Well, I almost did the best I could have done (the best would have been 32 points) so I'm happy with my results yesterday. Sadly for me, 29 points are a almost impossible task to gain back but I will give a red hot go at Brands Hatch.
Practice: Having found a little bit in the car at Thruxton (proved by a race-win there) which I implemented on the setup base I had from Brands and the car was on rails, a second quicker on Race Pace alone compared to last time we visited Donington. This made me sure that I'd at least be at the front battling for wins but didn't think it'd be as strong as it actually was.
Q1: The first Qualifying session was quite difficult. I was a bit unsure how fast the car actually were on low fuel and my worry was correct. I were struggling with the jumpy nature of the Volvo but I were able to finally get around it by correcting a couple of lines and blasted in a 37 flat which turned out to be good enough for pole position.
R1: Made good use of my pole position and retained the lead after the opening lap. I had been nervous before the race start and it was affecting my driving. I had a foot that was partly cramping making the braking zones hazardous work since I couldn't be sure I'd brake enough for avoid locking up.
Adding to that, Peter had a good start and were sitting on my rear bumper and looking for moves here and there.
In the end Richard put a massive move on Peter to put him back which also allowed me a bit of a gap to Richard who had to work on gapping the guys behind him.
With that clean air my driving finally came together and I could set my 37,3 to 37,5 lap times lap after lap.
While Richard was catching up it was only in smaller bits and every now and then he made mistakes at Redgate especially, which allowed me to gain a bit more time.
The biggest scare of the race came when I thought the second to last lap was the last lap meaning that I drove accordingly bringing Richard right up to my bumper come the last half of the last lap.
He made me a bit slow in the chicane, had the run and dove up the inside for the Melbourne Hairpin but thankfully for me he wasn't able to stop the car enough at the apex and I could do the cutback up alongside him going towards the last turn.
At Goddards I decided to go around the outside which worked wonders since I was able to leave him enough room but still pinch Richard onto the bumps on the very inside of the hairpin meaning I had the better run onto the straight and I could take the win by about half a car.
Cheers for making the fight fair and for keeping me honest for the whole race Richard
Q2: The second Qualifying Session was far harder work.
I suppose the first race had taken a bit of my ability away, I was feeling a little knackered and not quite my usual self.
I still managed, in the end, to set a PB with a very low flat 37, putting me about 4 hundreds ahead of Richard and with my tires somewhat done I decided to stop lapping and just wait out the last 2 minutes and watch what Richard could do.
Richard was right on pace and on his very last lap he put it all together with an immense lap right on the ragged edge of adhetion (or however one spells that...) and with him crossing the line he was the first driver to break the 37 barrier.
But still 2nd on the grid so a good position to be in.
R2: The second race started ok, I was a bit slow on the get-away but luckily for me, Petr was in 3rd so he nicely went around the outside and then tucked in behind me.
Sadly I then messed up badly and locked up going into the Old Hairpin (I suppose it was the slightly longer wait for the R2 start, I made sure to keep the field close and brakes hot for R1) and I went wide and rejoined a bit badly.
Luckily for me David didn't feel like going for the banzai move into McLeans and so I was able to hold onto 3rd position at least.
Spent most of the race then sitting behind Richard and Petr making mistakes at the Old Hairpin every single lap.
In the end though Petr's tires fell off more than mine and thankfully, once I had the run and the chance at the move, Petr made it easy for me to take 2nd away (thanks for not defending too hard mate
) and I spent the last 5 laps pondering if I should have gone for a bit less camber on the front to keep the tires in there for longer...
But anyway, a faultless drive from Richard saw him take a lights to flag win and I was able to take 2nd with Petr backing me up with a great P3 for the Volvo team
So, just like Peter said earlier, it's 29 points in it for the drivers championship, a near impossible task but again, I'll give it a red hot go to do what I can and I can only hope for Peter to have a bit of bad luck.
Congrats to Peugeot on securing the Manufacturer Championship this round but the TWR Volvo team is still in with a good shot at taking the Teams Championship so I'll be looking to bring home at least one Championship next week and we'll see what happens with the Drivers Championship.
I can only say one thing to end off this report, best of luck to everyone next week and may the best driver and team win the remaining Championships that are up to grabs
Home 
Subject: Re: Round 12 - Donington 
Sun 30 Jun 2019 - 21:05
