Okay, time to give a rundown of my weekend at Spa:
Saturday
Race 1 (15:30): After doing some qualifying runs in it, the Corvette and SLS, I decided to go out in the Audi R8 after setting a 2:19.053 time. Started 14th and took it easy on a no-stop, a strategy which I maintained for all eight races. Despite accidentally clouting a Lexus on the run into Bruxelles, quietly moved up through the pack after taking advantage of penalties, retirements, stops and mistakes from others. Got stuck with an AMG suffering from intermittent lag attacks, which did throw me off a bit a few times as I settled on letting a 650S through and pressuring another Lexus that seemed very twitchy towards the end. The 650S pitted and an Aston Martin rammed me from behind as I was braking for the bus stop. It seemed to me like the Aston was trying to get a lunge on the inside, but he seemed apologetic as he slowed down to let me pass immediately after. Regardless, I realised that trying to stay in the middle of the road was a mistake, and so made sure to give the pink Lexus plenty of space when he made a last-gasp lunge on Lap 8. Would have finished 9th, but a crawling Audi with a penalty promoted me to 8th; not bad for my first go.
Race 2 (16:00): Started 17th, dropped to the back almost immediately after getting passed by another Audi at the bus stop. Eventually managed to get the place back from a BWT-liveried Audi on the run to Les Combes, and catch up to a train of cars fighting for 10th on the final lap. Far too late to gain any ground, but salvaged 16th when one of the Porsches appeared to run out of fuel.
Race 3 (17:00): Sat out the 16:30 race to improve my qualifying time. Smashed the 2:19 barrier with a 2:18.688, though it didn't seem to make much difference here as I lined up 16th - almost exactly two seconds off the pole-sitting Citroen. Had an almost faultless charge in the first half, but bodged my chances of a solid finish when I tried to overtake a ghosted Gulf Porsche at the end of Les Combes. Said Porsche unghosts right as I pass him on the inside, leading to contact which biffs him onto the run-off. Cue a 3-second penalty, an SR drop and a post-race apology; in hindsight, I'm not sure the Porsche should've turned into me like he appeared to do on my on-board capture. Passed him cleanly anyway on the run to Blanchimont, and eventually finished 11th following some last-lap shenanigans and a penalty for one of the AMGs further up the road.
Race 4 (17:30): Another 16th place start.
Dropped three places as I sought to take things easy, but quietly fought up through the mid-pack while setting consistent mid-to-low 2:21 lap times. Personal fastest lap was a 2:20.846, followed up by a pass around the outside of another Audi at Les Combes. A further spin from the Lambo up front gifted me 10th, capping off a solid day's session.
Sunday
Race 1 (15:00): Overnight,
@breeminator informed me that the lap times I set during my previous race were better than what Super GT achieved in one of the races in his recent video on Spa. Started by setting another new personal best - a 2:28.252 - through taking on board some of the braking and high-revving techniques highlighted in Super GT's lap guide. Things looked promising with a 9th-place start - easily the best out of the runs I had thus far - and a conservative start ensured I was still in 10th while paying closer attention to fuel consumption than before. I decided for this set to get close to the 12% fuel per lap figure that Super GT advised on, and had a relatively untroubled run despite yo-yoing between 9th and 10th and being constantly flashed at by another Audi behind me on Lap 6. When there was no chance of getting further progress - despite more midfield scrapping - I was content with settling for 10th on the line.
Race 2 (15:30): Starting 12th was easily the best part about this run. Got swamped by four cars under braking into Les Combes, then punted into the gravel as two more Audis came together on the inside. The spin that followed wrecked any chance of getting a solid finish, and I was forced to fight with the Audi who caused the incident in question. 16th was the best I could manage towards the end, but only after said Audi fishtailed off at Ickx and a Porsche who fought with us ran wide at Courbe Paul Frere on the final lap.
Race 3 (16:00): What would have been a solid, but difficult run from 14th unravelled at the three-quarter mark. Amidst the mid-pack train was a struggling Alfa, who I attempted to pass on the run to Eau Rouge/Raidillon on Lap 7. Despite backing off, the Alfa proceeded to gain a run on me, tapping my rear bumper and sliding onto the inside runoff. As soon as I noticed him flashing his lights, I tried to let him pass back, but got distracted and veered into the barriers while moving across the corner to do so. This did not help the frustration that had already been brewing inside me, not least due to the constant scrapping and my relative lack of progress. Nevertheless, I pressed on, and saw the final lap as a chance to get at least a few places back. Coming through the bus stop, a Red Bull-liveried Porsche taps the Audi into a spin, and I hug the apex to try and avoid it. What I didn't anticipate was for the Porsche to spin out directly in front of me and cause contact between ourselves. The result?
A 4-second penalty and an SR drop within sight of the finish. To say that I was livid was an understatement, so much so that I backed off out of pure frustration and crossed the line 15th. After watching my capture again, I do have to wonder whether it would've been better to avoid the inside line at that moment...
Race 4 (16:30): Still feeling the red mist from the previous two attempts, I made one last run to try and repair my SR rating. Things started well when I got promoted from 10th to 9th due to a last-minute dropout, and the usual raft of incidents and penalties left me to carry out my strategy without too much opposition. Received a useful bump draft from a yellow Audi seconds before he served his penalty on Kemmel Straight, and got involved in a decent but tense scrap for 7th place with two Lambos and an AMG. This would have been a good enough result as it was, but coming out onto the start-finish straight on the final lap, the dark blue Lambo runs out of fuel, allowing me to grab 6th at the death.
Overall, while the Audi doesn't have as much aero as the Citroen, I found it to be much smoother and more confident to drive in both qualifying and race settings. It proved equally capable of doing the no-stop with short-shifting and fuel mix adjustments, and even the more difficult races I had did not weaken my appreciation for the R8's on-track strengths. Really learnt a lot from Jimmy Broadbent and Super GT's lap guides, and feel as if I can race far more consistently around Spa than I used to. Looking forward to having more races around there - whether it be in Sport Mode or otherwise.
I remember actually going to school as a kid!
Isn't language great. I think Webster's dictionary just gave up and said if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. 
