Two visits to the Gr.B
warzone meeting tonight:
16:00
Felt the Peugeot was better than the Focus I planned to use, so initially entered the 16:00 Nations with it alongside
@T_revisio. Out of the entries in that lobby, only two were from the non-Peugeot camp - a WRX and a Quattro.
Followed the slipstream of an Austrian in qualifying to set a 1:31.667 on my first go, though I lost a lot of time on my second for various reasons. Went across the grass at Westfield as a Frenchman passed by on a faster lap, but felt happy with the way the Peugeot was working. Time was still fast enough for 9th on the grid.
Usual Gr. B carnage ensued. Dropped to 19th in the first two laps after running wide at Druids, getting rammed twice by a German Pug at Graham Hill Bend and following another off the road at Surtees. It took me a while to get a consistent groove in the Peugeot without sliding or touching the grass, but by Lap 7 I had begun to find more pace and was closing in on a trio fighting for 14th. As I already fell so far behind at that point, I contemplated taking on new tyres, which I did on Lap 8 after setting a 1:31.998 and seeing the Quattro pit in front of me. Sure enough, I start catching up to the trio again, taking 16th after one bins it at Paddock Hill Bend.
Caught up to the Quattro and followed him until he drifted off at Sheen, setting up a good opportunity to reel in what is now a quartet for 11th including T_revisio. In trying to lunge past the German, another British Pug punts T_revisio at Paddock Hill and seemingly moves out of the way on entry into Druids. I thought at that moment I had an opportunity to pass on the inside, but ended up going partway across the inside kerb as said Brit turned sharply and cut across my front end. Not sure whether he saw me coming up on the inside, but I was lucky to avoid contact at that moment. During the final lap, the German who punted me outbrakes himself at Paddock Hill, the Quattro accidentally runs into the back of me at Druids and the Italian goes wide at Clark Curve. The result is that I end up following T_revisio home in 13th for a provisional score of 144 points.
In the lobby chat afterwards, the Quattro driver apologised for the last lap contact, though I can't remember whether the German driver did the same. To be fair, though, I felt partly to blame for the former, as I was focused on keeping a clear distance behind T_revisio and didn't notice the faster Quattro until I had committed to the inside line. A chaotic start, but considering that I hadn't done a full practice run in the Peugeot, a good primer for a potentially better attempt later on.
18:40
Reunited with T_revisio and the Quattro driver, who by that point was the sole remaining non-Peugeot runner. Without the benefits of slipstream, I could only put in a 1:32.173 in qualifying, which to my surprise was good enough for 9th
again. Like last time, I binned it at Westfield on my second go, but wasn't lucky enough to get away without a track limits penalty.
Also like last time, I didn't get through the first lap without incident. At Paddock Hill Bend, a pink car runs into the back of T_revisio, setting off a chain reaction that causes someone to ram and lift my car's rear wheels off the track. Though I recover, the second-placed starter rejoins in front of me, and I lose several places by deciding not to drive through his ghost. I instinctively thought that if I were to do that, there was a good chance that he would unghost through me and cause more problems for the sweeping pack. Then, through my own carelessness, I turn into the Finnish driver on my right, picking up a 1-second penalty on the spot.
Another less-than-ideal start, but the usual mix of incidents, penalties and hold-ups ensured that I soon started catching up with the pack. This time, I found much more consistent pace, setting a few mid-to-high 1:32s while a group for 13th place bunched each other up. On Lap 6, a rough Italian driver running in 8th re-joins at full speed after careering off from Surtees to Narnia. I head to the inside towards Pilgrims Drop, squeezing into 17th despite getting slight contact which forces me part-way onto the grass. Thankfully, I escape without penalties as we get closer to the half-way mark.
Though the chance of getting a decent result was again getting slimmer by the minute, I knew that my tyres and fuel were in very good shape. More punts, more penalties ahead promoted me to 13th with five laps to go, and soon enough the Stealth Pug is in a train for 10th. For much of this race, I chose not to fight too hard for track position, and was willing to drop a few places when a Spaniard dived down the inside of me at Surtees on Lap 13. All that mattered to me was getting the Pug home without more incidents. Just before the final lap, two cars take each other out at Clark Curve, paving the way for me to follow the survivors round in 13th once more. Inexplicably, the Austrian driver pulls off a handbrake turn over the line, though I was a touch too far back to capitalise on his victory stunt.
For the record, I spent so much of that race short-shifting that I had 17% fuel in the tank by the end. It was also a pleasant surprise to find that despite dealing with a small DR drop and a much worse start, I ended up losing only two points from my initial score. And so concluded tonight's efforts. Felt really pleased with the consistency I had in the second encounter, even if any chances of a top 10 finish were wiped out early on both times. Really glad to see
@Tidgney enjoying some clean battles on his stream; if only more Gr.B lobbies were like that...
