FIA 2020 Series - Round 7
Nations Cup: Forgot that the Saturday races start at 4PM, not 5... so rushed to jump online at 3:58 and just made the first race... cold, no practice! No expectations, was on the fence about trying the META GTR, but given that I'd be double-headering in the Gr3 in my Porsche immediately after, and that I didn't have any practice before the qualifying, decided to just go in with no expectations in the RSR. Qualified 17th, in a field of about 50% Nissans (lower than I expected!) and finished 9th, in a clean race with little exciting to share. I was grateful that a guy who I had overtaken me at Spoon on the last lap with an ahem~ bullish move, actually granted the spot back to me before the final chicane. Sportsmanship is alive and well after all.
Manufacturer's Cup: fresh off the plane from Japan, jumped into the RSR again and qualified 7th at Sardegna. Started on softs, thinking it would be best to be 'racy' at first and see what track position I could gain before I had to use the Hards once. And in practice, I was happier on the M's anyway, they weren't that much slower than the softs. So figured it was a good strategy. Turned out to be the right strategy:
Some great, clean racing in the first several laps, where I was able to move up. I enjoyed racing the Ferrari and another guy, and was able to overtake a couple when they went off track.
While in 4th, I watched 2nd and 3rd race each other hard, allowing me to attack them and take 3rd.
I pressured that guy for a lap or so, but he didn't break, so I let the guy behind me have a go at it. (Might have been a mistake, see below). He didn't have any better luck. But eventually the pit stops started.
I had made it up to 3rd in the first stint, clean, and then put some distance on all but the leader in the second stint.
Things were working out well. After finding myself in the lead at the end, I ducked into the pits with a 10 sec lead, for those required H's... maybe I was gonna come out of this with a win?!? (Palms sweaty, Mom's spaghetti)
But no, despite exiting the pits for the last lap with a decent lead... the second place guy, the guy I had let pass me in the first stint, had a head of steam on me, either on warmed-up Hards (smart move, if so, good thinking from second place, to pit for one extra lap, knowing I'd be a sitting duck) or one of the softer tires was barreling down. I tried to defend, but heading into the hard first-gear/uphill corner, he made a fantastic move on me, clean, and I had to hand it to him. Great pass, and he deserved to win.
But I do regret now, that I let him around for third, because it didn't help me then, and it may have made it easier for him to track me down on that last lap. If I had been able to defend that last passing zone, I'd have cruised to a win. As it happened, I had to trail him to the Finish Line and lost by 0.5 sec. (not a bad points haul, either, with door #13...), with nary a mark on the Porsche.
My first podium in the RSR, which I hadn't had the best results in so far, despite being more comfortable in it than the Cayman to start the season. So I'll put a podium sticker on the rear bumper of that one now too, next to the Rookie Stripe. Grateful for the fun, clean races today, and the DR boost to cap off the great Friday I had at Willow Springs in the 3000-GT. When this game's good, it's really fun. Kudos to the other clean guys on the track today at both races. Fun times.
. That’s 3 disconnections in my last 5 FIA attempts this week, all mid-race. This time on lap 16 at Sardegna while running in 4th place. Bummer, that race was really fun.
