Round 4 - Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 [Apr 14th]

I had 30 minutes in the car during qualifying, some of which was spent being towed and repaired. Qualified in about 50th position.

Somehow I managed to drive through the carnage and made it to 14th. I'm now well-used to seeing Grant lapping me but in this race he seemed to be coming by every few laps yet I was somehow still ahead of him. (It all made sense watching the broadcast afterwards.)

Lap 40 I stopped for a full refuel and repairs** and was still 14th when, on lap 62 (?), just as I passed the pit entrance, the car ran out of fuel! Doh!


** Sorry to Lukáš Vydra, couldn't avoid bumping your rear when all the traffic suddenly concertinaed under an early yellow.

Thanks everyone for cars, track, race and broadcast. Congratulations winners!

Juha Bos wrote:

Eeer, he went that way...



Alberto, Ill save you the trip and come to you by myself..
really sorry guys..
At Indy Ill kick all the techonolgie out of the room, except the cross and the stake!

without any practice i would get the feel for indy but this
i never do again because im getting to much RET behind my name.
despite great help from DJ for a setup


The car track and controller combo  still not fully under control with AMS
its more the other way round and frustratiing, how much i like to compete
and reuin other races.
that said , my appologies to Fitch for sliding into his rear

will fully deticated for indy and hope i can qualify...

FD

It's a shame I ran wide on one turn and broke my front wing; had I not done that and needed lengthy repairs, I could have challenged Gerard for 12th or perhaps higher.  I was never truly competitive though, as I am not a fan of this track at all. My main objectives were to build my confidence back up and finish the race; both were accomplished, so I'm happy.  On to Indianapolis and hopefully it will be a good month for the Buick brigade!

Well another CART race with a DNF. I've started 7 Races including past seasons....I have finished only 1

Just have absolutely no luck in these cars for some odd reason.

Well let's hope Indy is as good to me as it was last year.

Great battles!!

Put my car in the top 3 in qualify, really happy with that. My steering wheel was disconnecting from the PC, some USB issue, I had to tape the cable against the rig so it wouldn't move during the race. It worked!

My start was really bad, should had used 1st gear instead of 2nd. Dropped 2 positions but the two ahead crashed each other so I stayed in 3rd place.

I got a little more momentum in the restart overtaking Janik and Jaques. Kept strong pace in the first stint before the yellow. Coxon is a lucky guy, if it was me who had sopped on green flag the yellow would never come. I think Jaques put less fuel in the pit stop the reason why he jumped ahead.

After another bad start I dropped 2 positions again and had to overtake Janik (scary moment in the end of the straight) and David in the last chicane.

Closed the gap to Jaques, then Coxon saw something off track and went for it. I hope he got what he was looking for. So it was the three of us battling, Jaques missed a gear and I went for the overtake and suddenly I was flying, "I believe I can flyyy!!!". To me it was the end, Jaques took the fast line, bumped me over the curb and I landed over the grass. Somehow I managed to not crash into the guardrail.

Few laps later my 1st and longer pitstop paid off. Both Jaques and Coxon pitted and I had clean air to chose my lines and open a safe gap. After that it was just bringing it home for the checkered flag.

It was a great race, great fights all around the field. It is a shame Jaques DNF again. He has to fix his shifter ASAP.

Insane finish between Coxon and David. lol

See you guys at Indy!!

Thanks Jonathan and Miller for the broadcast!!!

Great win Thiago you deserve it

Your a great driver keep it up.

Austin Johnson wrote:

Great win Thiago you deserve it

Your a great driver keep it up.

Tks! Appreciate!

The race would had been even more fun with you guys fighting with all of us. Better luck next time!!!