USA FB: Varano

ARRGGH

This race was so much fun, Joseph and I were having a great race (with some horrible racing I might add) and I was just getting comfortable with where I was because Joseph had just spun and then my computer froze for a FRACTION of a second on the entrance to the Ickx Chicane and I the car slid right into the tires, knocked the wheel off, and I was done. Just like that. The car was great, I was in the groove, and Peter was sitting back with a comfy cushion of time for me to sit on. HORRIBLE end an awesome race.

Quali was pretty good, for the last two laps at least. I was just getting used to David B's setup he gave to me (Thanks, buddy!) and I finally got it on the last two laps I had and put it in 4th. We had a good start up at the front, and I was in 3rd by the end of the first chicane. Joseph and I were doing some horrible racing, as far as track etiquette (sp?) is concerned but I was having so much fun doing it. These cars can take a beating, let's just leave it there. Peter was catching us because of all the tough racing, and lapped traffic was causing all kinds of nuttiness. Joseph had just spun a few corners before when I crashed out. The worst part is my car was still drivable and I could have made it back to the pits and finished at least, but I got high-sided in the grass and Tim asked me to back out. No choice at that point.

Awesome dominating win, Tristan (but you didn't have half the fun we did :p) and good race overall everyone. Good result for CanAm, David, solid 4th.

Four laps from the end, my left front brake disc exploded! Somehow I didn't spear off track in the surprise of discovering only three corners of my brakes remaining as I entered Ickx chicane... That was a shrinking-testes moment.

I must apologise if I got in the way of the battle Gregg and Ryan were having (ninja edit: and tom malanga!), as right after I lapped them, my brake failed and I immediately dropped back.

Looking forward to the finale....

A passable Qual of 7th - considering all were a very close 0.1 across 5th ,6th ,7th - and a really tidy and clean start by all. So the race got under way to let us all get into rythym and sus out who was doing what.

Then some last chicane carnage, which I just managed to elude problems from, and off I went on my way in 5th.
David had damage and he played shotgun by dropping back mroe and more, but also conveniently (for me!) holding up a string of others behind him. So that gave me a huge margin of no one behind to ever give any pressure at all! Handy!

4th place fell aside along the way, so I took over that spot.

Tom and Joseph battling it for 2nd and 3rd about 4secs ahead. On and on and on! Swapping positions many times, and allowing me to edge closer and closer!
I actually had no intention to join the fight! Once I got to 1sec range I sat around to let them, hopefully, mess something up. Now and then I would come up to hound whoever was 3rd, when running into safe areas, just to give them some pressure, but there was no way I was going to join any fight! There is no point... odds of picking up the crumbs of a battle gone wrong are way higher than being in it!
Though, they refused to mess up in their battles!!

I was happy with 4th anyway. But then with a few laps to go Joseph lost the rear end and spun around! Bonus Number 1. Which I had been hoping for, but was beginning to look unlikely. But it happened! And I was then 3rd.
And the very same lap Tom hit the tire barriers of the last chicane, so that was Bonus Number 2!! And I was then 2nd!

I could lap fine all day if I needed to, so it was an easy cruise to pass the final laps. I knew neither of them could outrun me by anywhere near enough to close the gap I had anyway. So it was a handy finish to the race! Lucky for sure!

That was a great race, while it lasted. I made an okay start and held my 8th place on the grid, but lost many places down at the triple apex chicane after someone got hugely airborne..

So down to P14 after that, then had great fun making my way back up through the field through to P7. Then had a great battle with Kevin and David, although I owe David an apology for just rear-ending him down at the chicane, hope it didn't cause you any damage mate.

Unfortunately the following lap I was behind David and had a look at a pass down to the same chicane, knew it wasn't going to work so I attempted to retake the racing line and brake at the same time, was never going to work, my fault. After that it was hard to push with the suspension damage, and the inevitable occurred.

I also sincerely apoligize to Mitchell, I didn't realise I had lost my rear-wing so I attempted to rejoin after a spin but spun again immediately into your path, very very sorry for that :-(

Nonetheless thanks for the race everyone, was great fun :-)

Dave Robinson...sorry man just a total careless and impatient punt on lap 1, ruining and almost ending your race. Glad to see you got it going and finished well considering the start.

Other than that embarrasing incident which I haven't done in a long time, a good race. I served my drive thru and moved on up passing a few and gaining free spots due to crashes/spins. Good battle with Gregg and Tom.

Ended up a good race, but felt bad for screwing DR, sorry again sir.

RA

...frustrating. that would be the word I would pick to sum up that race. like Tom said, me and him thought we were in karts there for about 17 laps. it sure felt like it anyway!

well, I was held up in quali by freakin Martin. I was .150 seconds quicker in the 2nd sector, and then Martin got in my damn way and fucked my lap up. so, thanks to him...

about the race, though. Tristan and I got equal starts (first time I noticed I didn't get the best start) and he just drove away. it all started when a freaking backmarker spun going into the Ickx chicane, and I almost spun it avoiding him. thanks... from that point on, he was a constant thorn in my side. me and Tom were swapping positions every couple of corners. we were battling (and at one point, side by side going THROUGH the final corner) like crazy. when I spun, I have no idea what happened. I braked, hit my marks, accelerated at my point, then all of a sudden, the car snapped with no warning. that pissed me off. then, I made up 3 seconds in 3 laps. if I had another 2 or 3, I would have passed him for 2nd. yea, I was pretty teed off for a while. anyway, I suppose it was better than my last FBMW race, but just as frustrating.....

Joseph.

First -thanks Ryan for the setup, it helped seeing I didn't turn one lap until I got on last night. I did remember the track from a Rhez event, thank goodness, otherwise I really would have looked ill out there. Been busy, had no time to practice.
Race- Not so bad considering the above info, I had a good race with Jessie and after a blunder on my part, slid back a spot or two and then got into it with Ryan and Tom, good stuff guys.
I kept doing the same (dumb)thing for about 7 laps...going into turn 3 chicane just couldn't remember to shift down into 2nd gear for some reason, maybe it was the bumpy area right before that rattled all my attention, gave up so much time there.
Happy with top ten!

Ya, that was a fun race. I pretty much followed Gregg around for the first 13 laps until he made a mistake and had a spin. Despite not being very fast I was at least rather consistent and managed to pull a 6th place finish out of that. Great racing guys!

Well Ryan's post said it all tbh lol. Had a bad quali considering I was the quickest in practice, getting held up everywhere on the track and started in 6th doh.

First lap Ryan go into the back of me and i shot into the air coming to rest on a piece of grass which I just could not move from. It took me over 40 secs to get back on track and alot of damage so just tried to complete the race.

Shame both the Euro and USA race ended up the same way for me but then again this track was always going to produce that kind of race. Never mind always next time.

Gratz to the podium :)

Mr. Cote first my name aint f%?& Martin. second i dont think i was in your way and i thought you had the space to pass me. third i think i apologized for maybe slowing you down. and last could you read rule number 23.1 about participant conduct expectations and while your at it read 23.1.1 about good sportsmanship and ill read the one about blocking.it will be a pleasure to see you again on the track. Martin