Euro F3: Silverstone

WOOT!! missed the race start and started from pits! :)

Jsut drove my usuall consistent race, no mistakes, clean pit stop and I end up in 3rd :)
Fun drive!

Great drive from the pits Grecian! I wish I'd had a consistent race like yours. Spun twice. Oops.

Great win Vikz!

Hmmm, the front end cars were a bit faster than I had guessed the fastest times would be. Though still possible to compete with in a race.

I had spent most of my testing time getting a reliable rear end that could be planted for corner exits totally trustworthy. That is probably the most important past of these cars to get the best lap times AND to survive races!
Once that is done you can drive out of corners with full accel and trust and not need "feel" to impede that optimum exit ability.

So of course on lap 2 (?) I spun coming onto the main straight when the rear end let go! DOH
I had a set sequence of gear and change point so it was automated and no need for "feel", because if you have to do that it will cost a lot in lap time. You can actually accel much harder and sooner than your 'feel' can trust IF the car is setup well.

Then a second spin from a rear end grip loss a few laps later and my prior total trust in the car was greatly reduced then! Sheesh

Lap 9 I down changed to 1st by mistake, with Fernando chasing me, and that engine braking lock spun me out and he had nowehere to go to avoid running into me. So that was a big nuisance for us both! It would have been nicer if the car had spun/slid off the corner - not stay on the track.
That one wasn't a 'rear end problem' but the contact damaged my rear right suspension so the rear end didn't like left hand corners anymore, and that reduced my ability a little bit more again.

Then another spin a while later, which was from the rear end grip loss again, was the final straw and then I had to be extra cautious in all those important exit places from then on. So my lap times dopped even more.

4 spins and a tough race, so I was very lucky to even end up 5th! Which was in the region of where I whad been expecting/hoping to finish anyway. (6, 5, 4? 3 if good attrition by cars ahead)

Well another one to forget for me, I had a nice setup or thought I did, got 2nd on the grid in qual, and I was 2 tenths up at second spilt, no idea how Kirill managed to pull 4 tenths out in final sector but great stuff, had a decent start and was holding posistion to Kirill in 1st, then he span off on about lap 3, I was still laughing as I entered the Luffield complex and promptly managed to spin off myself, I suddenly stopped laughing, funny that! LOL

See you next week.

It was one to forget for me, too.

I wasn't sure if I was allowed to rejoin quali after stopping in my pitbox and then pressing 'Esc', so I just accepted no quali time and starting from the back.

I started from last place at the right-side and ahead of me someone spun round to the left. The guys on the left swerved right - straight into me and I was punted into the pitwall.

Managed to get round for a pitstop where my front wing was replaced, but the damage to the steering was too severe and I was out soon afterwards.

I hope it goes better at Mills.

a very disappointing session for me as well.

didn't come off the lights as well as i'd have liked. then someone a couple cars forward was nudged into a spin and i reacted right, which brought me into contact with Tommy Gunn, who had a much better start, but was now forced into John D. We all took damage. Tommy pressed on seriously off pace, but John and i found our cars undriveable -- John's more so than mine it would seem.

sorry for being the part of that chain reaction guys.

limped very slowly around -- spinning a few times -- back to the pits. at that point, i was actually still optimistic about the race, figuring i'd get the damage fixed, change tires and not have to stop the rest of the race; maybe gain back a few attrition positions

OK, so the crew apparently couldn't repair all the damage, so i was off my pace (which was already relatively slow) in a loose car with a cockeyed steering wheel, but still...

then, on lap 15, as i came around Copse expecting to let a car by, i found another on pit exit. decided the safest thing to do for all three of us would be to hold my momentum and tighten my line a bit to leave room in Maggots for the car coming out of the pits.

that turned out to be safe for everyone but me, as the car behind me decided to try to go between us in Maggots and i was sent into the wall.

so my hope was reduced to a bitter determination to avoid collecting my 2nd DNF.

at least that task was accomplished.

Congrats to Vikz, Dmitry and Grecian (impressive run, Grecian).