08-11-2017, 02:31 AM
I LOVE racing here. It's the one race I'll drop whatever I'm doing so I can participate. I feel an even greater sense of accomplishment crossing the finish line at Belgium than I do at Nordschliefe. Second only to Targa Florio, I'd say. And that's a CLOSE call for me.
But donrandom nailed it by saying it's a "mix of roller-coaster and casino".
It sucks to have one's race ended by a hay bail which landed in an unfortunate location. Or to have one's race ended by a car flying across the road in flames because the driver lost concentration for a split second. Or launching over the fence into the Fields of Despair. Or, or, or... We're really at the mercy of the gods at this course. Just like the heroic drivers who risked their lives on this course 50+ years ago.
I had a great weekend there, and I'm still sore.
First race I couldn't finish a quali lap until my 5th or sixth try. Qualied 7th. Survived the first turn and headed out into the roller coaster in around 11th or so. Threaded the needle between quite a few spinouts and haybails, but did tag one which damaged my suspension. I pitted on lap 5, didn't repair damage and coasted to a 5th place finish. THREE people who were in front of me crashed out on the final lap, I believe? My best league finish EVER.
Second race was a clean start for me. About half way through the first lap, most of the fast guys who started behind me were caught up in a huge pileup. I smelled blood and thought I might have a shot at podium. I pitted for tires+fuel on lap 5, but the cars were stacked 2 wide in pit lane. I tried to ease around the outside, which caused my pit request to cancel. I pulled back out, requested another pit stop and limped back because I barely had enough fuel to finish a lap. Also kind of freaked out that I was in 1st place. Pitted with .01 gallons of fuel left and took care of business. Left the pits in second place behind David C and saw that Tobias was only about 7 seconds behind me with 4 laps to go. And he's faster than me. NOT cool!
I usually try to relax and just bring it home after my pit stop. I pushed HARD, and Tobias made up 2 seconds in just one lap. Uh oh. At one point he was less than 2 seconds behind. I just put my head down and tried to drive as fast as I could without taking too many risks.
I finished about 2 seconds in front of Tobias (hope he gets his points for the race) in 2nd place. My first ever league podium. In over a decade of simming. Felt fantastic -- that I finished, podiumed and wasn't responsible for ending anyone's day
But donrandom nailed it by saying it's a "mix of roller-coaster and casino".
It sucks to have one's race ended by a hay bail which landed in an unfortunate location. Or to have one's race ended by a car flying across the road in flames because the driver lost concentration for a split second. Or launching over the fence into the Fields of Despair. Or, or, or... We're really at the mercy of the gods at this course. Just like the heroic drivers who risked their lives on this course 50+ years ago.
I had a great weekend there, and I'm still sore.
First race I couldn't finish a quali lap until my 5th or sixth try. Qualied 7th. Survived the first turn and headed out into the roller coaster in around 11th or so. Threaded the needle between quite a few spinouts and haybails, but did tag one which damaged my suspension. I pitted on lap 5, didn't repair damage and coasted to a 5th place finish. THREE people who were in front of me crashed out on the final lap, I believe? My best league finish EVER.
Second race was a clean start for me. About half way through the first lap, most of the fast guys who started behind me were caught up in a huge pileup. I smelled blood and thought I might have a shot at podium. I pitted for tires+fuel on lap 5, but the cars were stacked 2 wide in pit lane. I tried to ease around the outside, which caused my pit request to cancel. I pulled back out, requested another pit stop and limped back because I barely had enough fuel to finish a lap. Also kind of freaked out that I was in 1st place. Pitted with .01 gallons of fuel left and took care of business. Left the pits in second place behind David C and saw that Tobias was only about 7 seconds behind me with 4 laps to go. And he's faster than me. NOT cool!
I usually try to relax and just bring it home after my pit stop. I pushed HARD, and Tobias made up 2 seconds in just one lap. Uh oh. At one point he was less than 2 seconds behind. I just put my head down and tried to drive as fast as I could without taking too many risks. I finished about 2 seconds in front of Tobias (hope he gets his points for the race) in 2nd place. My first ever league podium. In over a decade of simming. Felt fantastic -- that I finished, podiumed and wasn't responsible for ending anyone's day
When in doubt, pass out.