After the usual plodding Mini start (these are hopeless off the line), I was back to P21 by turn 2. As I came hurtling through the high speed chicane, over the crest of the hill, I found Manuel spinning sideways across the track. Jakub and I had no chance to avoid him (sorry guys), and as we both ploughed into Manuel, Senaud clipped my tail and I flew off into the fence. The car was a mess, bits missing everywhere, the steering was at 30deg to the left, and the handling was nothing like a Mini. It wanted to oversteer badly on left hand turns and almost refused to turn right, as I quickly found out by understeering off and incurring two cut track warnings over the next lap or so. (Strange thing about this track, you can actually cut the turns by heaps without a warning, but if you go wide on exit, you are penalised immediately:eek: ).
So, now, I was last, the car was crippled, and I was staring down the barrel of a likely Stop n Go. :rose-dead:
I decided to just see if I could get the poor Mini home to the finish. Then I had some better fun.
I had some fun racing with Bjorn, Ondrej, Manuel, Hans, and Jakub as I slowly gained a few spots. I later had a dice with Senad, but towards the end of the race, I came over another blind crest only to find Marc recovering from an off track excursion, and hit him and spun again. Sorry Marc, I had no chance to miss you.
Now the front of the Mini was also squashed in and looking very uncute. Manuel was now back in front, but we had a very nice run to the finish while trying to let the lapping cars pass. I just sneaked past Manuel to take P15 after a lot of hard work.
Grats to Ryan, WD to Andraes and Amir.
Thanks to all who raced, hopefully a bit better luck next race.

 

[David Cuthill]

After my poor start to the season, this was far more like it.

Off the grid in 6th, Amir to my right and Krzysztof ahead, who gets a slow start and we're 3 wide going down to the first corner. We all make it through safely as Amir forces himself ahead. I would only see the back of his car from that point on. Into turn two and I get ahead of Krzysztof and I'm into 4h place.

Amir is now taking a bite at Andreas for a few laps and I follow close behind looking for crumbs. Andreas pulls away, Krzysztof pulls up close and it's now a 3 car Abarth battle for the rest of the race.

I'm close to having a go at Amir a few times over the next few laps but it's tricky without forcing it too hard. Krzysztof is also breathing down my neck, trying the same things. It will probably take a mistake to change the positions. Lots of great, close racing going on between us and I eventually have the first slip up on lap 7 by running wide after the downhill turn 3 which allows Krzysztof past me.

Krzysztof is now attacking Amir hard but no way past. Still all in a tight group as Krzysztof takes a slide off track, falling back a few seconds. I'm now pushing hard to pull back up to Amir, slowly closing in but now I've got Krzysztof back with me, running a hot pace. I hold him off a big chuck of laps until I run a touch wide around the long hairpin and don't have the speed down the following straight to hold him off. But a few corners later, Krzysztof slides onto the grass and I'm back in 4th.

Now a gap of 2 seconds between each of us as the laps tick down and the tyres go bald. I can't quite get back onto Amir but Krzysztof pulls back the gap to me as we duel for a few laps until it's my turn to slide just wide enough for Krzysztof to squeeze through. Only a few laps to go and I stay in 5th place until the flag.

Grats to Ryan and Andreas.
Big thank you to Krzysztof and Amir for that fine piece of racing.

 

[Senad Subasic]

As I came hurtling through the high speed chicane, over the crest of the hill, I found Manuel spinning sideways across the track. Jakub and I had no chance to avoid him (sorry guys), and as we both ploughed into Manuel, Senaud clipped my tail and I flew off into the fence.

Whoops, I didn't notice I spun you in game, there was no crashing sound, or a car movement change.


EDIT: Here's the replay, from a couple of angles:

Sparks on the wheel cam confirm contact, but roof cam at 00:14 shows you were already sideways. Lag perhaps.

Anyway, sorry, I really didn't notice any contacts.

 

[Warren Dawes]

No problem Senad, we had already started ploughing into Manuel before you arrived, nothing you could do either.
It was just one of those unfortunate incidents that was pretty much out of everyone's control, even Manuel was unlucky to spin there, those NSU's are really difficult to keep pointing ahead at the best of times.

 

[Ryan Callan]

This event was very different to the first two - after the intensity of Jops and frustration of Knutstorp, this was very tame in comparison - not that I'm complaining

Pre/Practice
I hadn't done as much pre-practice as I had hoped, illness and other things had interfered, but I was fairly satisfied with my pace. Come the main practice session that confidence was reinforced, with just myself and Andreas sneaking under the 1:40 mark, with Krzystof and Amir close in attendance.

