USA G2: Brno

Brilliant Racing!
Had a shocker off the line and dropped back to 10th, but made up for it in the opening laps.
I had a lot of great battles, especially through the middle stage of the race. John Mueller and Francesco Zargani to name a few.
If Steve had the best strategy of the day, then I would have to take the cake for worst! Med tyres and a enough fuel to see me through, and I was off, but with 12mins to go, I got the dreaded "tyres worn" from the chief, running 2nd, I decided not to risk it, and took an unplanned pit. The usual "pit panic" arose, and after taking on fuel that I didnt need, I re-enterd in 12th. I really need to sort that out....
Managed to snatch back a few places in the dying laps, and had a great battle with Mark Sternig to the end.
The standard of racing here is second to none, and congrats to evryone for a job well done.

Congrats to the podium....
I had a taste of running top 3 at least!

Congrats to Podium..

I had a poor quali, was looking to equal my PB set earlier in practice, but forgot to turn load cars in garage only.. Just as was coming to the line to put down my time (which would have been perhaps a little slower than PB but faster than what i got) had 3 ppl coming in and dropping out for the rest of the session... I dont mind that you were one of then Les, but then i saw single names like 'kimi' and 'johnny' and i was like WTF is going on here .. why now ..game was pausing for them loading like a B**** all the time :(

The start of this race was hectic .. I got a rocket start off the line, and unfortunatly blocked Mark Sternig i think who also was trying to take the middle line.. Then i got a big squeeze inbtween Maciej Bekas and Rob Ainscough into T1 and hit brakes, i wanted no part in that.. madness.. Maciej was on a serious mission.. balls to the wall..

I made such a schoolboy error on Lap 2 and spun it .. once i got passed the slower guys at the back, drove my heart out catching the other mosler of Garret, by the time i caught him it was pit time... was fun coming back to 7th after that, only had Beemers infront of me and was not going to do anytihng about that. Just had to hold of Francesco ... Enjoyed my 50th race.

well - i made the wronge tire pick again ..as a crew chief i stink ...
but good clean race all!
thanks for the patience!

This was my 2nd race with Race2Play. Both races so far have been terrific! No where else have I witnessed other drivers displaying such talent, respect, and professionalism.

Had some great battles throughout the race with Francesco Zargani, Bob Fay, and Kris Trott. I was trying desperately to hold off Kris with 2 laps to go, but my tires were just not up to the task. I watched him close a 3 second gap from my mirror. Was hoping for the checkered, but it didn't come - one more lap. Last lap I had to let Kris by, who was quite faster then I at that point in the race.

All in all that was a very memorable race. Some very close racing but I don't think I ever made contact with another car.

Looking forward to the next.

Cheers!

Congrats to the podium, well deserved. Barry, Matjaz -- good work. Steve great job in make the strategy work with that Porsche. I had tried the BMW and the Seat but not the Porsche for tire wear. BMW and Seat were bad 14 laps on Hards, 9-10 laps on Mediums. Could be my setup/driving style, but a tire change was needed. Thought I had a good strategy, no fuel, just tires for last 10 laps med/med started on hard/hard -- but Steve obviously got the better of me.

Had fun racing with Steve for a few laps, but my tires were gone at that point and his were working well. My start was as good as I could do, I had a tall 1st gear -- lost a few spots but was patient got back into 3rd. The tire started going and Steve overhauled me.

Definitely a fun race.

After floundering in the BMW the last couple of events, I figured I'd give the Biturbo another go for this one. Brno has some fast bits, so the Porker's grunt would always be an advantage there even if the handling wasn't super. I have trouble getting the front to bite in it, but it takes a great set under acceleration and feels more planted than the M3, which always seems to be sliding at one end or the other.

Didn't get a chance to try any setup changes beforehand, so I just threw in the setup I'd used at Monza. Plus I knew it could do the full distance on one set of hards if I was careful not to overdrive it, so I loaded it up with fuel and decided on a no-stopper. As bad as I suck at pitting, anything that'd keep me on track was bound to be the better option!

Had a fair grid spot after Q, though nothing special. As expected in the Turbo, the start went well and I ate up a few beemers on the way to T1 thanks to my two little pressurized friends. Almost felt like cheating. Until I got to the turn... ;-)

I figured most everyone would be on mediums doing a one-stop, so I was going to be vulnerable running that far up the order - especially in the first laps before the tires came in. With a line of quicker cars right behind me, it was really hard not to get caught up in things and overdrive it, which would've ruined my tire strategy. Felt a bit bad about holding people up since Barry and Matjaz were sailing off, but as it was early going and it was for position, I just held my lines in third and let things unfold.

Rob got by early, as did Maciej, who was on a blinder of a run from the looks of it. It looked like the next group would be coming by soon as well, but then Maciej had an off and came back on behind me into that group of cars. That appeared to cause some disturbance, since even though he got back by me, the gap behind had grown a bit.

Shortly after, he crashed or blew up and that put me back up to 4th, where I was expecting to lose ground. But then I noticed Rob coming back and figured his mediums were giving up. So I pressed a bit, closed up and got past for 3rd just before everyone started pitting. Stops cycled me into the lead where I stayed for a while, trying to be easy on the tires. Kept watching the clock and the gap behind, thinking the last ten minutes or so were going to be interesting!

Finally saw Barry and Matjaz coming in tight formation, so I held a wide line going into T3 so they could get by cleanly without costing me significant time. Being defensive at that point would've just been counterproductive, since any lockups took a noticeable chunk out of what grip I had left. Next lap by I saw the gap behind to Rob was about 38 seconds, so I knew I had 3rd wrapped if I didn't do anything stupid. Almost did when I had a big lockup that which took a solid second out of my laptimes for the remainder of the race, but it was close enough to the end that I got by with it.

Not stopping was definitely the right strategy for me in the Porsche. I'd tried it in the BMW a couple of times before and it didn't work, even on hards. Looks like next round I'll get to sample the wonders of yet another ride. Mosler, Morgan? So hard to choose... ;-)

Well now that was a fun race and I needed that! Congrats Matjaz on the win and Steve on the 3rd.

Got a decent qually in with a 2nd place and had a good start as me and Matjaz went through the first turn side by side and down the strait. Going into turn 2 Maciej was trying to go underneath me and I had to give up the the posistion to Matjaz. It seemed I was a little faster getting onto the front strait and attempted a pass going into 1. Matjaz was having nothing to do with that and ran the block going into turn 1 with success and held onto the lead.
Staying on his tail, I attempted another pass going into 1 and Maciej hot on our tails I managed to get under Matjaz for the lead. We did touch in the turn and I didn't realize that but... Now I have a small gap in the lead and could see someone spin in turn 1 behind me. Turned out it was Maciej.
Now Matjaz was catching me as my tires started to wear a bit but managed to hang on to the lead till I went to the pits a bit early to see if I could gain a bit of ground on Matjaz. 2 or 3 laps later I see him exiting the pits. Looked like I only gained a second or 2 after the round of pits and now Steve was in the lead which suprized me a bit and I kept waiting for him to pit. Didn't happen but 1 set of his tires must have worn out cause we caught him fast.
The gap I had on Matjaz was starting to close up little by little. I got around Steve and into the lead but didn't have enough to hold off Matjaz. Maybe just maybe I would have if I didn't have almost 6 gals. of fuel left at the end of the race...maybe? Great race Matjaz and nice win.

See you guys next time.