On the GTP account, I warmed up on Sarthe with the Chevrolet Corvette Gr.4. The 4th 3-star Wheel of Despair of 11 on this account this month (and, pending the Plus run, 8th of 21) dropped a 2020 Honda Civic. I hung onto it for tuning purposes.
I was just in time for the first Americas GT3 slot. After reading the Pacific/Europe reports, I made sure I had wet tires for my loaner Gr.3 Corvettej. I decided to skip qualifying as some drivers were on medium or hard tires, but I warned the room about the rain for the race. I probably should have tried in qualifying - the 8:30 fast lap was quite a bit slower than my practice 8:27.
I put on full-wet tires and set off 10th, with 2 of the 16 not making it through qualifying. Things were going well, at least for me, until Bergwerk on the opening lap, where I nosed it hard into the inside barrier. I lost 30 seconds and almost DQed while forgetting I still had the car in reverse while making sure I didn't come back onto the track in front of anybody. Because of the early carnage, which began at the very start, I only dropped from 4th to 7th. I persevered and worked my way up to 4th with a sweet outside pass at the Dunlop hairpin on lap 3, almost catching 3rd by Pflanzgarten. I thought I didn't have a chance after risking the outside at Kleines Karussell, but he had an off between Hohenrain and T13, which allowed me to sneak by for 3rd and 18 points. Had I not had the off, I would have had a good chance at my first Sport win (of 13 races, all between the current GTWS and the Gazoo Cup) as I finished only 27 seconds back (had it down to 23 seconds before I got to 3rd) and set the fast lap of the race on lap 3. That race also bumped me up to a DR of C, while hanging onto my S SR rating.
On the Plus account, I cranked out Sarthe in the Ford Mark IV. The cashless 4-star workout roulette gave a stage 5 weight reduction for the AMG GT R.
