GT4: Zolder

Well, qual sucked as I got a bit wrapped up in the fact that the track lost is "line" but still not a bad lap for 2nd on the grid.

I really wanted to get a good start and challenge Mike early since I new I would be faster in race pace and really knowhere to pass here in these cars. So I proceded to spin the tires excessively and fell in behind Mike as we entered T1. I braked real early because in all out laps I knew the grip level was real poor, but Mike went in pretty hard and really had no chance to make the turn and drove it into the sand.

Not sure who was behind me but I drove a very cautious lap 1 making sure to not miss any turns. After lap one I had about 1 second lead and was just going to run a easy pace, that didn't last long. I really wanted to take the TR and started pushing the car, when I laid down a 18.3 I knew I had beaten Mikes pole lap and then cruised a few laps.

A couple laps later I saw that I was up -.3 in sector one and pushed for a better lap turning a 18.1 but the latter part of the lap was not very good so I pushed again and finally did that 17.9 I knew was there.

Race was really a 15 lap qual session with a few cautious laps with traffic. Was interesting also that we had to do 1 more lap than the Euro guys, not too often that we run a faster pace than they do.

Too bad Mike went off, would have been real interesting to try and make that pass.

Grats to Garrett and Barry.

Congratulations to the podium finishers.
I had an excellent start from 16th on the grid, a few guys napping at the lights. I was up to 12th I think by turn 3.
I got into a bit of trouble on lap 1 with Steve B. Not sure if he had some lag or if he just misjudged me (slower qualifier that got a good start) braking for the final chicane; got punted.
Came back on track in 18th or so passed one or two and gained a few spots from attrition in front of me. Other than that it was a lonely race for most of the time.
Great fun once again!

Oh my Oh my!!! got DISCO on qualy... 2 hours of practice the night before... all wasted so it doesn't feel pretty nice. My first DISCO in a looong time so just found out it might be that Nvidia Firewall and I just uninstalled it, still with some issues so I'm worried, my ISP might be cracking up a bit... lets sleep this over... see ya

Crazy race laptimes there Kent!

Enjoyable race. I was suprised to qualify in 3rd position. I managed to adapt to the lack of tire marks track and the traffic during qualifying and still do a PB. So I was very happy with qualifying. I don't know what it is, but whenever I have qualified well here at R2P I always get bumped or something early and lose my position. I think the faster guys realize that they may be faster than me and are very aggressive at the start in trying to pass. No exception here. I got bumped in turn one enough to send me into the grass. I ended up in 7th position. It was honest racing contact. I don't think my start was very strong so the opportunity was there for an early pass attempt. Anyway, I had some good racing with a few guys and was looking to finish 7th. Then on lap 14 I came upon Les and Rob, and they weren't moving very fast after an accident. I managed to thread the needle between them and move up to 5th place.

I was pleased with qualy, ending up in 4th. I was surprised by everyone's lack of pace in qualy. Pracy was showing better times, but I'll take what I can get.

I got a crumby start and was very uncomfortable the first lap. Luckily, I retained 4th behind Kent, Rob + Barry. I could see potential for disaster ahead as it appeared Barry was faster and Rob was way loose. Sure enough, Rob got the back end around and Barry went with him. I threaded the car between them and inherited 2nd.

From there, I just cruised to the end. Kent was pulling away at 1s a lap and I had nothing for him.

Very nice pace Kent and congrats!

Apologies to Mike for getting into the back of him going into the last corner on L1. I wasn't even trying to close, much less pass; was headed into the pit for a stop-go for a jumped start and was caught out by how much he backed out of it there - sorry Mike!

Blowing it before the race even started was about how the night went actually. Tried to find some room to run in Q but had traffic the whole time, so I went in for a second try, but ran out of time on a decent lap with a couple of corners to go. That put me far enough back on the grid it was tough to see the lights, and I accidentally went early. Got it stopped before the light changed and started on time, but was out of my box and got a penalty.

Rode around ez planning to come in at the end of the lap, but had the incident with Mike at the pit entry and from there it was more or less just riding around being annoyed at my own incompetence. Getting a bit rusty at this stuff! Note to self - try not to suck as much in Friday's race... ;-)

Thanks Janko, really was fun looking back at it. Even though I was running alone it was fun pushing myself, really no something that can be done in a 60 minute race so kinda refreshing to do these sprints.

Race started out well, was in 3rd by T2. Was able to move up into 2nd following Kent. But I knew I didn't have Kent's pace. But not only didn't I have Kent's pace, I couldn't keep the car pointed forward. Dropped back to 6th, worked my way back into 3rd and then more mistakes.

That was a fun event until I tapped Les (that sent him for a spin) towards the end of the race, my apologies to Les -- I waited for him to bring it back around (which may have been a bad idea as it might have caused more issues). Felt bad about the incident and sorta lost focus to finish.

Great to see my teammate Kris put in a great result espeically after what looked like an incident with a lapped car??

Congrats to podium and all the finishers. Sorry to Les.

Practice: I developed a decent setup the night before and felt comfortable coming in with a nice points lead. My goal was a top 5 finish and maintain the points lead. When practiced ended, I was pleased to be in the 2nd. Following Kent a number of laps helped and also taught me it would be difficult to pass. Kent was also following me for a number of laps.

Quali: I was very surpised Kent didn't get into the 37's and was even more surprised I got pole. My time was in line with practice times so it felt good to make it repeatable.

Race: At this point, I felt like I just might have a chance to win the thing. I didn't get the rocket start that I expected and heard a car in close proximity so I decided to push into T1 to ensure I had the lead out of the corner. I went in way to hot on cold tires and didn't have a prayer to make the corner. Out in the sand, I needed to slip the clutch and give it a ton of throttle just to get out of the sticky stuff. From 1st to worst in the first turn. A bit of a brain fade is an understatement.

I knew there was time to get a top 10, but for some reason I went balls to the wall right away. By time I got to the 1st chicane, I was right up on the tail of the field. There was a bit of a shamozil (help me spell that Hobbs) in the chicane and my head still wasn't screwed on tight. Nailing the car in the middle of the road and taking another tour of the sand didn't help my cause too much. It did put my head on straight so I calmed down and focused on driving the line, hitting my marks, and passing cars carefully.

It really was exciting driving from the back towards the front of the field. I wouldn't have passed near as many if it wasn't for others who had misfortunes too. I was lucky to come away with the points lead after that mistake, although, Kent is knocking at the door.

Congratulations to Kent for the race win and his ludicrous speed. Kudos to Garret and Barry for yet another consistent drive for the podium.