16-02-2015, 05:26 PM
Didn't know what to expect from this weekend to be honest. Jumped on the server on thursday for a practice session and fortunately my teammate deecee was there for my rescue 
I tried to get a decent setup and failed pretty good at it, so he was so nice to share his. And what a difference that made. Was easily in the 1:24s with his setup but still struggled to get a 1:23 and seeing the times he put down I thought I wouldn't be able to fight with the fastest guys. Aim was around a 5th place finish coming into the race.
With a more rubbered in track and slight adjustment to the setup (moving brake-bias more to front) I was able to do a high 1:23 in the practice yesterday and knew there were a few more tenths in for me. Managed a 1:23.5 in the Quali and was very happy with it
Race 1:
Had a good start and managed to be on 3rd position after the first lap. Went wide at Curva Grande a couple of laps later and lost 3rd position to Gorka. After that I had a quite good run, not remembering any big mistake and I really found my line through Curva Grande during the race. Pitted after 11 laps in the same lap as DJC, stop took me 26 secs and I got out behind him with more or less the same gap as before the pit-stop. Was happy with 4th place at this point and just tried to do consistent good laps to keep pressure on DJC while not pushing too much myself. I got a bit closer from lap to lap making most ground in Curva Grande while losing a bit in sectors 2 and 3. Got a good run out of Lesmo 2 in lap 17 and using the slipstream was able to pass him going into Parabolica. He was close behind me for much of the rest of the race, keeping pressure on me but then dropped off a bit in the second to last lap which made my last lap a lot easier Great 3rd place finish!
Race 2:
Got an awesome start and was beside the front row in no time and got probably a bit carried away. Was alongside Michael (Holzapfel) running down the straight when we got to the point where the oval and non-oval part separates. I ran out of space and went to the left to not get into the grass which I managed more or less. Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough space to make this move so I touched Michael in the process which sent him to the left touching Tim (I think) as we were three-wide at that time. Glad they both managed to keep their cars on track, approaching Curva Grande I was on the inside alongside Tim on the outside and I think he backed out of it and gave me the corner to avoid trouble. So I was in first place after Curva Grande and all went well.
Have to say though, the move on Michael, while it "worked", was really a stupid one and if him and/or Tim wouldn't have manged to control their cars this could have ended in disaster for probably the whole field. I really should have lifted the gas and join in behind Michael, so sorry for that guys /:
Okay so in first place I got a bit of breathing space coming out of Lesmo2 and thought I just have do manage consistent fast laps and avoid any big error and this race could be won. Well, didn't take long ... braking for Parabolica, while I think I wasn't late because I was really cautious to not overshoot it I lost the car while braking went onto the grass on the inside and didn't mange to turn the car before hitting the gravel pit. Fortunately I didn't get too far into the gravel pit and could rejoin after the first group of cars passed by. Think Gorka had to aviod me a bit but apart from that the rejoin was fine. Found myself in 9th position after that, thinking I missed a chance for a race win but knew there was still a good result in the race for me, also because I was right behind Gorka. Had good laps after that and made some passes, mostly going into Parabolica using slipstream to get alongside and outbrake the other driver then as I was really confident under braking. Gorka pitting at lap 8 put me into 3rd place and I pitted one or two laps later, again in the same lap as DJC. Pit-stop took 25s and a got out around two seconds behind DJC in fith place. Was really suprised after a couple of laps to find myself in second place with DJC still in sight. Like in the first race I tried to do some good laps without risking the second place and managed to close the gap little by little. Most of this was down to the awesome performance of the car going through Curva Grande, so big thanks to my teammate for the beautiful setup :-* As the gap was down to about 0,5s I enjoyed slipstream going down the straight approaching Parabolica managed to stay close behind him through the corner and have a run at him at the start/finish straight. Managed to get my car alongside him and move by on the inside going into Curva Grande.
After that he had once a nice run at me also down the start/finish straight and I think he could have made a move but he probably didn't want to risk both our races and choosed to stay behind not forcing me into a decision. He lost the car a bit going through Curva Grande in this instance, probably because of reduced downforce or because I slowed down a bit more than he expected, this gave me enough room for the rest of the race and I manged to bring home the first place! Very very happy ;D ;D ;D
Really an awesome start to the new season, great to see so many new and old faces =) Big thanks to all (Paul, Nikos, Gorka, Bullwinkle) who made it happen, awesome guys!
Looking forward to Sebring now, love that track!
