Thruxton, 14st September - Round 11

[snafu]

Well, it's only fair to reflect that the stars aligned for me at Thruxton with André and Dag's demise and Rob unable to make the race. Strangely I didn't feel comfortable right up to the race and couldn't even beat my Cooper PB from earlier in the oAo season. I was surprised to place on the grid ahead of Dag for the 2nd race in succession and expected to leave space for him to pass through T1 but getting his Honda off the line seemed more of an issue this week.

The Early laps were spent watching André and Tim slowly extend away while I had Dag in close attendance behind. He was so much quicker than me entering Club and also through the Campbell and Cobb but I seemed to have the edge from Noble back around to the braking area for Club. Once he made a mistake entering Club I found myself in a lonely 3rd place with Tim and André someway further up the road. Then André disappeared and I saw the skidmarks at Brooklands and realised there are no small "off's" there.

Around mid race I found myself leading the race (first time ever) when Tim pitted for fuel and tyres but quickly surrendered the position when I pitted for the same a few laps later. The remainder of the race was thankfully uneventful, those being lapped were perfect and very aware. So... My first HIES podium.

Congrats to Tim for a faultless drive and Rainer for completing the podium.

TTFN
John

[Seb Gore]

Hi All,
Wow what a race!

First of all, Robert, Really sorry to hear that you are having a rough time at the moment. I truly hope this passes soon. Hopefully we gave you something to smile about last night?
Olaf, sorry for T-boning you at PI, my brain was telling me to aim for where you are as you won't be there when I get there, but my arms wouldn't turn the wheel.... Really sorry.
Andre, I'm really relieved that I hadn't taken you out. I pulled over as I knew you were both coming and I slightly feathered the throttle so I could drop in behind you both and grab a bit of slipstream. I actually thought you'd clipped my rear wheel, not the front. I probably could have been a bit farther right. Sorry it finished your race..
I'm quite chuffed with my spin though.
Other than that, I was just about keeping in front of Bjorn but went a tiny but wide and Bjorn was past. Happy with fifth though.
Can't wait for Salzburg!

[Bjørn Finnestad]

Grats Tim, John and Rainer . Well done finishers, bad luck DNFs.

Best wishes to Robert, hope you get back up and running soon.

Revisiting this track was good and I got the setup working well and prequalification surprised.

The start of the race was good for me to get the wheels rolling, but I fumbled a bit further through the first corners and could see that the cars in front of me were quickly disappearing. The pace increased with the grip and had some faster laps under pressure from behind. I managed to keep Rainer behind me for a while, a good fight there to keep the distance.

I didn't brake well enough for Club and went into the barrier, luckily, I got away, don't think the damage to the car was big but went into the pit and made my stop with repairs, tires, and fuel. Afterwards it was quieter driving, wanted to save tyres. Overheating a tire can have a bigger impact, so finding a good rhythm helps a lot.

On a few laps I have gradually started to drive faster, enough to get close to Seb and was on the lookout for an overtaking opportunity. Had an opportunity but caught sight of the edge of the grass there and aborted the attempt, here I didn't have enough grip too, but a good fight with Seb. Afterwards Seb had a spin, so I passed.

Had many good laps in the race and was at the finish suddenly, overall nice to control the car and made less mistakes at the end of the race.


Thanks for race and for the administration, see you at Salzburg

[tim]

Thank you guys for all your wishes, lucky me!

I am sorry André that our wonderful battle for pace ended that way. I watched the replay quite intense, it is as you said, you gave me to much room. I had a strong traction at the exit, you struggled with tyres But thanks anyway, it is a great plessure racing with you!

Well done John, congratulation! - for consistancy too!
And horray!! to everybody who tamed Thruxton. A great track!
Thank you again André for the life stream, it is such a great feature!

[André Jahren]

Contacts and penalties
1 25:43 Andre Jahren/Seb gore - André penalized with a Stop n Go +30sec in the end result of this race and -2 license points.

[Seb Gore]

Hi Andre,
A stop and go plus 30 seconds, and a couple of points? That is really harsh. You only clipped me and I know it wasn't deliberate.
There was negligible impact on my race, plus (and it's a really big plus) my two kids were really impressed with my spin. You came off far, far worse. I also now have a screenshot of the frame before it happened as my background at work.
Please can I plead clemency for "the offender"? Maybe a bit of a reduction in the penalty?
Cheers,
Seb.
ps, well done everyone, that's a tricky little track.

[André Jahren]

We must be more careful in our driving, and we can not run in to drivers we are to lap. I could easily have taken you out, it was just luck that prevented that from happening.

So I take the penalty and look forward to the next race.