USA nGT: Dubai

One driver dropped a lap for T1 incident

Another driver dropped a lap for first-lap punt penalty that went unserved.

Started 10th. Didn't get a good lap in, but was happy with it anyway. Jumped to 7th after lap one, pushed for 6th, and was given 5th due to a pitting car. I was very motivated and excited to be moving towards the front runners, when I was spun by Garrett. No hard feelings though Garrett, wasn't really something you could control.

Pit that same lap, and ended up 17th. Pushed to the end and had a great battle with Kris Trott for 10th. Went into the final corner and there is Gregg who had spun in 9th!

Thought I finished ninth, but due to the punt rule, I was moved back.
Dissapointment..
Great racing, bad result. Better luck next time.

Great win Kent... so much for having a "slow race setup" : )

Wasn't liking my race setup during practice so I really wanted to get in a good qual effort. Unfortunately I had 3 other laps that were better but caught the same guys in sector 3 everytime. Seemed like no matter how much I gapped I caught :(

Got a great start even tho I spun the tires really bad, I guess Barry must have stalled because he was getting eaten up by a RSR as well. I really drove lap 1 cautiously and made the front straight with only about a half second advantage.

The first 3-4 laps Barry was all over me and then coming out of the last left hander we got pretty close and Barry spun off to teh left. Not sure if he just got on it to early or if he had to check up because I was so slow getting away. I ended up with about a 4-5 second lead.

I managed to hold that gap for a few laps, I assume Barry was stuck behind someone for a few laps. Barry eventually found his way back to me and I decided I was going to make him work a bit for it but that if he got a good run on me I would just let him past. After about 5 laps like that, I think lap 12 Barry got a nice run and I flashed him letting him know I wouldn't challenge.

Then the strangest thing happened, at the end of lap 13 Barry pitted? Wow I thought, kinda early. At that point I really tried to be consistant without wearing the tires anymore than I already had. I watched as the gap behind kept jumping more and more as more people behind me pitted.

Finally on lap 21 I made my stop with over 1 minute clear. I took only fuel and came out with a 11 second lead. I figured whoever was back there had fresher tires and would be trying hard to catch me so I was very surprised that the gap was staying relatively stagnent. That is until I caught some slower cars.

I had to pass 3 of em in total, and I must say, you guys were scary. Some really unpleasant moments for me following you guys, seeing you go wide only to dive back across at me. I was convinced my race would end after I passed and got run into from behind.

Well, by the time I got by the first guy, which took a few laps, the gap was down to 7 seconds, then the next 2 lapped cars I lost anout 3 seconds. Luckily the race was on lap 29 at that point and I was able to cruise to teh finish from there.

Grats to all the restricted cars for a 1-5 finish :)

Well done Krue, way to pick up some valuable team points!

Ooops penalties :(

What an epic race!
I got a major CTD during my 2nd lap in qual, and luckily had enough time to reboot in time for the race. This however ment I was starting from the back of the grid (21st).
Managed to get a great run off the start and was running 14th by T1. All was going well til I got spun on lap 2, and dropped another couple of places.
Had a few good battles with Gregg and Aaron and Andrew C towards the end, but nothing solid. I made the choice to not take tyres, and that decision seemed to be ok. With 15 mins to go, I noticed my engine getting dangerously low, and pretty much had to limp it home, short shifting all the way. Which ended up being a blessing in disguise. I had miscalculated fuel, and ended up spluttering across the line for what was 12th. The after race decisions on penalties pushed me up to 10th, so I am more than happy with a T10 at Dubai. I am glad Dubai has gone for the season, a couple of those turns are a nightmare to hit consistently.

Well to the podium, especially seeing as tho they were all handicapped. Proof of their skill alone.

Thanks all for a great race.

OMG what a race. Got the 3rd place in qualy but George got me on the inside in T1 and dropped to 20th place. I think George just made a mistake in his braking went to the grass and hit me on the side... I don't blame him for not going into pits I am consufesed myself is it only for punts on the rear of the car or anything that gets the other driver out of track???

Anyway from then on trying to pass everyone and did a good job but having to take care of the tyres as the low temperature of the track really called for "no tyre change" strategy. Before my pitstip I think I was in 8th... so after it I could see people having problems or maybe changing tyres... found myself at the end, fighting for 5th position in an amazing battle with Garret and Aaron... very clean stuff, congrats to you both there were a couple of clean passes with Aaron... Garret seemed to have the most worn tyres so was having a difficult time holding us both... well Aaron passed me for 6th then I passed him on last lap... wow it was pretty exiting... never got to pass Garret though he was very cool in those last laps almost no errors so I couldn't pass him. In the end the order was Garret, me, Aaron... and George got a 1 lap penalty, too much maybe but it's the rules... so we all got promoted one position... 4th, 5th and 6th. Great stuff.

