@Rinsky it was my pleasure, it was a really nice race, clean and a 3 way battle with T5Black and WhiteFlight1 i really really enjoyed it
I wanted to see the replay, or part of it in order to kind of do my debrief
I made a couple of mistakes, the first one big one, was lap 2, on the docks, completely missed my braking point (thinking already of my strategy) i didn't see the 150m board and broke at the 100 one, so to avoid T5 i kindda greased the wall and went straight to avoid collision.
At this stage WhiteFlight took back 2nd place, and i managed to keep 3rd as Bloody and Rinsky were just far enough behind and already fighting for 4th.
I had then 3-4 sec gap behind P1 and P2, which i kept until lap 5 where i could see it shrinking a bit as tire wear was starting to hit the MR car Lambo and Ferrari
and also T5 and White seemed to be fighting a bit for the lead which helped me close the gap and at lap 7 i was almost in White's slipstream which helped but T5 had made a gap of over 1sec ahead. I was catching in slow corners, mostly on the docks and at the hairpin where i could put my foot down much earlier.
Lap 8 i was cozy in White's slipstream and didn't see a reason to do an agressive move, unless he was making a big mistake, i was glad to short shift a bit and save some fuel, i knew i could do 13 maybe 14 laps this way, but full rev all the time 12 laps was the most i could do.
Unfortunately White decided to pit lap 10, leaving me alone trying to catch T5 maybe 4-5 sec ahead i think. My plan was to pit not before lap 10, depending on other's first pit, i knew we were going for at least 42 laps, reason why i also hesitated to do mediums 14 laps, but fuel wise it was close.
But i knew the pit on this track was not that much time consuming so i was pretty sure to do 3 stops with 10-11 or even 12 laps in softs.
Thinking i was not going to catch T5, i decided to undercut him lap 11, i got out P5 just behind P2 Rinsky, White, and GentlemanRacing. I was just ahead of Standard_FV who flashed me to say "ok i'm staying behind don't worry"
and i just saw on the replay that he did lift there, which was a smart move to avoid entering the S's 2 wide and loosing time. And seeing how his tires looked i understand why!!
On fresher tires, i caugh up quickly with GentlemanRacing, who i overtook under the tunnel, i tried to keep my right as best as i could, he gave me more than enough room to go, maybe too much seeing the replay and he had to lift and hit the wall a bit, fortunately no penalties for him.
Rinsky pitted there and T5 just came out of the pitts, so both White and I started there our 3 way battle, White had enough momentum to take P1 and i stayed 3rd in slipstream range.
Once again i didn't have intention to make an aggresive move, i just wanted to enjoy battle for P1 and save some fuel lol!!
But on the docks, White went a bit wide and i took the inside just inches from T5's bumper.
Lap 15 i took P1 in the hairpin, with still White just behind, and i though if i could brake the slipstream i would push harder to get away, but that didn't happen so i kept a good pace, trying to keep my tires and shortshifting too.
White took P2 and started also to gain on me, i realised watching the replay that he had less fuel, part of his strategy to do shorter stints i believe. I though he would have took P1 but stayed behing, and eventualy got passed back by T5, so i guess he started to save a bit fuel i guess... and went to the pit lap 19.
T5 took P1 back and I stayed behing, taking some slipstream, and i pitted lap 21. That's where i did my second and last big mistake, i forgot to put fuel, luckily i had enough for one more lap but i was so frustrated because i though "oh no we had a great battle going on and i'm f..ing that up just by my own!!"
So lap 22 i pitted for fuel and tires (i don't think you can do only fuel...) and got out with about 8-10 seconds behing the leaders i reckon. I think i putted just enough for 10 laps and i decided to push harder to try reduce the gap. Also fortunately for me White and T5 who pitted lap 23 were again fighting for the lead, so after a few laps i saw that i was gaining and actualy had them in sight, which is very motivating!!
White pitted lap 28 and i took P2 with about 4-5 seconds behind T5, and lap 29 that was his turn to pit, so i got P1.
Lap 32 it was my turn to pit and T5 took back the lead with about a 10sec lead, and i was just 1-2 sec ahead of White, but with fresher tires i managed to pull away.
At this stage i though we were all on our last stint so i was resign with trying to keep P2 with White lurking just behind
, i was thinking i would not catch up with T5 but i started to gain, i think T5 had a penalty and also mad a mistake or two...
Once again i ended up having him in sight, so motivation came back too
When i saw White pitting lap 40 i knew i had at least P2, but i kept my pace just in case.... And at the start of lap 41 T5 made another mistake hitting the wall with damage i saw on the replay, and i was just outside of slipstream range. Same lap at the hairpin i though he went wide and i could take the lead but i realised i was doing a last pit so i realised i had the win after a very nice race
very clean and enjoyable, as long as you stay within 0.7 sec you can just try to hang on if you don't really have the same pace
. I sure hope a spot opens for the 4/6 race. I truly want to know how competitive i can be in this Audi with fresh tire pace being strong, but wear a major factor as the stint goes along.
