I DO hate having both Nations and Manufacturers Cup in the same day.
Nations Cup - Rd. 3
Had three tries, first two were pretty similar - messed up quali, putting both times a very modest 38.8 and started P14 and P16. Had a 4 stop strategy based on dropping the Mediums and Hards stints first and then catch up on the Softs. 1st slot I was on route to finish 8th, but I was pushed by another driver and spun so finished 12th. The second one,(in which our friend
@LVS_1986 walzed from pole to win) I finished 9th, after I was 7th in the last lap and lost the rear after the first two turns if the track. Managed to save it, but lost the 2 places.
3rd slot - it would have been last no matter the result. I actually did a decent quali(36.8) and started in P6, 3 tenths below the pole. Started on Softs, planning to do 3 stints on Softs with 3 laps on mediums and 1 on Hards tucked in between depending on the standings in the race. The start was good, I gained a position right away when the guy in 5th messed a turn on cold tires. Then we broke away in a 5 cars group. I did not fight too much in order to not loose time but still gained another position when one of the cars in front took a penalty. First stint ended with me in 4th and I took another stint on Softs end of lap5. Because of other cars strategy, I was in 2nd after a few laps, chasing the Dutch leader and I tried to make a move at the righthander before the last chicane(he was on mediums) - getting alongside on the inside. He turned into me, not leaving any space which messed up my entry in the chicane - and lost two positions because of that. I followed the cars in front for another two laps and then had my two stints on hards and mediums. End of those stints found me in P5 chasing the cars in front. Gained one position on the outlap, and started chasing again the Dutch driver in 3rd. In front of us, there were two drivers with around 8-9s advantage but with a stop yet to do. I had a 2 lap battle with the Dutch driver until she made a mistake in the fast blind righthander and got a penalty in the process. I backed down, followed up closely - he served the penalty in the last lap, allowing me to overtake him easily and get 3rd over the finish line. The French guy who won, got a 60s penalty for not using the right tyres so my final position was a sweet 2nd, grabbing 109p.
Manu Cup - Dragontail
Not a good match for my Alfa. Had difficult times in Quali, being three times the fastest "handling" car in the room - but having absolutely no chance against the Supras, VGT's, AMG and M6's that thrives here.
First two races were bad, just bled DR and finished 14th and 16th(though here had a good race just - almost finishing 9th if not for the killer dive in the last corner of the race which sent me into the wall). In both races I was pushed in the first lap and sent last.
Third race, qualified in P11, below 5 AMG, 3GTRs, 1 McLaren F1 and 1 AM DB9. I actually had a nice enjoyable race as I struggled to keep the pace of the power cars, but my superior cornering speed and smart use of the GTR slipstream made me hope of a decent result. I had a nice 6 lap battle with a white GTR for the 7th position. All went to hell when another GTR and an M6 closed up and started making huge dives(like from almost 1s back in the right turn before the chicane of death) in the last 3 laps. As I was dodging their dives, getting out of the way, taking the turns after they overbraked - getting away in the chicane and being caught up right after on the straights - a Beetle joined the fight and then drove in the distance. In the end, after 4-5 dives I let them go, not tried to fight it anymore as it was pointless. I hoped they will crash together, but did not happened and I finished in P11.
I am starting to think that choosing Alfa for the season was a big mistake:
- the Group 3 car is a slower 911, very easy to drive, decent on the technical tracks but a no match for the power cars in the high speed tracks - this stage has plenty of those.
- the Group 4 car was great before the patch, but after it - it is very unstable and has a very loose rearend. I chose Alfa in order to have an advantage in the GR.4 cars but I can't drive the thing fast enough after the patch.