One more thing.. congrats to all those guys in the slower cars... specially Kent who won in a Porsche RS.

Yea Kent I'm sick as hell right now and couldn't concentrate at all and had to pull in. My shirt was ringing wet from sweating but was having some fun there for a while until I hit the pits...literally. My eyes were watering so bad I missed pit lane and into the wall. Big cost in time and to add to that I didn't put enough fuel in. Well next time. Congrats on your win and the rest of the podium.

What a race. Great battle at the end there Garret and emilio. Boy that no tire strategy gave me a scare. I wore the piss out of the rear tires. I should have taken hard rears, to have alittle more at the end.

Apologies to Kevin for that nudge. I didnt realize we were that close, was glad to see you save it.

Like Kris I had a CTD during qual so that put me dead last. I figured it was over but somehow I managed to work my way to the top 10. The no tire stragtegy help me either. I was surprize after the pratice and qual times, everyone was real close in pace. I expected alot more carnage those opening laps but almost everyone held on to there game. The first section of dubai is bad for first lap wrecks.

From last to 6th in a really fast and tight field? I cant complain.

Awsome race!

Well .... a good 3rd turned into a bad 14th ....

I knew I made a brakingerror at T1 after the start. But I never felt or saw I touched anyone. After looking at the replay and reading Emilio's report I knew he did became a victim of that. My apologies for that Emilio. Ofcourse I saw the stewards call but without a name so I thought the drive-through wasn't for me. It stayed in the back of my head during the first stint but that went away at my stop where I saw I had no damage whatsoever to repair.

The race itself was great. During the first stint I had Mark all over me until he finally made a good pass. I knew from the eurorace that a tyrechange was better than none and I think Heinz will agree on that. I was closing the 17 second gap with almost 2 seconds per lap and was on his tail for the last two laps but no real chance to get passed him. Must also mention that the backmarkers didn't really help. One was actually racing me through the chicane after the long backstraight. I lost 3 seconds in that lap because of that. But in the end .... it was all for nothing. :-(

Congrats to Kent and Sam picking up the final podium spot, unlucky to george having to serve a penalty..

Was glad the temps came down for the USA race as the temps were 10degress hotter in the euro race, not sure how that affected the tyres, but they worked well in these lower temps.

Quali in the RS i was expecting to start middle pack somwhere, and really was suprised when I landed in the top 6, only 3 prime cars and 3 option cars making it up, very nicely setup for a good race...

The start went well, picking off Claudiu who got off slow, and then watching the top 4 into T1 .. unfortunatly i had already seen G.P go deep into the braking zone, trying to avoid a collision, but unfortunatly got sideways into Emilio and put him off the track.. I was able to get passed G.P into T2 and now up to p3 was just trying to keep in touch with Kent and Barry, while George was fighting off mark C.

Barry had another incident at the last few corners of the track and I got passed, but not able to sustain the position for 2 long as he was the faster car..

When barry dove into pitlane like Kent sais, while it was interesting for kent to see barry dive in, I saw barry missing the entry and hitting anchors to avoid the wall i think, when i saw this i knew i had a chance of jumping him come my pitstop.

I came in and out of pits, not changing tyres, looking at the euro race i thought it was safe enough to do, still had just under half my tyre wear left, so would be able to keep laptimes up, but not to someone who changed. In my case it was george who change, and was charging me for 2nd, but i knew since he hadn't done the drive through for lap 1, i was safe enough to keep 2nd, but i wanted to earn second and put up a fight to the death..

As kent said, the last couple laps had some scary moments with the back, I was racing andrew peeler for a lap or 2, until it looked like he was looking at me in his mirrors and started wobbling on the track infront of me, which is when i thought enough is enough and flashed to ask if he would let me through at some stage :) finally he did, which i was gratefull for, but then i came up to Don and some other RSR who decided it would be fun to turn infront of him, cause a collision while me and George where right there, was a panick station moment..

the last few turns George was about to take me, i still knew the position was mine regardless and wouldnt give it away .. blocked the final turn, we touched and george was the gentleman to accept defeat and let me cross the line in second ..

All in all, a perfect race in the RS, loved all 29 laps, thrilling...

Grats to all finishers, good finish from Gregg M. to help tie up 2nd in the teams with canam.. nicely done!

See you next round