Euro Rhez: Manfeild

Richard did a very good lap in qual so I couldn't get the pole.

I did a good start and I was first in the first turn, I was fighting with Jon, I made a mistake and he passed me, I made another mistake and Richard also passed me. After that I knew that they were running with soft tyres so I tried to be close to them and wait, because I though that they were going to toast their tyres, but the gap between them and me increased. I chose hard tyres but they wore out very fast and Sam finished very close to me.

I'm leading the championship but I think I won't be able to race the next race because of the job :(

Cardinal: car·di·nal adj.
Of foremost importance; paramount: a cardinal rule

Those involved: go read the cardinal rule about chatting in Qual and race. [/rant]

..

In Qualifying I got baulked quite badly on my fastest lap. Managed only 4th on the grid. Like Pablo I got a fantastic start and jumped up to 2nd. Pablo seemed to be struggling through the medium and higher speed corners on his hard tyres and so I was able to capitalise and run close behind. I think he got distracted running into the hairpin on lap 3 or 4 and I squeezed by to take the lead.

I tried to put a gap between Pablo, Richard and myself. It would appear that Richard managed to dispatch with Pablo and so started to track me down. With about 5 laps to go he was all over my rear end. He was very quick in the second sector and I had a slight edge in the third. He knew this and was applying massive pressure through that difficult section. I ran wide in the left hand sweeper after the hairpin and he shuffled through to take the lead. Fortunately, I seemed to be quick through the final turn and tucked in underneath to retake the lead. On the final lap Richard made a mistake at the end of sector 1 and I was able to pull a 3 second gap.

Overall was suprised to take the win, especially against two very high-quality opponents. I was also pleased to see that the practice I had put in on my defensive driving skills paid off.

Thanks for the great racing guys!

was slower than expected and only finished so i didnt dnf

Heheh, glad you weren't looking in your mirrors on that last lap Jon, I braked a bit later than I planned and locked up trying not to clatter you!

Considering I was practising the wrong track until 30mins before the race, I'll certainly take 2nd although I think I had the pace to win today.

My race went from looking promising to really difficult right at the start, Pablo and Jon both easily got past me before the first corner. My starts have been rubbish in this series, I really wish I knew how you guys were doing it!

Around lap 5 or so Pablo kindly ran wide in the last turn and I could take second, then I caught up to Jon with 6/7 laps to go. Plenty of time to find a way past...or so I thought.

Really well driven Jon, I was quite happy when you went defensive, because often people just slide off track not being used to the unusual lines, but you kept it really clean and tidy. In the end there was only one mistake I could take advantage of, then immediately losing the place back by being too cautious into the last turn. Nicely done!