Endurance Div.2: Race 6 - Spa race report
After missing race 5 at Donington I was in a bit of a hole championship-wise lying in 3rd with Dave Gymer (1st) and [ZiP]Tyf (2nd) quite a few points ahead of me.
Spa is a special 90 minute race (60 minutes usually) so a pit-stop is pretty much a necessity in an NGT.
With Tyf not taking part, this was a real opportunity to close the gap, and maybe even on Dave Gymer.
I set myself a target of sub 2:24 in qualifying and it wasn't looking too good for the first 35 mins of qualifying. With just 10 mins left I finally put it together and took NGT pole with a nice lap of 2:23.9, over a second quicker than my qualifying time in the NGT Sprint series. Improvement!
Sadly, there were only 5 NGT's on the start grid as once again a pretty poor Div. 2 turnout kinda spoiled the atmosphere a little.
Still, my first NGT pole, and that wasn't going to spoil it! Dave was only one spot behind and Jamera one further back, we were pretty close in qualifying, would my strategy work?
A nice smooth parade lap got the tyres up to speed and we're away. Immediately, I'm pulling away from Dave! Two seconds on lap 1, the gaps up to six seconds on lap 2, something's not right, it shouldn't be this easy...
Turns out Dave's internet connection is playing up causing him to 'lag' badly, causing problems for him and the cars behind. This is unknown to me while I'm pulling out a very nice lead.
Eventually, Dave has to disconnect after 20mins, his connection is just not up to the job tonight. A real pity, it could have been a super contest.
I've never really been in the lead in a race before and couldn't envisage just how stressful it is! Concentration is at a premium, especially at a fast track like Spa. Don't mess up, don't mess up....
I drove pretty hard for the first 45mins and was 50s up on Jamera coming in to my scheduled pit-stop. Pitting takes an *age* at Spa because of the extra long pit lane. I eventually came out just behind Jamera and was praying he was also on a single stop strategy.
I didn't have long to wait as Jamera pitted on the next lap for me to regain the NGT lead. Phew!
Had a bit of a sticky moment when Luis Branco's BMW engine exploded, filling the track with black smoke reducing visibility considerably. Luis had sensibly pulled to the side of the track and I managed to pass with no incident.
Jamera seemed to slow after his stop so I gradually pulled out to over a minute's lead when I admit the nerves really started to get to me and I slowed considerably not wanting to do anything stupid and throw away the win.
Under very little pressure for the last 30 mins I brought it home nice and easy for the win, feeling great and like the countless hours of practice had finally paid off!
I'll need another race or two like that to really put the pressure on Dave for the championship lead but you never know and there's 4 races left...
After missing race 5 at Donington I was in a bit of a hole championship-wise lying in 3rd with Dave Gymer (1st) and [ZiP]Tyf (2nd) quite a few points ahead of me.
Spa is a special 90 minute race (60 minutes usually) so a pit-stop is pretty much a necessity in an NGT.
With Tyf not taking part, this was a real opportunity to close the gap, and maybe even on Dave Gymer.
I set myself a target of sub 2:24 in qualifying and it wasn't looking too good for the first 35 mins of qualifying. With just 10 mins left I finally put it together and took NGT pole with a nice lap of 2:23.9, over a second quicker than my qualifying time in the NGT Sprint series. Improvement!
Sadly, there were only 5 NGT's on the start grid as once again a pretty poor Div. 2 turnout kinda spoiled the atmosphere a little.
Still, my first NGT pole, and that wasn't going to spoil it! Dave was only one spot behind and Jamera one further back, we were pretty close in qualifying, would my strategy work?
A nice smooth parade lap got the tyres up to speed and we're away. Immediately, I'm pulling away from Dave! Two seconds on lap 1, the gaps up to six seconds on lap 2, something's not right, it shouldn't be this easy...
Turns out Dave's internet connection is playing up causing him to 'lag' badly, causing problems for him and the cars behind. This is unknown to me while I'm pulling out a very nice lead.
Eventually, Dave has to disconnect after 20mins, his connection is just not up to the job tonight. A real pity, it could have been a super contest.
I've never really been in the lead in a race before and couldn't envisage just how stressful it is! Concentration is at a premium, especially at a fast track like Spa. Don't mess up, don't mess up....
I drove pretty hard for the first 45mins and was 50s up on Jamera coming in to my scheduled pit-stop. Pitting takes an *age* at Spa because of the extra long pit lane. I eventually came out just behind Jamera and was praying he was also on a single stop strategy.
I didn't have long to wait as Jamera pitted on the next lap for me to regain the NGT lead. Phew!
Had a bit of a sticky moment when Luis Branco's BMW engine exploded, filling the track with black smoke reducing visibility considerably. Luis had sensibly pulled to the side of the track and I managed to pass with no incident.
Jamera seemed to slow after his stop so I gradually pulled out to over a minute's lead when I admit the nerves really started to get to me and I slowed considerably not wanting to do anything stupid and throw away the win.
Under very little pressure for the last 30 mins I brought it home nice and easy for the win, feeling great and like the countless hours of practice had finally paid off!
I'll need another race or two like that to really put the pressure on Dave for the championship lead but you never know and there's 4 races left...
posted by popabawa at
1:44 pm
