Silverstone, May 31st.
So far, every weekend, I come to the end of Qualifying and then quickly get my calculator and guesstimate how many laps and more importantly when to pit. (Please dont be like me). And last night, I noticed that my fuel tank can hold 60 mins for racing. At this point Ive got about 90 secs to decide and punch in the numbers. (Please dont be like me)
To say that I completely forget I had a full tank is an understatement.
And right on cue, my car couldn’t handle all that weight transfer and I went off 15 seconds into the race, P3 to P24. Happy days! From then on, it was a matter of trying to remember that I have a full tank and manage driving style but every now and then, you see a car ahead and everything goes out the window. So you push to the limit! Too much cornering speed or not enough traction for a heavy car, doesn’t matter, I ended up losing control 3 times during the race. These were not power slides, but significant time losing, Olympic Ice-skating silver medallist worthy spins. And I cannot even lie and say it was on purpose because there was no ice.
Anyway, charged up on barbecued flesh and a few refreshing beers, I enjoyed the racing bit of the 60 mins. Some of the guys I was with during the race, all top-notch lads. Everybody racing with gentlemen conduct. Jens Boli must have thought I’m having a picnic here, I pass you you pass me I pass you you pass me. Luca Badin racing strategically, lifting off to let me pass.
By this point I was P4, without a pitstop and 32 mins into the race. I started pushing to close the gap before my pitstop. 5 laps later I was wheel to wheel with Raresch Oprea. Clocking 40 mins now, I thought ill make the stop now so I can hopefully come out with some clear track but as we approached the pits, it became a tricky situation! Last second decision and I decided not to pit and do one more lap (Please don’t be like me). Tyres at past 50% used, my inlap was absolute rubbish and realising now I had about 20 mins left, I switched to Softs. And this made my pitstop about 3 hours long.
With the softs I was gaining the next group of guys ahead by 3-4 seconds a lap. After 50 mins of driving, I thought ill try to short shift early into the last double right hander corner and didn’t compromise on exit. Ended up doing a lovely 9.7 pointer Olympic spin (Please don’t be like me). Time to regroup again and push to the max for the remaining 10 mins. Go hard or Get broken suspensions? Thanks to John Plant for lifting off to let me through.
6 more laps of chasing Opera for the podium unfolds …. Oh wait.
Team Radio:
“Its not for podium, Its for 6th place Limbu.” God dammit.
Here is my onboard, and more overdriving the car moments, chasing down Opera, what felt like fighting for the top Podium. Enjoy!
Great racing all round guys!
Watching you catch is amazingly useful though, as I can see where you are a little bit quicker vs hugely so and then I know that's where I should pay initial attention.