Qualifying
I put a marker down early on with my second attempt at a flying lap with a 39.414. This was never beaten throughout the session, except by myself - first I brought it down to a .399 and finally with a minute to go a .190 to gain pole by .3 from Andreas. Mega chuffed with that.

Race
Lap 1: I was nervous of that cavalcade of Abarths swamping me before the first corner, but I got a good start and was able to take the first turn unchallenged from Grzegorz and Andreas, with the Abarths not as far forward as I expected. I have half a second lead by T3, when Andreas drops a wheel on the grass on the exit and my lead is now fairly healthy at around a second, important, as it allows me to concentrate on my own game.

Lap 2-12: I extended my lead to 6 seconds - my first three flying laps all in the 39s and I was delighted by my pace.

Lap 13-15: A few iffy laps sees the gap come down to around 4.5.

Lap 15-21: Back in the rhythm now and my lead is back to 6 seconds - delighted to have only dipped into the 1:41s once during the opening 21 laps, and that due to traffic.

Lap 22-27: The gap begins to be a little more inconsistent now, as both Andreas' and my tyres start to get past their best and traffic comes into play. However, the lead goes as high as 7 seconds at one stage, before winning the race, finishing 6 seconds clear of Andreas.


Dull as ditchwater in a way - but delighted with my first league win and my extended points lead. I had been hoping throughout the race that DC or KB could take some points off Amir but it was not to be. Many thanks to the traffic, all were very polite, even though I noticed with both amusement and concern that the first four cars I lapped went off or rejoined right in front of me .

Grats to Andreas and Amir also.

 

[Amir Margalit]

first i would like to say well done for ryan and andreas. the lap times you did with the alfa and the cortina were amazing and showed the quality of both of you as drivers.
as for the race i thought before the event that the abarth would be the fastest car. it is a fast and flowing track which suits the abrath and my style of driving. to my surprise i couldn't get below 1'40 which meant that i started from 5th behind krzysztof babij and grgegorz lenarciak .as the light went green i knew that i need to have a good jump in order to fight ryan and andreas. i was looking forward to the fight because in the previuos races we all did mistakes ( or got hit) and didn't have the
chanse to battle it out between us. this. i hoped it would be the right place for the WAR to start. as the light changed i managed to pass babij and was up to 4th. i could see ryan immidietly pulling away and knew i have to push hard early on. i managed to hold off daviid cuthill and when grgegorz lenarciak broke too hard at the 5th corner i was behind andreas while david and babij follow me.
now i was behind andereas. i knew that i have to pass fast in order to catch tyan. for 3 laps i tried evevry move i could in order to pass andreas but he was defendidng his place verywell. i thought i was faster and decided to make my passing move at the last chicane before the start finish line. unfortunently two corners before i was very close to andreas and then he lost the rear and started to slide. i almost hit him so was forced to take avoiding action.went to the gravel and lost about 2 seconds. from then on andreas kept his pace, all 3 of us at the front were doing about the same laps times which meant that the gap stayed the same. meanwhile david and babij were tying to pass me,we had a great fight almost the whole race. sorry guys no way i would let you pass it was my place and i wanted to keep it to the end it was a tough but fair fight and at the end i managed to keep a distance of about 2 seconds from them. to the disappoitment of ryan they couldn't get passed
the final laps i came into trafic and passed the lapped cars, thanks for the guys who were lapped and pulled over. sorry warren and manuel for spoiling yoe fight but babij was too close...
i was exhausted after the race . i did all i could but as i learned at this level of racing one mistake is all it takes to lose the battle with the front guys.
anyway the championship is far from over and everything is possible., so see you next time. lookink forward to it.
btw andreas are you making another video? the last ones were great.
thank you all for a great race.yet again imo this is the best league with the most fair drivers. thank you all and thank you stuart for setting the league. gtl rocks:thumb:

 

[Krzysztof Babij]

What should I say about my race? I think everything has been written by David and Amir.

Quali my PB, went below 1:40 and P3.

On the beginning of the race terribly start and lost many positions, was very angry to myself, but finally on P5 behind David. Had a very nice battles with David. When I passed David I made a mistake and lost positiion, but close to the end David went too wide and I gained the position and chase for Amir, but he was far from me.

Satisfied with the battles, but angry to myself because of so many mistakes during the race.

