Endurance Div.2: Race 10 - Monza race report

With NGT championship winner Dave Gymer enjoying his victory on holiday in Egypt we still had some work to do so we tied up the NGT team championship.

With little to go for, a relatively small field took to the track at the fast Monza circuit.

After 3 straight wins in NGT I was feeling pretty confident with Monza being one of my strongest tracks and with a fresh new PB at the track the day before I was really looking forward to it.

Mark was suffering a bit with a hangover but he always seems to pull out his best races when he's in that state!

I was surprised to see Jamera in the Porsche Bi-Turbo, then immediately a little concerned as it's flat-out speed is a real asset at Monza, question was, how would it handle through the treachorous chicanes?

Qualifying went exactly to plan, go out quickly and establish a good time, then attack it hard. I was extremely pleased to put in a time around my PB on my 3rd lap but then drove a blinder to go 0.5s quicker!

Jamera did go quite close, about 0.4s behind in the Bi-T which confirmed my suspicion he'd be quick but I retained the pole throughout qualifying fairly comfortably.

We'd hoped for a NGTL 1-2 after qualifying but Mark was back in 4th with the hangover still lingering so there was no room for any mistakes.

As the race started I was very concerned about the heavy braking into the first chicane on cold tyres, a mistake there could easily have seen me drop to the back of the field. I took it a little *too* easy though as Jamera outbraked me to grab the lead.

I settled into 'following mode', prepared for a long fight to regain the lead when Codsworth in a GT span out into the 2nd chicane forcing Jamera to brake heavily. Luckily for me, Codsworth's momentum took him out of my path as I entered the straight and a gap like the parting of the Red Sea opened for me to squeeze between them and regain the lead!

Jamera recovered quickly though and was less than 1s behind and chasing hard. Although the Bi-T is faster on the straights, my familiarity with the GT3 meant I could make up for it in the chicanes and I was pulling away ever-so slowly over the next 4 laps.

Jamera over-cooked it coming out of chicane 2 to leave me a clear 13s up on Mark who's managed to grab a place before passing Jamera.

The tyres held out extremely well as I drove very cautiously, maintaining my lead over Mark right to the finish line and another win!

The NGT Legends 1-2 was the icing on the cake as we won the NGT team championship! Hurrah!

A very enjoyable season, can't wait to see what season 2 brings!

Endurance Div.2: Race 9 - Estoril race report

With the title race over, there was still plently to play for as we're right in there for the NGT team championship.

Mark Jonzo and I make the treck over to Portugal with a solid strategy for a conservative race designed to minimise the chance of a DNF.

We'd planned a 1-stop strategy but during the qualifying session it looked like Jamera and Dave Gymer had chosen their cars to go for a no-stop which got me thinking...

Mark edged me out of pole by just over 0.1s but we were both considerably faster than the rest of the NGT drivers so I decided to switch my strategy to not stop.

A big "well done" to Mark, a great qualifying session to grab his first pole position!

As the race started, the NGTL 1-2 pulled away from the rest of the NGT's at a rate of about 1s / lap. Mark was driving well.

At around half distance JonM, who was leading the GT race lapped us. I was safe but Mark was watching his mirrors a little too closely and braked a little too late for the Parabolica Interior and left the track enabling me to nip through for the lead.

I knew Mark would pit-in for tyres so I kept my conservative pace for an uneventful 2nd half of the race for my second win in a row!

Despite the pit, Mark came in 3rd, leaving us in a great postion for the last race at Monza to push for the team title!

Endurance Div.2: Race 8 - Oschersleben race report

After missing race 7 with PC problems, my vague hopes of a Div 2 NGT crown were all but mathematically gone. Only pride and team points to play for.

I've never performed very well here so I set my strategy to drive very conservatively and just take what the race offered me. It's all too easy to spin on this tight, twisty track.

Qualifying went well, a very good first session where I managed to avoid all the traffic saw me in NGT pole after 10 mins of the session. Subsequent attempts became more and more frustrating either with mistakes or traffic hampering my attempts at a better time. In the end it counted against me with NGT championship leader Dave Gymer nicking pole with about 5 mins to go and no chance of a reply.

Still, 2nd in class isn't bad and Mark Jonzo was a fraction behind in 3rd. A good team performance.

A horrific accident on the start/finish straight after the parade lap saw the field in disarray, luckily I was unaffected behind Dave Gymer as I set off to challenge for the lead.

Deciding not to push too hard on the first few laps I followed Dave, slowing pulling away from 3rd. On the 2nd lap, as a couple of the GT's who had suffered at the start started making their way past us, Dave became distracted and went wide on the last turn, I kept on the line and took over the lead, Mark unfortunately followed him off. So, I was in the lead with Willier about 2s behind.

Determined not to over-drive, I was sticking with my conservative brake points as Willier very slowly started to catch me over the next couple of laps. Just as I was considering re-thinking how hard to push, Willier span leaving me an incredible 16s in the lead. I was guessing this was Shark in the G3 BMW, no threat to me for points and a pretty difficult prospect to pass for the other NGT's!

Dave left the game after a pit-stop cock-up which left the vaguest sliver of hope for the title provided I didn't mess up the rest of the race.

Staying conservative, I gradually eeked out a little each lap to leave me a very comfortable winner in the NGT class, although I was struggling a little with worn tyres at the end.

Mark Jonzo ended up stubbornly staying on for 2nd, bringing a great haul of 18 points in the team standings (if the results hold up - Mark may well get penalised)

So, still mathematically possibly for me to win the title but it means I need to win the last two races and for Dave not to score at all. Realistically, all he needs do is turn up. Curse my faulty PSU!