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Well guys, for me it was a great great race.
Congratulations to XChris, who drove a fantastic race out front, and never let up, well done.
Seven also who was able to keep up and battle with him for many laps.
Pedro, a great race, well done to get 2nd, although i guessed you were sweating on fuel right at the end.
Snake, a great third place and very impressive.
Unlucky for Karsten, and Vic who bath had DC.
Firstly my team mate Kossu getting pole was pretty special, and for me to qualify 5th was also above what i thought i would get considering my skill and car weight.
When the race started i knew that although i was not set up for the best outright pace, and more just pure top speed and tyre preservation and i hoped that i would not be easily drafted, as all the turns at Monza are really very heavy braking and makes it hard to set up overtakes on the corners exits, i was happy to get into third place after just 2 laps.
Kossu ran into the gravel at turn 1 lap 1 and dropped back and i managed to draft Karl.
Then from lap 3 to lap 19 it was xchris and seven out in the lead and pulling away and i had a train behind of myself, Eol and Karl trading places and Sken sitting at the back watching and waiting.
We had quite a few swops for 3rd position, but with my top speed with no wing and max ride height whenever they pulled out to draft they could not easily manage to carry the speed to pass me, and this led to lots of small attempts but no real gain for them, although i knew their pace would have been just a bit faster than me had they managed to get in front and away. I did have a little bump from karl at one point who was a bit impatient and tried to get inside me at Lesmo 1 and i was rather annoyed at the time but he wasnt being too aggressive.
Our little 4 car train ran like that pretty much nose to tail with some really exiting passes between Eol and Karl but never really getting past me, Sken must have been sitting behind us trying to save fuel in the draft.
Sken and karl stopped at lap 16 or 17 i think and i did at lap 18 and Eol at lap 19 and i filled to the top but i think they all put slightly different amounts of fuel in.
After all the pitstops i was out back in 6th with Sken in front of me and pulling away, Snake closed me down in and passed me for 5th.
But i was happy, up until then no mistakes, no penalties and on course for 3 long stints and a shorter stint at the end.
I saw karsten dissapear earlier and really though wow, he is not going to be a happy bunny at all, as i knew it could only be a dc, but i am sure we will all get our turn at that during the season, and we all have to drop 2 scores anyway.
Then on lap 26 i had the mega fast seven coming up behind me, i am not sure if he had crashed but he seemed a bit out of position as earlier he and xchris were 30 seconds ahead in the lead.
As he closed on me really quickly i would have happily let him through, he was clearly faster than me and i knew trying to keep him behind and driving defensively would slow me down as well, but i would just wait until we were in the right place and not approaching a dangerous corner, but as we approached the last chicane he was up behind me and i wanted to get around that corner and then let him draft past, so i took a line inside the normal line to protect myself during the left turn, and on worn tyres and with a defensive line i had to brake a bit earlier anyway, but i was hit up the back and sent off into the sand, and that made me really mad and frustrated, as i have kept on about non contact.
Luckily i had no damage but the incident cost me 18 seconds on that lap.
A few laps later after my second stop i then went through my usual patch of lost rhythm, running 4 kerbs withinn 6 laps being able to get back in the groove, so annoying, all the corners seemed harder to get turned into and the grip seemed worse even though i had good tyres, but that comes a bit from me pushing too hard after i know i have lost time with a penalty, but i relaxed and didnt push so hard and managed to get my rhythm back.
Then as the race drew towards the end i was in 11 th place with around 25 minutes to go, but not a huge amount back from 6th position, and i know that there would be dramas with fuel and tyres and weariness as we got towards the end.
My last stop with 20 minutes to go and 10th place. Then in the last 2 laps everything changed, some were running low on fuel and tyres, there was a crash at the last turn that caught and slowed a few and suddenly in 7th place on the last lap, as a couple dived into the pits for last minute splash and dash, then on the last sector on the final lap i passed 2 more cars that were desperately slowly crawling for the finish line.
All in all a massive relief to finish 5th place where i started, and only looking back at the replay was i able to enjoy nearly all the battles.
For the most part most drove very sensibly, and cleanly and fairly.
There were a few incidents of course as there will always be, and many of these will not be intentional incidents, but ones that must be learned from. I know no driver want any contact or any incidents but they can be avoided if drivers are a bit more patient and use there heads a bit more than there hearts at times.
It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out next week with the leading guys driving the heaviest cars.
New driver Championship standings will be posted after the stewards reviews and new car weights should be listed by Wednesday night, so we can get ready for Silverstone next week.
