Certainly a rollercoaster ride of emotions, that final race was. Heading into the race knowing I had the pace of the aliens, I was pumped for qualifying. And I did rather well, absolutely nailing the first 2 sectors to be up on my best ever time through the first 2 sectors, but I got too greedy in Ascari, and put more than 2 wheels on the inside kerb, gaining me around 2-3 tenths of a second. Nailed the Parabolica to go 7 tenths up, and really, to be that far ahead of such a class field, it was obvious I had gained an advantage. So I did the right thing and went back to the pits, announcing it in the chat.
I would have liked to have been able to celebrate my first pole position in Div 1 in style, but cheaters never prosper. I was still confident I could nab pole on another attempt, but Rotor, who had stolen pole from MINT, started the race just as I entered the La Roggia, a bitter pill to swallow as I was only about a tenth off my personal best.
Starting in last wasn't how it was supposed to be. Got a good start, but charging up the inside was futile, so I tucked in next to Cyber. Apparently I shoved Beau off, to which I have to say I couldn't have done anything about, if you're going to make it 3 wide into an über tight chicane and you're on the outside, what else did you expect? I can't just vanish so you can take the corner. Not to mention you bumped Cyber and I off a few laps later in a far more aggressive manner and drove off.
My race was severely compromised when I simply couldn't find a way past Cyber in the opening laps, which destroyed any chances of a podium, which I felt was still possible, even amongst the huge talent pool in Class A. The draft was about as effective as an ashtray on a motorbike, and I was getting severely frustrated. I felt I owed my team a good result after disappointing them for the entire season, and for once, I had the conditions to so. By the time I passed Cyber, the leaders were way too far ahead.
Into the pits on lap 8, and razor fell victim to the stop/go penalty, which was a shame, it would have been nice to fight with my teammate. It was rather lonely catching fastboy, however it got really exciting when I was putting in about 6 consecutive mid 55's as I edged ever closer, including a 55.0 on lap 18.
The closer I got, the more nervous fastboy seemed to get. I finally got passed on the penultimate lap and thought "YES! 4th PLACE
ES!" But no, on the 3rd bit of Ascari, I copped one of PD's infamous short cut penalties, one of about 5 I received all race, and this one was the most costly, as I wasn't going to have enough time to pass him again.
Well done rotor, Mint and warrior on your podiums, cheers fastboy for an awesome battle, and well done to my teammate razor on an extraordinary debut season in Div 1, looks like we have both finished 5th overall in our first seasons in the big leagues! Traction control is banned next season, btw
While yes, I'm glad I scored my best result of the season with one of my best ever performances, I still will feel disappointed that this was perhaps my only ever shot at a Div 1 win, and I threw it away with an early entry into a corner. But I'd sooner go down fighting than win by cheating. My time as the GRT captain is now over, and it's been wonderful leading them these past 2 seasons, despite my massive disappointments in terms of results. Perhaps Jamie will inherit the bad luck that's kept me nailed down for next season!
I thought I'd finally get a chance to blow up this awful car, but with the Throwback series starting next week and the ROC afterwards, she's going to torture me for a little longer yet. Congrats to warrior and razor on the championships, legends, both of you!
Cheers, Jono.
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