Relieved to take the win, very hard luck for Benny who retired after touching my rear wheel in turn 5, I tried giving more room but I couldn't. I doubt I would have held the position as he was much faster on the mediums and was on a one lap fresher set. I'm extremely disappointed my video didn't save, as it transpired, I took a screenshot on the grid rather than started a recording. So at the end of the race when I double flicked the switch on the wheel, it started a recording, wiping all footage of the race.
My new T300 wheel is giving much more confidence to attack corners, as the feedback is far more intuitive than the simple heaviness of the T500. Despite the throttle pedal being very finicky, I was happy with a scorcher of a lap to take pole.
I wasn't too pleased with the safety car, as I was romping away out front. I was enjoying life on the hards too, pulling out a gap of about 3 seconds before my hards hit 70% and dropped off the cliff, so I pitted. Benny stayed out for one more lap, which was a good move as I had a terrible out lap in traffic. And so with fresher tyres he homed in fast. I focused on the exits onto the DRS straights, a strategy that kept me ahead. Unfortunately I outbroke myself into 4 and Benny went in for the kill. I'm not sure if he thought I was behind him but I had almost 4 wheels on the exit kerb at 5 so I don't understand how there was contact. A real shame the battle ended like that.
Still a win to start the season is great, especially after I was robbed in broad daylight in the season opener last season. Very pleased we had such a big turnout despite some last minute pull outs, a far cry from the end of last season. I'm glad all of the new runners ran well, I was a bit worried after the meet and greet but all went swimmingly. Well done to Razor and Knuckles on their podiums and also to Hat and Nigel for finding lots of pace in the off season.
Last edited: Apr 14, 2017