Written from memory, excuse any errors
Qualifying
I was
wedged down in the mid-teens in the order until my very last lap, when I managed to banzai the track and improve by nearly 7 tenths to put myself in P7.
Race 1
I got a decent enough start and ended up having a battle with Helder Filipe, who was suffering from a mixture of an oversteery setup and a rather aggressive driving style which eventually caught him out as he went off at Westfield.
So, I found myself in P3, trying but failing to chase down Fernando de Almeida, but heading into the last couple of laps, I had a bit of a moment (and a half) at Sheene, losing two places to finish P5.
Race 2
I got another decent-ish start and got myself right in the thick of the action right from the off. I found myself hung out to dry and boxed in, curiously at the same time, into both Paddock and Druids, and forced wide at Graham Hill Bend by fellow TS user Chris Noble. While there was quite a bit of argy-bargy, at the front of the field at least I didn't think any of it was malicious. Actually I was very pleased with the driving standards that I witnessed; a
vast improvement from Group 3 last time at Estoril.
At Clark on lap 1, heading towards the line to start lap 2, I got a run on both Chris Noble and James Yates who had come in together; I thought I'd try and keep as much momentum as possible, but I was only given the outside as a route - I took it, and I could've held an outside line through paddock without a problem, if only I hadn't stuck my rear left a fraction over the white line - instant spin, leading to a very big shunt.
Thankfully no-one else was involved, and once I had let everyone through, I rejoined the track with half of the back end of the car missing. I trundled around to gauge if it was worth taking back to the pits, but it felt like someone had replaced all of the car's fluids with custard - I rolled as far as Surtees, at which point the engine gave up, DNF.
Still; I crashed backwards, which means I crashed properly, and I didn't take anyone else out in the process so if I was going to DNF, that was the best way to go about it I guess.
See you in Oschersleben; hopefully after some practice - since Istanbul I've only done a handful of laps prior to entering the server on the day, but with the summer break I now have time to actually set the car up properly