I will not be able to take a part in the next race (business trip) so have a nice race in Canada

 

[Neil Gault]

Qual 11th
Finish 13th
Well that was one hard race but great fun.

Screwed my back up on Monday and was not sure if i would be able to race tonight or not as tonight was the first laps i had done since then but it felt OK in practice and qual so i gave it a go.
Made my usual crap start and dropped a place or two, then as per normal i was just a bit too careful with traffic in lap one and like last race i let Gary past with his beast and once he gets in front of you then you know you have your work cut out trying to get around the monster as it has lots more power than anything else and is about 3 times the length of normal car :wink: So it was a case of follow the Gary train until he makes enough mistakes to let us all past, i finally got my chance as he ran wide in one corner and i was able to stay tight inside and then stick my car in the spot where he wanted to accelerate too, after a couple of corners i had shaken the beast off and could get on with catching those in front but it was a little too late as the gap to them was just a bit to much.:frown:

Bit sad that i wrecked Carlos's race, i made a mistake coming out of turn 2 which let his little fiat buzz past me going into turn 3 and we made contact which sent him flying into the wall, but apart from that it was a good nights racing.

Thnx all.

 

[Andreas Löffler]

btw andreas are you making another video? the last ones were great.

Nooooo, i don´t won. :wink: Thanks you liked it Amir, i will see - but it takes a bit of time and normally i have not much from that. :work:

 

[Marc Good]

Race preparation
Well... next time I will prepare better, guaranteed. Because I almost can't do less. Managed to run a total of 5-7 laps on this track before qualifying due to other appointments and barely got my wheel setup 1 minute before quali started. So I tried to find a somewhat drivable setup and did one lap in qualifying.

Race
Started way back in the field but took advantage of the NSUs nice off-the-line-qualities and just cruised around for the first few corners to not cause any trouble. As was mentioned several times there was a spin in the fast S and I had to get on the brakes as hard as possible and barely managed to avoid Manu - no problem at all for me, as this is just what can happen in first laps and I know what a tricky car the NSU is
To my surprise I managed to catch up with Senad after a while and I felt quite a bit faster than him. At first it was a fun battle with Senad defending somewhat, but then he let me past. Thanks very much for this! If you want you might race on next time because I like some competition

Then I got into a somewhat steady pace with Warren at my back but I felt I could cruise to the finish line because the guys in front of me were almost 7+ seconds ahead. But then I let Ryan through in the tight left hander and managed to almost spin my car - almost. But I got off track and went from opposite lock to opposite lock. It felt like I would be able to not spin but I could not manage to control my direction of travel at all and therefore ended up right in front of Warren. Very sorry for this Warren! Hope it did not spoil your race any further and I know you could not avoid me.
As there were about 3 more cars that would lap me right behind and then some more cars on the same lap I waited quite some time to let all past and rejoined the track with about 3 positions lost.

All in all an enjoyable evening wasn't it for my self-induced spinning and lack of preparation. Biggest downside: I'm the lowest NSU driver in the driver standings! :damnit:
:wink:

 

[Stuart Thomson]

A really enjoyable nights racing again, a cracking 6 and occasionally 7 way scrap with me, Steve, Bob, Jay, Grzegorz, Tom and Predrag (until he had his issues). A right old midfield ding-dong :good:

Most of us were next to each other on the grid after quali, Predrag in 8th down to me in 14th.

To be honest, I'm only in this for the racing and the fun - for me, the League, points, standings etc. are just a framework to hang a load of (hopefully exciting) events off. Because of that I can't really tell you lap times, gaps and all that stuff. Well - I probably could, but I can't be arsed to look it all up to tell you the truth, and it probably doesn't matter a stuff either.

After a decent start, the race settled down almost immediately to the pack I mention above, all pretty much nose-to-tail right from the get go. Almost constant passing and re-passing between all of us, and the first time I felt comfortable enough to have a look at the lap counter, I couldn't believe it was lap 20 .

Fantastic racing in there gents, an absolute blast :good:

 

[Senad Subasic]

To my surprise I managed to catch up with Senad after a while and I felt quite a bit faster than him.

Yeah, well... I'm crap

At first it was a fun battle with Senad defending somewhat, but then he let me past. Thanks very much for this! If you want you might race on next time because I like some competition

I hate to be in the way... You were a lot faster, and we were both losing time, it was best that I just move over a bit.
Maybe if I magically get better in two weeks time, there'll be more racing

 

[Marc Good]

Yeah, well... I'm crap

1. That's not at all what I wanted to express.
2. Naaah, I don't think you're crap at all. And I felt safe behind (and especially next to each other in corners!) you all the time - great driving imo!

