So, the 16:40 Nations came and went. Met
@T_revisio and the Top 10 trio again with a
slight hope of improved form over the 14:00.
Qualifying felt like a promising step forward, with three consecutive laps in the 49.8 range. Had to give up hope of going any faster so I could get out of the way of faster runners, but the .803 time at least secured a better grid slot of 16th place.
After sitting through an unusually stuttery intro and gaining two positions on the opening lap via incidents, the race quickly began to unravel. Twice I went too deep at the penultimate hairpin, which undid my progress and began a long battle with a grey, yellow and black Spaniard. Another deep dive on Lap 4 resulted in the Spaniard pitching me into a spin as he tried to pass on the inside; frustrating, I know, yet we keep going and eventually catch up to him while simultaneously trying to fend off a MYTEAM Frenchman. On Lap 8, the pass for 15th is done, but sets myself up to become the tail of what becomes a four-kart scrap for scraps.
Contact between the Spaniard and another Frenchman, combined with yellow flags at the final two corners, separates the group on Lap 11-12; a mistake at Turn 5 sends me wide onto the grass and down to 18th. The rest of the race was spent fighting with the Spaniard again, which allowed the last-placed Dutchman to catch up and get involved in the fight for 16th. Things got really tense in the last few laps when all three of us kept trading places, but eventually the Dutch driver fell back after running onto the grass at Turn 5. The Spaniard kept on my exhaust right until we crossed the line; a 7-second penalty for T_revisio promoting us to 16th and 17th spots respectively.
Far from an ideal run, but considering that up until yesterday I couldn't remember the last time I put a single
decent lap in the shifter kart on a pad, I don't think I've disgraced myself too much. Things did get a bit forceful at times, but it was a treat to fight hard and fight
mostly fairly even with slipstream and the quality of certain front-running drivers at play. For now, I will happily take the 11-point bonus and look forward to combos where the promise of the Exhibition Seasons can (hopefully) be better fulfilled.
Was put in a much higher lobby than the race before. This showed qualifying 16th with a time the same that got me 9th in the previous race.
There was a big moment of lag in the middle of the race where I thought we were about to get disconnected. I was the only car on the track for about a lap before everyone reappeared but luckily went back to normal!
