Going into the final Manufacturers race, I had a feeling that the Viper would be well suited to Monza. Wasn't expecting to get a good result following the tribulations at Kyoto, but found a workable strategy in my first practice lobby and built up from there.
Entered the 21:10 slot as a one-man army, qualified 9th while offering a tow to the blue BMW behind me. This was achieved on my second lap - a 1:48.927 - despite an issue where a slow-moving NSX moved across into my path on the run to Parabolica. Had to dive to the inside to avoid a possible collision, compromising my line and exit speed for the third and final lap. Wasn't too bothered about that, especially since I felt confident that on BB +1, the Viper was stable and consistent enough to make gains during the race.
Started the race on BB +5, survived an incident where a Porsche shoved the BMW into my passenger side door at the first chicane. Kept my nose down as other cars suffered mishaps, mistakes and penalties, all while trying to save fuel and look after my first set of Mediums. Before long, I am following a train of cars battling for the lead, and a penalty for the TX3 GT-R sends me up to 5th by the end of Lap 2. On Lap 5, the GT-R in question slipstreams past me
and cuts the first chicane to try and pass the Porsche in front, picking up another penalty. Despite accidentally tapping the Porsche at the chicane exit - which I apologised for in lobby chat afterwards - I continue to keep chase, changing brake bias to +1 as the rears start to lose bite. At Ascari, the GT-R runs wide and loses control, causing me to swerve onto the grass as he then collides with and smashes the BMW into the barrier. Later found out through my replay that the BMW received a 5-second penalty through that accident, on top of suspension, aero and engine damage - a rather unfortunate and undeserved one at that. From the outset, my main focus was on being consistent and not making any rash moves on other drivers, despite occasionally getting good slipstream attempts down the start-finish straight and making massive gains over the course of the stint. By the start of Lap 7, I was only just under three seconds behind the leading AMGs, and was still gaining on them on worn Mediums before they took on fresh rubber and fuel. In an effort to try and overhaul them, I stayed out until Lap 8, inheriting the lead, but at the cost of putting up with additional wear and instability through the chicanes.
With my initial advantage over the AMGs slashed in half, I finally pit at the end of the lap, taking on Mediums and 81% fuel - a combination that I'll admit never tried during either of my practice lobbies. Despite being hounded by another AMG on my out lap, progress through the field resumed. More penalties and pitstop cycles see me climb back up as far as 2nd as the Porsche and one of the AMGs pitted, and by Lap 14 I was prepared to take on the mandatory Hards. There was an awkward moment before my stop, however; while I was preparing to come in, the grey AMG attempted to pass on the inside of Parabolica as I ran wide. He committed to the move despite my attempts to indicate that I was pitting; I backed out, but turned in too early and ended up hitting the left-rear of the AMG as it passed. As with the Porsche earlier, I apologised and made up with him in lobby chat afterwards. Knowing full well that I would be losing ground to cars on Mediums, shouts of a podium at this point were well and truly silenced. Hence, when the red Corvette slipstreamed past to take 4th from me on Lap 16, I was content with not fighting him, and I was prepared to do the same on the final lap with a purple and yellow AMG - the same one who pressured me at the start of my second stint - until he picked up a 1-second penalty for cutting the first turn at Ascari. The AMG couldn't make a pass through Parabolica and ran out of fuel on the approach to the line, allowing me to come home in 5th place, on 7% fuel and with 1,564 points. Another solid top 10 finish for the Viper, and a fine way to close off the season.
Final Results
So, after seven rounds and eight race attempts, how did the Viper experiment go? Even if I didn't improve on my misfortune at the Nürburgring and Kyoto rounds, I enjoyed using both Gr.3 and Gr.4 versions for similar reasons to the Mustangs in the main season. A string of consistent top 10 finishes - including 4th at Brands Indy and possible podium chances at Lago Maggiore and Monza - compel me to believe that Dodge was very much underrated this year. Overall, I scored a total of 7,756 points - just 179 points shy from my total in the main season - which was good enough for me to finish 5th for Dodge and 102nd in EMEA. Certainly would consider signing up with the Vipers again for a future season pending any BoP changes down the road.
And
@TRL LIGHTNING, if you are reading this, great job on getting Dodge back into the overall Top 10. Best of luck for the coming seasons. 👍
)
!
Really makes me wonder why I bother with these FIA races 
. And DT seaside
, but better than nothing at least.
on fuel mix 4 I was catching people and probably could of done the whole race on hards and without all mistakes I could of got into the top 6 in my second C class FIA race.
