I finished the race with a grin on my face but also a bit frustrated, but not as frustrated as Han
I'm not too good at qualifying, but somehow managed to qualify where I hoped. The second rolling start went well, except for Tim who decided to spin offBut it meant a quicker driver was behind who would at some point catch up.
The first half of the race went surprisingly well, kept Brian within 1 or 2 seconds in front of me, with Han the same gap in front of Brian. I felt quicker than Brian, the Maserati looked a handful at times and Brian was certainly exploring the track limits
But I decided to hang back and play the long game.
However an incident with a GT3, who absolutely wanted to overtake on the outside going into Aqua Minarelli (although I stayed on the racing line and left space on the right
The spin let Pat Eaton through and allowed Tim to catch up. Tim was quicker and it was a matter of time before he overtook me, until he decided to spin out exciting Alta Variante, thanks mate
Pitted at the same time as Pat, came out behind him, I seemed to catch up to Pat but then the GT3s always seemed to come through at the worst times for me but at the best time for Pat. But that's multiclass racing, some you win, some you lose.
Due to the traffic, Brian caught up with me, we battled for a bit, 3 wide with Aki as he wrote earlier. Unfortunately Brian ended up in the gravel
Soon realised I'm short on fuel. Started fuel saving with 6 laps to go. With 3 laps to go, started to short shift even earlier and lifting and coasting more, wasn't enough
Finished 5th in class but on another day might even have been 2nd or third, hence my frustration. But I still enjoyed the race, especially battling with Brian, and even running out of fuel and coasting over the line
Congrats to both podiums!!
Many thanks to all the GT3 drivers who were considerate in their lapping
But most of all many thanks to Brian and Han for hosting and organizing the championship!!!!
Nice report Taj! I'm not sure if your mic was working or maybe not loud enough. It was lucky I didn't take us both out in that kink. Maserati was a bit unpredictable to say the least! No need to wait there i didn't think. I drifted over into you. I thought it would hold that inside line with no problem... It's no 488!
