Just pulled off what I would rate as a really good performance in Race C. Made pretty much no mistakes, if you discount the 0.5 I got for touching the three outermost gravel stones coming out of the Corkscrew.
I did a couple of mediocre quali laps on my second account as preparation (1:06.8 vs a 1:06.2 I managed to wring out of the car on my main account), so I started down in 9th. I had done a “preparation race” before, just to see where I could push and how well the Mediums would hold up. In the end, I elected to go for that compound over the Hards, just in case I’d have to do some overtakes on the no-stoppers. I took two cars on the inside of T9 after the four cars ahead of me elected to all fight over the same piece of tarmac, so was up 7th by the end of lap 1.
The car ahead of me ran wide out of T5 on lap 2, so that was another spot gained. At the end of the lap P5 picked up some wheelspin out of the final corner, and I gladly moved into his place. So four places gained in two laps by staying calm and collected.
Throughout the third lap, I then put some pressure on P4, and picked up the aforementioned penalty, which was to be served on the next lap. Once again, coming out of the final corner, I got a better exit than the driver in front, and settled for the outside going into the hairpin. as I knew I had better grip thanks to the mediums. We came out of the corner side by side ,with me now crucially on the inside for T3. I pulled ahead and left a car width on the outside as sought a decent line, but I don’t think the other driver was expecting that and his right front bumped against my right left tyre. I checked the replay afterwards, and I may have squeezed him a little bit, but no more than I thought was fair and appropriate. Also, I was ahead by almost a car length. In any case, off I went, and my “victim” kept 5th… at least until he ran wide both coming out of T6 and going into the Corkscrew, after which he did a little half spin and went down to 8th. He elected to call me a “nob” after the race, but really, he was the architect of his own demise.
Meanwhile, I was off to hunt down the leaders, and caught 3rd on lap 5. He ran wide out of T6 as well (which cost him 2nd initially) and suffered from terrible understeer for the rest of the lap, missing the apex at T9 & T10, as well as the final corner. That brought me within striking distance, and I moved up into 3rd on the start/finish straight. For the next four laps, I hounded down P2, and finally picked up a better exit out of the final corner again. A lot of boost down the straight and the first corner saw me through to second place.
By that time, we were on lap 10 and my Mediums were still going strong. The leader had pulled out a lead of roughly 3 seconds, which I cut down to half before finally pitting for Hards and a splash of fuel at the end of lap 13. With two laps to go, I came out just behind P3 & P4 and had much fresher tyres at my disposal, which I put to good use coming out of T6 and up the hill to take P4 well before actually going into the Corkscrew. P3 was going very slowly as well, and I made a move stick going into T10. On the final lap, I mainly tried not to crash, in which I succeeded. So at the end, I finished P3, 11 seconds behind the winner.
I really don’t think I could’ve pulled that result off had I started on the Hards. The advantages of better traction out of the slow corners and being able to have good grip in the dirty air of the car ahead were crucial for capitalising on the mistakes of the other drivers. All in all, it was a super enjoyable race and a real challenge.
yeah I tried it like that as well 
