For a hill, men would punt, why? They do not know. Gone insane from the pain that they surely know....Did some laps with the Mustang last night because it's tradition that I get the bad stuff over first, before I can move on to the good stuff... like the Beetle

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Took a bit, but I managed to at least reach the target I had set for myself. Think there was still a little bit more to be had, but I wanted to get this over with. The Holden Mustang had me starting a surprising P4/18 on a mixed grid of DR/C and D... mostly D so I knew I needed to finish P7 or above to be in with any points.
And so it begins, all the drama, of Mount Panorama. Auto drive lets go in a strait line for a change

. I got a little loose at Hell corner, the Mustang behind me tried to snuffle his way through the inside, but it didn't take and I kept position up Mountain Strait. The section between Griffins and The Cutting was a free for all. I was stuck in the middle of two overlapping ghosts (so yeh, 3 cars all occupying the same cars sized space of tarmac). One unghosts to gift me with a 2s penalty. Someone blew Sulman and up P3 I go entering Skyline, with the Mustang that was behind me, in front of me. Got a tad loose , tapped a wall on the way though and got hit with another 5s penalty. On to Conrod still P3, but carrying 7s into the penalty zone. I pulled over to the right, by the time I unghosted, I'd dropped to P7, then P8 entering The Chase. Gutted.
Stuck like poop on a goldfish's arse to the Porsche in P8, and managed to get past him on the drag up Mountain Strait and in to Griffins first. The turn into The Cutting was a little less Bathurst 12h and a little more Tokyo Drift, but I still managed to stay ahead... I got good drive out of the corner

. I caught up to the three in front of me at The Dipper, and it was pandemonium! I kinda had to back off to stay outta the mix, because those three looked ugly trying to squeeze through to Forest Elbow. One didn't do Forrest so well (never good with cars close behind), so up again I go! The Chase was interesting. A WRX up ahead had lost his 🤬 and ended up a passenger through the grass at the kink. I had to swerve onto the grass through The Chase to avoid his re-entry. There was still some rubbing, but no penalties given. We headed side by side towards Murray's, where he picked up a 1s penalty. I lost a position in the fray to the Porsche behind me, back to P7

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This paragraph starts the same as the previous one, more or less. I passed a Herbie serving a penalty up Mountain Strait, so P6 again 👍. The Porshe and I were side by side through Griffins, however I passed him on the outside. He had better drive up towards The Cutting. We were side by side, with 3/4 of a car width between us at the kink before The Cutting. Herbie had some momentum and didn't feel the need to brake, sent it up the middle, pushed me into the wall and picked up a 4s penalty for being overoptimistic

. The Porsche spun at The Cutting. I didn't have to wait till Conrod to pass Herbie, he spun at The Esses before The Dipper

. Lap 4 sees me starting P5

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Fear not gentle reader, I'm not doing a paragraph per lap

. Lap 4 and 5 saw me chasing after the WRX in P4. He got 2 wheels on the grass exiting Murray's and rotated sideways and hit the wall on the other side of pit lane. P4 across the line for me! Now to circulate and try not to 🤬 up

. Heading into Reid I see "Yellow Flag, Overtaking is Prohibited" flashing up the top, and into P3 entering Skyline. This was when i started to get the jitters

. The Viper I passed was right on my heels, he had unghosted just after I passed him

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Lap 7 and I was staring to feel the tyres. I caught up to P2 on Mountain strait and was right on him across the top of the Mountain, even closer coming down. He was in another Mustang and I didn't get a better exit out of Forrest, so I maintained position, and striking distance. I was kinda hoping he'd choke and make a mistake... no such luck. Instead I did a pretty convincing impersonation of the WRX at the end of lap 4

. I held on to P3, but the Viper in P4 was right up my arse and decided to send it up the inside at Griffins. That cost him a 1s penalty because he made contact and I scraped the wall as a result. I just stuck with him, not doing anything stupid, knowing that I just have to wait till Conrod 👍. I didn't have to wait that long. His nose scraped the inside wall of The Dipper and he spun.
With 1 and a bit laps to go it was sweating bullets time again

. I managed to hold it together for a P3 finish. The Viper was doing donuts at the exit to Forrest elbow when I crossed. I think he had tyre issues. His laps were generally a second or two faster than mine, except the last two.
SR 99, DR up about 940. The DR/C journey continues

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