Quali: Made a few mistakes and ran an ok time which I was sure Yves would beat, but fortunately he made a mistake in the same section as me and I was able to maintain pole with a .020 margin
Race: Wow is the only way to describe what went on.
Start was good due to 4wd got away clean and held off Yves lap one. Entered T1 and I got loose which allowed Yves by Putting me into the chase. The next few laps were bumper to bumper and there was some unbelievably close racing.
On lap 4 near the end I went too deep into the last s bend before the pit straight and locked up hitting Yves. (sorry) I waited for him and let him retake the lead to continue this epic battle.
On lap 6 i believe heading into the fast S bend Yves had dropped a wheel heading onto that straight, which gave me a huge run on him + the draft. I put my nose up beside him attempting to pass and im not sure he saw me. But I realize now that I shouldnt have tried to pass there in the first place. We made slight contact and both went through the sand trap and carried on in the same positions.
Lap 8 exiting T1 I get a good run heading into T2. As Yves sets up wide for the entry I use the wide surface and place my car carefully inside and stick the pass.
Lap 9 I went wide and this gave Yves the lead back.
Lap 10 Through the right left right combo I gave Yves a well planned light tap to just move him off line and give me some room to pass. Worked like a charm
However the very next corner I dropped a wheel under braking and spun. With a really quick recovery I got back on only 4 secs behind Yves and on a mission to catch.
After about 5 laps I caught up to Yves, and he then went wide and spun entering T2 and this gave me the lead.
Uneventful running with about 2-3 secs between us before pitstops, around lap 22-23ish I saw Yves spin behind me which made me think perfect time for a pit stop. I took only fuel and no tires (BIG MISTAKE) but being in pit box one there was a small glitch when exiting which left me stopped for 5 secs.
This gave me the lead of about 10 seconds and I noticed Yves was closing big time. I then realized i knew he took tires and was going to be caught.
After like 5 laps I spun and gave the lead to a now flying Yves who I figured had it locked. I then realized that Peter, who was the steady no spinning guy who was now sneaking up on me for 2nd.
With 3 laps to go Peter is now right on my bumper and pushing. We come around to the 2 lap to go marker and notice Yves in the pits which makes our race for the win. Me now with 40% of less in all my tires and barely on the track im fighting harder then ever. I maintain focus and managed to hold him off for a very hard fought victory.
I want to say well done to both Peter and Yves, this was one of my funnest races ever. Peter did an incredible job being there at the end and finishing our 1 hour race only .3 apart.
Thanks Yves and RD for hosting.
Pics/Video to follow.
