There's fire on the Mountain, fire on the Mountain....So into qualy with Herbie. Managed to beat my Mustang qualy time but still not quite where I wanted to be. As it turned out my new target would have had me starting only one place up. P7 on a mixed DR/C/D grid, with mostly Cs.
Autodrive dumps me on corner exit not quite strait, but I was kinda steering preemptively so I was ready when the penny dropped
. The dash for crash into Hell was reasonably ordered, but a Porsche up ahead ended up on the grass on Mountain strait. I managed to avoid his re-entry (he was also being mindful), and start to pull along side. I got slightly ahead and he backed off at Griffins, putting me into P6 up the hill. The bug turns so nicely on tight corners that you can usually take them up a gear, which gives you something to drop down to if things go a bit wrong
. A car up ahead lost it at The Dipper, so up to P5. Me likey
! Sadly my joy was short lived as I was passed by a Porsche (you know.. the skinny Beetle) at the kink on Conrod
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Second lap I maintained position till we got to Skyline where I managed a clean pass on the skinny Beetle. Another car binned it at The Dipper, so I found myself in P4. Me Likey
! The Porsche almost managed to pull off the same track as last lap, but I had a better exit out of Forrest, so he had overlap, but not enough. I think he'd seen enough of my driving to realise that he would probably have another crack at me. He was passed by another Beetle at The Chase, which managed a clean pass on me up the inside at Griffins.
The Porsche, which was still behind me, was all over my arse through Skyline to Forrest Elbow. I managed a very tiny gap down Conrod, so he didn't manage to pull his trick at the kink, but he was all over me again into the chase. My exit to Hells was less than elegant, involving a large cloud of dirt. He got me at Griffins, then a GT-R got me on the climb to The Cutting
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I chased the GT-R then lap 6 he binned it at Hells and back up a place I go
. I almost caught up to the Porsche, and the GT-R was closing the gap down Conrod, but he muffed it at The Chase in a 7s kinda way. I just couldn't manage to catch the Porsche, but the car in front of him was carrying a 5s penalty, so I finished P5. Me likey
! The tyre wear on the Beetle is pretty good, at least for me. The last few laps if anything actually felt nicer. My race pace was consistently 2-3seconds faster than with the Mustang.
SR blue, DR went up 830. I'm guessing I'll be hitting DR/B/C grids shortly and the DR will start to tumble. In the mean time, the DR/C journey continues
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