And speacial thanks to Nikos for the awesome skin and my teammate for the great setup
I tried to get a decent setup and failed pretty good at it, so he was so nice to share his. And what a difference that made. Was easily in the 1:24s with his setup but still struggled to get a 1:23 and seeing the times he put down I thought I wouldn't be able to fight with the fastest guys. Aim was around a 5th place finish coming into the race.With a more rubbered in track and slight adjustment to the setup (moving brake-bias more to front) I was able to do a high 1:23 in the practice yesterday and knew there were a few more tenths in for me. Managed a 1:23.5 in the Quali and was very happy with it
Race 1:
Had a good start and managed to be on 3rd position after the first lap. Went wide at Curva Grande a couple of laps later and lost 3rd position to Gorka. After that I had a quite good run, not remembering any big mistake and I really found my line through Curva Grande during the race. Pitted after 11 laps in the same lap as DJC, stop took me 26 secs and I got out behind him with more or less the same gap as before the pit-stop. Was happy with 4th place at this point and just tried to do consistent good laps to keep pressure on DJC while not pushing too much myself. I got a bit closer from lap to lap making most ground in Curva Grande while losing a bit in sectors 2 and 3. Got a good run out of Lesmo 2 in lap 17 and using the slipstream was able to pass him going into Parabolica. He was close behind me for much of the rest of the race, keeping pressure on me but then dropped off a bit in the second to last lap which made my last lap a lot easier
Great 3rd place finish!Race 2:
Got an awesome start and was beside the front row in no time and got probably a bit carried away. Was alongside Michael (Holzapfel) running down the straight when we got to the point where the oval and non-oval part separates. I ran out of space and went to the left to not get into the grass which I managed more or less. Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough space to make this move so I touched Michael in the process which sent him to the left touching Tim (I think) as we were three-wide at that time. Glad they both managed to keep their cars on track, approaching Curva Grande I was on the inside alongside Tim on the outside and I think he backed out of it and gave me the corner to avoid trouble. So I was in first place after Curva Grande and all went well.
Have to say though, the move on Michael, while it "worked", was really a stupid one and if him and/or Tim wouldn't have manged to control their cars this could have ended in disaster for probably the whole field. I really should have lifted the gas and join in behind Michael, so sorry for that guys /:
Okay so in first place I got a bit of breathing space coming out of Lesmo2 and thought I just have do manage consistent fast laps and avoid any big error and this race could be won. Well, didn't take long ... braking for Parabolica, while I think I wasn't late because I was really cautious to not overshoot it I lost the car while braking went onto the grass on the inside and didn't mange to turn the car before hitting the gravel pit. Fortunately I didn't get too far into the gravel pit and could rejoin after the first group of cars passed by. Think Gorka had to aviod me a bit but apart from that the rejoin was fine. Found myself in 9th position after that, thinking I missed a chance for a race win but knew there was still a good result in the race for me, also because I was right behind Gorka. Had good laps after that and made some passes, mostly going into Parabolica using slipstream to get alongside and outbrake the other driver then as I was really confident under braking. Gorka pitting at lap 8 put me into 3rd place and I pitted one or two laps later, again in the same lap as DJC. Pit-stop took 25s and a got out around two seconds behind DJC in fith place. Was really suprised after a couple of laps to find myself in second place with DJC still in sight. Like in the first race I tried to do some good laps without risking the second place and managed to close the gap little by little. Most of this was down to the awesome performance of the car going through Curva Grande, so big thanks to my teammate for the beautiful setup :-* As the gap was down to about 0,5s I enjoyed slipstream going down the straight approaching Parabolica managed to stay close behind him through the corner and have a run at him at the start/finish straight. Managed to get my car alongside him and move by on the inside going into Curva Grande.
After that he had once a nice run at me also down the start/finish straight and I think he could have made a move but he probably didn't want to risk both our races and choosed to stay behind not forcing me into a decision. He lost the car a bit going through Curva Grande in this instance, probably because of reduced downforce or because I slowed down a bit more than he expected, this gave me enough room for the rest of the race and I manged to bring home the first place! Very very happy ;D ;D ;D
Really an awesome start to the new season, great to see so many new and old faces =) Big thanks to all (Paul, Nikos, Gorka, Bullwinkle) who made it happen, awesome guys!
Looking forward to Sebring now, love that track!
And speacial thanks to Nikos for the awesome skin and my teammate for the great setup