Going into last night's Manufacturers race, I wasn't sure if I would be able to get a decent result in the Citroen. The last two races didn't work out as well as the first, and I struggled for some time to get a good feel for the car in Free Practice. However, I later found out through a couple of test races that the Citroen handled much better in lobby conditions than in FP, and after being away for the day decided to enter the 21:00 slot as usual.
Entered the lobby as the only Citroen representative, among an entry list containing five Mercs and three F-Types. There was also an Alfa which dropped out before the warm-up session; a shame, since it would've been interesting to see how the two MR cars would've compared in race conditions. Anyway, had a quiet, but solid qualifying session, clocking my first lap in at 56.663 seconds. While I could not do any better, that time was still good enough for me to start 5th. Pole was set by a BTCC-liveried Subaru, with a McLaren and an NSX not far behind.
Strategy-wise, I settled on a two-stop which worked well for me in the second test lobby I did (8S, 8S, 9H). The aim was to build up as much of a gap as possible between myself and cars further back, and initially this worked well as I followed the slipstream train for the lead. Over the first few laps, the Subaru loses time and a few places, eventually causes the Honda, the first Merc and myself to bunch up together alongside the two Jags behind. I later found out that he was on a one-stopper (Hards to Softs), so his drop-off was inevitable against the other Soft-shod runners. On Lap 4, I try to defend my inside line from the first Jag, all while gaining a run on the Merc on the run into Turn 1. The Merc covers the inside as I instinctively try to make a pass; the result is that I take to the grass and lightly biff him mid-turn. Immediately, I knew that the move wasn't on, so backed out to let the Merc keep position, in turn allowing the Jags an opportunity to pass me up into 5th and 6th. This still ensured that I was at the tail of the train for 3rd, and for a while I was considering staying out longer before my first stop as the tyres were holding out well. Had an opportunity to pass the grey Jag when he pushed the Subaru wide at Turn 1 on Lap 7, but decided against making it stick to make sure we both had room to go through the esses.
While I still considered staying out, I decided to pit in on Lap 8 as planned, having seen the McLaren come in on my HUD and considering it a good opportunity to jump the pack. On Lap 10, I stuck a clean move around the outside of a Ferrari at Turn 7, then proceeded to draw in another for what now became a battle for 4th. It took me a good few laps to get past the second Ferrari, all while being drawn in by the orange Jag, but I eventually did so when he finally pitted on a one-stopper. My Softs still felt good as I climbed up to 3rd (the Subaru having pitted on Lap 13) and began to pull away from the Jag again. Upon pitting for the second and last time, I expected to lose quite a bit of pace on Hards, but it still felt like a good challenge trying to defend 6th from the black Ferrari and orange Jag. Both get their moves done at Turn 1, and I focus on getting the Citroen home in what is shaping up to be a good top 10 finish. By Lap 20, the Ferrari begins to struggle on his well-worn Mediums, losing 6th to the Jag and more time as I hammer in a pair of low-58 laps. The grey Jag, fresh from his final stop, begins to get close to my diffuser. Two laps from the end, I get a better run on the Ferrari through Turn 12, out-braking him into Turn 1 and reclaiming 6th to the flag; a lap-long scrap from behind sees the Jag do the same on the last tour. Meanwhile, the Subaru - who I initially thought would struggle massively with tyre wear going into this - goes on to win by a near 3-second advantage over the NSX!
After the mediocracy of Maggiore, I'm glad to have scored well in Manufacturers again. 208 points and the honour of being Citroen's highest scorer of the meeting propel me up to provisional 7th for the manufacturer and 241st in EMEA, which has opened up the opportunity to boost my rankings in the last two rounds should I commit to them. Even if I don't, it's been great getting at least one good result in both variants so far.
