Spa-Francorchamps PMSC

Exciting race! Was afraid of what would happen in the first corners therefore not being able to finish my qualification lap came in handy. Start went well so far (only suffered some smaller aero damage). Meanwhile right after Eau Rouge hell had broken loose and when I arrived I saw cars and parts all over the place spinning and flying.

Almost ended my race there as well, as a damaged car probably misjudged my speed and crossed the track just as I approached (from watching the replay I found out that the very same car was also quite entangled in the beginning of the crash, wanting to profit of a temporary speed gain by any means).

After passing the scene I made a mistake in Les Fagnes and hit the wall causing red damage. Luckily it could be repaired in no time so I was back on the track and went for quite the fast pace considering I didn't plan to stop again for fuel or new tires.

A few rounds later I was going for my first real overtake ever, but since I was around 1-2 seconds faster than my opponent I just chased him for some time leaving a gap of not more than two seconds. As I had guessed (from my own experience^^) he couldn't take the pressure and spun near Bus Stop.

I then was left with a gap of 30 seconds to both front and back. For some reason the front gap to Gomes shrunk down to only a few secs and I was able to use a smaller spin on his side to overtake. But since my tires were almost gone already I soon had to let him pass, changed my strategy and played it safe.

I finally finished the race with tires down to 50% and 1.7 liters fuel left.

Congrats to the podium!

If I write the report I want to write I'll probably be expelled from R2P. So I'll keep my frustration about this race, and the many hours I had spent preparing, to myself.

However, one thing caught my attention already a while ago: despite all the many and obvious qualities of R2P that make it such a wonderful place, I'm almost always surprised at first laps here.

I have run a few other leagues, and in no other the level of L1 sheer recklessness come anywhere near what happens here. The reason? I don't know, but I do have my guesses.

I feel it's a shame, one stain on an otherwise brilliant place/community.

No aliens present, so this was my chance....

In practice, laptimes of low 2.22 seemed to be fast enough to challenge for the win. I decided to make one stop midway (for tyres and a bit of fuel to be safe). That would take about 25 seconds, but being on worn tyres for the second part of the race would cost much more.

I grabbed pole, lost a position at the start to Viktor, but got back in the lead exiting Eau Rouge and started building a gap. All went well until the end of lap 5.

Positioning for the second part of Blanchimont I touched the grass and slid off backwards into the barriers. This must have given a scare to Johan (I think) behind me, as he went off as well and crashed into me. Luckily I was able to continue, though the car was handling terrible.

I immediately made my stop and, to my surprise, repairing the damage only took a few seconds. I had lost a few positions and the gap to Viktor (leading) was over 30 seconds.

A win now seemed far away, although my car was handling well again. It had lost a bit of power, but my laptimes were still over a second faster than others'.

By the end of lap 10 I was in second, rapidly closing in on Viktor. Even if he was on a no-stop-strategy, I would probably catch him.

Starting lap 21 I was on his tail and able to overtake him the same way as on the first lap, on Kemmel straight. He was not able to follow and I could take it easy from there, bringing it home for the win.

Congrats to Viktor and Fahn for their podium and to all finishers.

It 's the second time in a row that the first corner I bump out is always the same driver! So it's not funny, R2P deserves better