I qualified 3rd just 0.01 sec after Ben. We had a nice battle during approximately the first 20 minutes. I had not done many races recently so I felt my endurance (mental) was not in top form. I had to remind me before every corner to "do it right". With some more practice the driving can go into auto mode, but not this time.
At some point Ben took a 3-4 seconds lead and I at that point I especially had to remind me of not trying too hard. I kept repeating my mantra, and could close the gap. Was your engine popping at that time already Ben? I've learned that the luck has to be earned, so I tried to stay close and see what happens. It happened :lmfao: and I got past. Then not much was happening for the rest of the race.
Congrats Easyed :yahoo:
After the MRT the XFG felt so slow, especially at slippy Fern bay but towards the end of the week, (nearly) everyone had it sussed, not to Easyed standards though as he was in a league of his own, we all tried his setup but still couldn't get near his times.
I managed to pip Romus to second place in the quali and at race start kept him behind me for the first few laps until I settled in. Romus started to drop back until I couldn't see him in my mirrors so I relaxed a bit, on lap ten I set my fastest lap but noticed a slight popping, I wondered where I had over revved and a few laps later when Romus had caught me up at the end of the back straight, braking heavy for the left hander I found out I was changing down into second too early and revving past 10k. I could now feel the car was slower and watched Romus go off into the distance.
The next ten laps or so I had to find new braking points as I was turning in to early, eventually I found a rhythm and as long as I got through the chicane quickly and out of the last corner with some speed I found I could slow the closing gap that Dee was making on me. A bad entry to the chicane saw Dee close and get a slight overlap so I kept him on the left side and hoped he would brake at the same time as me into the left hander as I knew it was very slippy there, he obliged and went straight on into the sand :)
Dee pitted a lap later and I decided to break tradition and pit early so I could keep Dee behind and make it hard for him to overtake when he caught me which he did with a few laps to go, I kept it tidy and finished third.
I enjoyed this race despite spending every lap defending my position :D
Had my best quali ever, got off to a good start, and stayed in 7th for a few laps, then Boom, lobbed it lost both places and stayed there for the rest of the race. Never mind still learning to race. Must take more time looking forward, and not back for fear of messing someone up.
Cheers all enjoyed.
BoB