nGT @ Spa '03

You were kind of not decided on Kemmel mate. Two times I got pushed in the barriers. Last time I was close you slowed down and I took an evasive maneuver cause I was flooring it through Eau Rouge, then I got a little pissed and out braked myself in Les Combes.
Anyway from 3 wins I could have had this weekend I got 2 second places and a 5th :)
But live and learn I say. That's part of the game.
Nice battles though.
See you at the next one!

Qualifying arrived on a damp track, and from past experience I decided to go for soft slicks all round. It was slippy in parts of the track but not in others, and managed a time that put me 9th on the grid. My last flier I lost it on entry to the Bus Stop which put me in the barrier and punctured my right front tyre. And sure enough, warm up (and subsequently race) was a damp track too. But the temperature (ambient and track) was a lot higher (mid 30's) so I filled the car up for a 60 minute race with 81 litres of fuel with Medium Softs all round.

I got a cracking standing start (with no clutch on my Momo, it really was!) and was up to P7 into Les Combes. Claudio Ciocanau lost P4 at the top of Eau Rouge with a BIG crash, and so I was in P6. For the first two laps I got my tyres warm and then tried to keep with George Pol in front of me. We were pretty even for the first few laps, and then coming through Eau Rouge one lap I saw a 360 on the left of the track at Kemmel gaining speed again - it turned out to be Pete Bunce who must have spun out whilst in P4. I passed and - heart thumping - expected to be eaten up by such a fast driver. But to my surprise I was slowly making the gap bigger to Pete now in 6th behind me, whilst George in P4 in front was slowly eaking out a gap to me. Then Pete was gone. I had a big gap to de Raton who was then in 6th, and George was slowly pulling away.

I kept it on track, nice and smooth, tyres were fine, the damp track was getting dryer (if not fully dry in nearly all parts), and so I settled for 5th and to get the car home. But then came silly mistake time! I took the Bus Stop too fast and ended up sliding into the barrier on the left, reversing out and setting off again. Still a 7 second gap to de Raton which I soon opened up to just over 10 seconds. "Take it easy Andy!!". Then on lap 21 I took the kerb on the left at the corner after Rivage - flicked left, almost held it - flicked right - slid to a halt half off track. Quickly into reverse, then accelerate away - de Raton is then right behind me on the lap right up until the Bus Stop, and he was looking for a way by and adding pressure. I took the Bus Stop really fast and opened up a slight gap - the next two laps were as quick as I could drive as I then pulled away. Last lap I could take it super safe and P6 was 5 seconds back in the end (now Mueller who was right behind de Raton until around the last lap).

Fuel left at the end - 9 litres - enough for another 3 laps - we ended up finishing after 24 laps, so slightly heavier. Not consistent enough, and two silly mistakes. But still very pleased with P5. The Spa track is just so fantastic!!