Practice: got a late confirmation that i could join in at the last minute. I only got in 10 minutes of praccy, just enough to get a little feeling with the track (feeling is something you need a lot here
)
Qualy: considering the amount of practice time, i did a decent lap without too many mishaps. P14 out of 22 (i thought)
Race 1: Start wasn't bad, i took it easy into t1, got passed by 2 cars after t1 and in t3 somebody hit me on my rearbumper...i thought: this was it, but luckly i survived without too many damage. I rejoined at the back of the pack. From there i could buildup the race nicely. each lap it got more comfortable with the car (Seat Leon petrol) and the track. I managed to get through without further problems on to the pitstop and each lap i was gaining positions due to overtaking people or people retiring. After the pitstop i was in P10 or so with Bob (Miley) on my bumper with his nifty Lada
with 3 laps to go or so i was even on p8. Not easy to bring home, cause Bob was clearly a bit faster then me (especially in Sector 2). But with almost no room there, i could defend my position until the finish. Almost i didn't finish: Andrew who was driving in front made an steering error in the turn just before the s/f line, which sent him into the air doing some nice somersaults. With some luck and awareness me and Bob luckily could avoid him.....pffffeuw! P8 was nice after a difficult first lap. This race was already a thriller.
Race 2: Due to my p8 of race 1 i was on pole for race 2. Actually, i was a bit scared with about 8 guys behind me which were clearly faster then me. My plan was to just drive normal and not defending my position to the limit. David (with his breeeeezing TDI) passed me on the rundown to t1. After that i could keep P2 for a further 3 corners until the next one came through. Stirb even passed me on a utterly impossible position, but with the "elbows against eachother", he came through safely. This time i decided to pit as once the pit window opened. I hoped that this would bring me some clean air to settle down, because after lap 5 i was in P7/8 with some guys behind me which were faster, but not as fast as the top 3 guys (which were just flying by). Coming to the final straight onto the pit entry i had about 3 guys behind within 2 seconds. I decided to chat my oncoming pitstop, so the guys behind me would know i needed to brake hard to make into the pitlane. Approaching the pitlane i was braking hard, i thought i made it safely into the pits but then the corner was just a bit more narrow then i thought: i clipped the barrier which sent on my roof (oops), meaning i was blocking the pitentry completely for Dan, who also decided to pit and who was caught in my stupid mistake (sorry again Dan). To my surprise it wasn't fatal damage, so i could continue to the pitbox for the needed repairs and fresh tires. After the pitstop i was a bit caught i no mans land with nobody near me. With 1 lap down (i just was lapped before the finish, Henrik and Simone were nearing really fast and they were still fighting for the lead, so i decided to yield on the last straight to give them a clear rundown to the finish) i brought the car home in P9.
Really happy with these 2 races. Had some good racing and most other drivers were also driving with respect, cause Porto is a quite difficult track.
see you soon guys
