FIrstly, well done to the winner. Was nice to be on track with my TXL number 1 driver, Frederic Schumacher/Brundle after a long spell away!
Regarding my quali/race, this was my first race in 2015 on rfactor 2 and it showed a little. I came online too late and put in quite an average quali lap which meant the race was going to be difficult. That said, I was quite impressed with David O'reilly's quali time so first pat on the back there. no doubt driving technique is now a priority.
For the race,I knew my aero wasn't too low, so overtaking was going to rely on outbraking someone or them making a mistake. Initially i was surprised that my pace was allowing me to keep up with Nicolas and David. Nicolas was wedged between us and I thought i would hang back, preserve tyres and push later on. I also knew that my setup was geared for tyre saving and stability rather than out and out speed. in hindsight i had been a little cautious.
After a while, Nicolas disappeared. So i was following david o'reilly closely, awaiting a mistake. there was no one else close up ahead so it was really a race between us to have fun.the gap came down from 3 seconds to 0.5. at one point, david seemed to brake surprisingly early on lap 13 and i braked late (tho i'm sure i would have made the corner based on the replay). there was a coming together and a comical moment as i stopped to allow david his lead back and he did something that resembled a 5 point turn. on with the race, david was consistent again so i decided to either undercut or pit late. my tyres were surprisingly good so when david pitted on lap 17 (?) i decided to take a good couple of laps to get a gap. unfortunately i factored in cold tyres on david's outlap. looking back, the cold tyres didn't make a difference in this mod other than the first corner.also, i probably took the second lap too casually as i mentally prepared for the pit stop which i had not practised.
on pit exit, i came out and david and i were side by side. however, he had the momentum from turn 2 and the line. we jostled lap after lap until late on. each lap i believe i was quicker but david was focussed on good exit from the final turn. overtaking in turn 2 was impossible even tho i felt i had the better line from turn 1 and 2...because the dirty air was killing me. twice i nearly binned it. also, i had too much downforce (14/8). lesson learned.
this race started to resemble the hulkenburg hamilton duel at korea.
late on i tried an optimistic move up the inside turn 1 but i was too far back. i decided to give the place back on the final corner of the final lap as an honourable end to a fun race...only to find there was another lap left. so it didn't look quite so honourable. lol
i think david only made one minor mistake so he deserved to finish ahead.
Overall i enjoyed the race with this mod. in hindsight i was far too cautious with setup stability and tyre wear but the pace built up eventually and i am thoroughly back int he swing of things. i noticed that nigel mansell's pole was 1.15.7 in 1992. my best lap in the race was 1 tenth quicker ..so i achieved something. that said, i am well off frederic's pace still, so that needs addressing
2015 will be the year I beat you frederic!
thanks to all.p.s. a length post is a sign of an enjoyable race and a bit of time to myself for a change. see you on track soon.