Well, what do you know? I found pace in the Gr.4 Mustang for the first time in ages!
19:00 Manufacturers
Kept a low profile in qualifying as the sole Ford representative, at one point witnessing a humorous incident where an unghosting Aston drives past me and punts the red and black Cayman in front. Said Aston loses out by picking up a penalty; the Cayman, meanwhile, becomes my slipstream partner. Gained two-tenths on my fastest FP time in the first sector, and stuck with him well enough to put in a 1:40.128. Gained another four-hundredths before the Cayman cut Coca Cola curve and took a 0.5 second penalty. Wasn't close enough to a second Cayman up ahead, but was ecstatic to line up 2nd... nearly six-hundredths off the first Cayman.
Going into the race, I knew that a gentler driving style was key to eking out tyre life in the Mustang. Started on Softs as I felt they would give me enough of a buffer ahead of any potential Medium starters, and fended off a challenge from a silver, black and neon yellow NSX as I tried not to scrub my cold treads. Pulled ahead and drew the Cayman in via his slipstream, temporarily setting the fastest lap on Lap 2 (1:40.966) and briefly getting ahead at the start of Lap 5. Didn't want to lose time fighting so took a wide entry into the 1st corner and carried on drafting. By the end of Lap 6, I knew the Softs were beginning to go off, but managed to stick around for another lap before we both pulled in for Mediums. A fine stint indeed.
It was at that point where I learned that the pack running in 3rd-6th (McLaren, Aston, Honda, Porsche) had started on the harder compounds. A sloppy outlap - complete with a near-spin coming out of Panasonic - along with generally better pace from the Cayman meant that my time in the slipstream was up. Sure enough, the McLaren (piloted by a fellow Brit) reels me in and begins looking to make a pass on Lap 10. I had anticipated letting him go at the 13th corner, but instead he sneaks his nose up the inside at Dunlop. I give him a wide berth so we avoid contact, but this results in me going wide and picking up a 0.5 second penalty. Fair play does come with a price, it seems.
This puts us out of contention for a podium, and we instead slot within the Aston-Honda-Porsche battle. Gamely let the Mobil 1 Cayman through on the run to Coca Cola as he had the inside; the next lap, he nearly loses it after being forced onto the kerb by the Honda. Had the momentum to try a pass around the outside, but backed out. From there, it was a case of building up and maintaining a 3.5 second cushion from the Ferrari for 212 points.
A sedate, but astonishingly great run in the Mustang - greater than it had any right to be. It may not be the best-performing Gr.4 car right now, but I'm so happy to have given the winning Cayman some pressure and prove that it can at least mingle at the front with a less aggressive driving style. Could have done without that penalty, but even so I would've had to work hard for 3rd anyway. Knew I had podium pace coming out of last Saturday's showing, but never expected to show it without the GT LM on hand!
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