 

[Bob Hutchins]

My race report:
After qualifing I found myself in 13th spot, lucky for some, but this was not because I was slow, did a PB if you don't mind, it was just that the field was very tight and only seperated by 10ths & 1000ths of a second. I was in the midfield group with a couple of club racers next to me, Steve in front by 1000ths and Stuart behind by a few 10ths. I knew if I was to stand a chance against these two my start had better be good.

The race: As I said being in a pack with some club racing buddys I knew I had to get away well which I did, I had a flyer, hooked up really well and made a move in this only gap I could see in front of me which was between Steve & Neil, that done & before getting to T1 I had Jay on the inside which I also managed to get by before the corner. Now upto 10 have made up 3 spots from a great start I followed the pack upto T3. Round this safely I saw Jay inspecting my boot lock to make sure it was shut and upto T4, highest point of the track, with Stuart in close attendance. At T4 Grzegorz has a moment & I managed to gain another spot upto P9 & I'm now closely following Predrag round the rest of the lap with Jay hot on my tail. At the last turn before the start/finish straight Predrag has a spin at which point my race was nearly over but I manage to just get enough left-hand lock on to scrap through & saw that Jay followed me. Now upto P8 & after seeing Martin & Tom scraping it out in the last turn, Martin getting the better of Tom, I set about closing the gap to Tom but mindfull of Jay just lurking behind me ready to pounce if I made any kind of error. I could see Tom ahead having a bit of a fight with Martin which I thought may slow them down a bit & allow me to close the gap to them. As the laps rolled by it seemed Martin had the measure of Tom, although Tom was trying very hard to bring the fight to Martin, & was slowly putting a bit of a gap between them but I was being pushed hard by Jay so I just settled into a nice rythm & made sure I made no silly mistakes.

Lap after lap I could see I was gaining a small amount on Tom and as I got close to him started to work out where the best chance of an overtake might be. By this time Martin had escaped the clutches of Tom & was away up the track & I had also noticed that Stuart & Steve were joining the party. Now right behind Tom with Jay still in attendance, I could see Tom was a bit loose in a couple of place on the track so I stayed close but knew it was not going to be easy getting by as he was covering his lines very well. Lap after lap I pushed Tom but could not find the gap I needed to make the pass safely & with this I had to watch Jay also as he was trying to get by me. Going through the fast chicane I was right on Tom's tail, this caused me to misjudge my entry which resulted in me having to slow a bit to get the exit right, & I knew this was going to give Jay a chance of overtaking me. I stayed on the inside upto the sweeping left hander as I knew this would be the best place to be to guard my line and try & stave of Jay. I could see Jay had pulled right along side me on the right so it was down to the braking going into the corner which I left to the last possible minute. As Jay turned into the corner, by now he was just infront, he moved over and we touched which resulted in Jay having a small spin & me losing a place to Stuart. This prompted me to think that Stuart might have a better chance of overtaking Tom which I had failed to do due to Tom defending his position very hard & fair but this was not to be as a couple of laps later Stuart went wide in T9, sweeping left-hander, which allowed me to get by him again. Now it was upto me to find a way by Tom so once again I closed the gap and applied the pressure. Finally after a good few laps Tom finally gave me the chance I needed & I took it going into T10 after Tom got loose coming out of T9 but Tom was not giving up quitely & tried to hold his ground but I had the racing line so the move was secure. Now in P7 and the race coming to the end, tyres worn, I just said to myself just keep it clean and bring it home. With only a few laps left I could see Steve getting ever so nearer but the gap stayed around 2 seconds so all I had to do was maintain this and all would be good for the result. Two laps to go & Steve was pushing really hard and managed to close the gap to around a second but I knew if I just kept it on the island and clean my position was safe. Last lap, car feelling very loose as the tyres were now carput, I just made sure every corner was safe but this allowed Steve to get ever nearer and 3 corners from the chequered flag he was right on my tail and looking to make a move if he could. I covered all my bases and managed to just hold him off to cross the line in 7th.

That was a great nights racing.
Grts to Ryan on the win & Andreas & Amir for the other podium slots. Thanks to Stu for all the organisation he does for this league and for putting up a great track to race on. Thanks to all I raced with who were tough but very fair which is why this is one of the best leagues on RD. Wd to all that finished, thx to all back markers, great job guys & see ya all next round.