Great report, syjones. It made me lol a few times.
My Race Recap
Didn't have the best start and Wardez, along with what seemed like half the pack, passed me in the first three turns. I think this happened partially because I was being very careful and giving lots of room. I managed to make it out of the race start chaos with basically no contact.
After turn five, lap one I was about 8th place (back from a pole position start
). WiiFreak was even worse off though, back in 13th. The first few corners were not kind to us. A few turns later Blaze went flying off the track, sending sparks flying off the guardrail. I made a few moves and got up to 4th place behind brando, wardez, and blackice.
At this point I was about three seconds behind the lead pack, putting me quite a bit out of draft range. My plan was to reel them in slowly. Having learned many lessons from the earlier races this season, tire conservation was at the forefront of my strategy. My lap times for the first four laps were mid 2:17's - over two seconds slower than my qualifying time. Since the lead pack was battling it out a bit, this time was sufficient to gain on them slightly. On lap 4 I was still about two seconds behind the lead pack. Luckily, blackice made mistake, the results of which were me moving into third place. Blackice's crash seed to slow the other two leaders down a bit which allowed me to catch up bit. I was now a part of the lead pack (wardez, brando, nastra).
My tire strategy was working. On lap five I had more tread left than anyone on the track except redreevos, who had the same amount of tread left as me. Due to the crash and pushing his car to catch up, blackice's tires were not in the best shape and the lead back was pulling away from him I think. With no one behind me and good tires, I had little pressure and just cruised behind the two leaders from for a while. Brandofo was challenging wardez for the lead so I was able to take it slow in the corners and catch up on the straights with the draft.
On lap seven brando challenged wardez for the lead, passed him on the straight after turn five, and then lost control in turn seven - crashing into wardez. Brando gave position back to wardez and we continued on are way. The battle between these two was fun to watch. This crash took a toll on brando's tires, so on the straight before the final turn I made a pass on brando. THANK YOU BRANDO FOR NOT HITTING ME IN THE LAST TURN 👍.
Wardez, me, and brando ran together for the next three laps. Again, a big thanks to brando for not dive-bombing me at all
. He drove very well with wardez and me up at the front. We worked well as a team and had a big lead on blackice (4th place), who had a very, very big lead on the rest of the pack at this point.
Wardez pitted at the end of lap nine, leaving me in the lead with brando hot on my tail. I stayed out because my tires were still in decent shape (about 60%). My fastest lap at this point was 2:16.xxx, but I decided increase pace, burn through the tires, and make some time up on wardez. Brando's tires were also done for so I was able to put some distance between us.
Me and brando both pitted at the end of lap ten. Luckily, I caught wardez right when I was coming out of the pits
. It took me a few laps to catch him because he was going pretty fast. From this point, wardez and I worked together to put some distance between us and the rest of the cars. I stayed behind him and bump drafted him on every straight.
Wardez lost control on about lap seventeen and I passed him. For the next four laps I just cruised so I didn't crash.
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Thank you to Brandofo and Wardez for giving me an awesome battle. Thank you also to Mule for putting the race on and to all those who participated.
but I like your optimism