Congratulations to XChris, who drove a fantastic race out front, and never let up, well done.
Seven also who was able to keep up and battle with him for many laps.
Pedro, a great race, well done to get 2nd, although i guessed you were sweating on fuel right at the end.
Snake, a great third place and very impressive.
Unlucky for Karsten, and Vic who bath had DC.
Firstly my team mate Kossu getting pole was pretty special, and for me to qualify 5th was also above what i thought i would get considering my skill and car weight.
When the race started i knew that although i was not set up for the best outright pace, and more just pure top speed and tyre preservation and i hoped that i would not be easily drafted, as all the turns at Monza are really very heavy braking and makes it hard to set up overtakes on the corners exits, i was happy to get into third place after just 2 laps.
Kossu ran into the gravel at turn 1 lap 1 and dropped back and i managed to draft Karl.
Then from lap 3 to lap 19 it was xchris and seven out in the lead and pulling away and i had a train behind of myself, Eol and Karl trading places and Sken sitting at the back watching and waiting.
We had quite a few swops for 3rd position, but with my top speed with no wing and max ride height whenever they pulled out to draft they could not easily manage to carry the speed to pass me, and this led to lots of small attempts but no real gain for them, although i knew their pace would have been just a bit faster than me had they managed to get in front and away. I did have a little bump from karl at one point who was a bit impatient and tried to get inside me at Lesmo 1 and i was rather annoyed at the time but he wasnt being too aggressive.
Our little 4 car train ran like that pretty much nose to tail with some really exiting passes between Eol and Karl but never really getting past me, Sken must have been sitting behind us trying to save fuel in the draft.
Sken and karl stopped at lap 16 or 17 i think and i did at lap 18 and Eol at lap 19 and i filled to the top but i think they all put slightly different amounts of fuel in.
After all the pitstops i was out back in 6th with Sken in front of me and pulling away, Snake closed me down in and passed me for 5th.
But i was happy, up until then no mistakes, no penalties and on course for 3 long stints and a shorter stint at the end.
I saw karsten dissapear earlier and really though wow, he is not going to be a happy bunny at all, as i knew it could only be a dc, but i am sure we will all get our turn at that during the season, and we all have to drop 2 scores anyway.
Then on lap 26 i had the mega fast seven coming up behind me, i am not sure if he had crashed but he seemed a bit out of position as earlier he and xchris were 30 seconds ahead in the lead.
As he closed on me really quickly i would have happily let him through, he was clearly faster than me and i knew trying to keep him behind and driving defensively would slow me down as well, but i would just wait until we were in the right place and not approaching a dangerous corner, but as we approached the last chicane he was up behind me and i wanted to get around that corner and then let him draft past, so i took a line inside the normal line to protect myself during the left turn, and on worn tyres and with a defensive line i had to brake a bit earlier anyway, but i was hit up the back and sent off into the sand, and that made me really mad and frustrated, as i have kept on about non contact.
Luckily i had no damage but the incident cost me 18 seconds on that lap.
A few laps later after my second stop i then went through my usual patch of lost rhythm, running 4 kerbs withinn 6 laps being able to get back in the groove, so annoying, all the corners seemed harder to get turned into and the grip seemed worse even though i had good tyres, but that comes a bit from me pushing too hard after i know i have lost time with a penalty, but i relaxed and didnt push so hard and managed to get my rhythm back.
Then as the race drew towards the end i was in 11 th place with around 25 minutes to go, but not a huge amount back from 6th position, and i know that there would be dramas with fuel and tyres and weariness as we got towards the end.
My last stop with 20 minutes to go and 10th place. Then in the last 2 laps everything changed, some were running low on fuel and tyres, there was a crash at the last turn that caught and slowed a few and suddenly in 7th place on the last lap, as a couple dived into the pits for last minute splash and dash, then on the last sector on the final lap i passed 2 more cars that were desperately slowly crawling for the finish line.
All in all a massive relief to finish 5th place where i started, and only looking back at the replay was i able to enjoy nearly all the battles.
For the most part most drove very sensibly, and cleanly and fairly.
There were a few incidents of course as there will always be, and many of these will not be intentional incidents, but ones that must be learned from. I know no driver want any contact or any incidents but they can be avoided if drivers are a bit more patient and use there heads a bit more than there hearts at times.
It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out next week with the leading guys driving the heaviest cars.
New driver Championship standings will be posted after the stewards reviews and new car weights should be listed by Wednesday night, so we can get ready for Silverstone next week.
The only exception is when the new post will contain important information and deserves a bump, just like the 2 posts I've linked here.
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