Boy have I missed this car! Very excited to get back in it, and a good start to the series for me, which I couldn't be happier with.
Fun stuff. Road Atlanta always provides good racing. This car/track combo might be one of my all time favorites and I could toss the car around this place for hours without burning out.
Shocked myself with the pole lap in quali. Had been stuck at 1:32s (even since last time we ran this combo)...and didn't have but one night of practice prior to race night. But, I spent an hour or so just prior to the race tweaking the car a bit. I recalled vividly the last time we raced here in this car. Started out well enough but soon I was slip sliding around, setup was super loose after some laps. Just not at all feasible for racing.
Remembering this lesson learned, I made adjustments to accommodate and it seemed to work so I stuck with it.
Race 1 and I was quite nervous about the start. T1 on rolling starts here is sometimes nuts, and it did not fail to deliver yet again. Tyler was able to take T1 from me, but ran too deep and had to back out. Joe and myself came screaming up behind and around him at around the pit exit area before T2. We went 3 wide for a moment, I was rubbing doors with Joe...it was hairy, but somehow we all made it through.
Few turns later, Tyler got over ambitious, went deep as we went two wide through a turn...understeered into the side of me, and off we both go into the grass. (thanks for waiting up, and for the apology, Tyler) I lost nearly 4 seconds to P1 and P2, which was Joe and Brette at that time. Didn't take a few turns and I was on Brette's rear again, but I knew I needed by in a hurry if I was to keep up with and challenge Joe for the lead. Couple of laps went by, and then Brette kindly let me by with a blink of the lights on the backstretch (thanks, Brette!). Chased Joe around a while, finally caught up when he went a bit wide at T1 (I think it was)....he'd apparently been smoking the tires off the car, and it didn't take long before I'd overtaken for the lead.
Just tried to stay consistent, managed to do so, and race 1 was mine.
Race 2...this time I made it cleanly through the opening corners..but the lower grip (because we'd reset the session and lost our rubber) caught me out a bit and I was struggling with the car somewhat.
Within moments it was a repeat of Race 1. Joe, Brette, and then me sitting P3.
Same scenario with Brette, but then got the feeling he wanted to do a bit of racing (nice commitment at end of backstretch, Brette. Your braking was certainly superior to mine and I wasn't willing to risk it trying to brake deep there)...a little fight ensued. But, after a few laps I assume Brette felt he was holding me up again...blink of the lights at end of back stretch (which came a bit late and nearly caught me out..but we managed through it) and I went around again (...didn't have to, but thanks, Brette!)
...don't even remember where or when the overtake for P1 happened, but at some point quite early on, it happened.
Spent the rest of the race just trying to repeat Race 1. Joe was a bit closer this time (within a second most of race) and I was feeling the pressure a bit. Started using up a bit too much tires, but managed to hold him off and win second race as well.
So, very pleased with that result.
Also very pleased with turnout, all things considered. Was better than expected, and it seems everyone is going to enjoy another series in this car. Very good to hear, and hopefully we can draw in a few more and get a 20+ car turnout.
Thanks to all who joined in the fun, and thanks to all you regulars for always sticking with it/us.Ditto on the turnout and result! You and Joe did well and gave the rest of us something to shoot for. Looking forward to Brands Hatch (though, this pig will probably have me cursing by the time we leave that place...lol)
See you all there!
