Bridgehampton Redux
I thoroughly enjoyed myself this Friday. My times were greatly improved over our last WTCC visit here and I was confident I could put in a consistent pace, all be it, slower than the cream of the crop. I also knew from that event, that consistency and driving mistake free is the key to finishing well at Bridgehampton.
In the early practice runs, I was posting some good lap times (for me at least) and while not up with the fast guns, I was at least not floundering at the bottom of the barrel.
On my qualifying run, I wasn't as confident as I could have been on approach to the first 3 turns, but I forced myself to start pushing and got back into the groove. I wasn’t too pleased with my 1:31.91 time, which was at least ½ second off of my better runs during the practice sessions and 0.7 seconds off of my personal best. I felt that I needed that ½ second to not be mired somewhere behind midfield. I was pleasantly surprised to end up with a starting position of 10th.
I wanted to be a little more forceful (not aggressive) with my start, knowing that I was starting in the midst of some of the highest ranked drivers at RD. Yuri, who had the grid spot directly in front of me, got off to a slightly slower start than I did, but before I could opt to move to his inside, Eric Nelson was already filling that gap from his 9th starting position. Dariusz shot his BMW past on the far outside making a sandwich of Claudio. The track is now full ahead of me and we have just barely left our grid marks. Dennis Phelan now fills the hole vacated by Eric Nelson. Even so, I have only dropped 2 spots by the bridge.
Dennis drops his left rear wheel into the dirt in Turn 1. This bunches us up until he eventually goes off across the track. Eric Nelson and Adam Vaughn brush up against each other in the Turn 3, with Adam getting the worse for wear. I am now back up to 10th. I try my best to keep up with the train ahead as Kevin Hopkins hooks up to my rear bumper. Tyler Scurlock decides to check out his SEAT’s heavy-duty suspension out in the dunes gifting me another position.
Next 4 laps I work on keeping the guys ahead from pulling away while I try to protect my position from Kevin. Dariusz, Claudio, Eric N., Reggie and Yuri are directly ahead. Reggie finally ends up parking his car in the tires at Turn 3 on Lap 5. As I watch Eric take to the dirt entering The Valley of Lefts, I lift and allow Kevin to pull up along the passenger side. We exchange door handles as he concedes Turn 6.
Lap 6 Dariusz pits and Adam replaces Kevin to my rear while the pack ahead starts pulling away. At the end of Lap 8, I pit following Yuri, Chris and Claudio while Kevin stays out on the track (Adam pitted the lap earlier). I rejoin the track running in 8th trying to keep Claudio in sight with Dariusz (1 lap down) in between. Kevin is once again behind me on lap 10, as he comes out of the pits (moving me up to 7th). I have a 5+ second cushion on him.
As the laps unwind, I know that there is no way I can run down Claudio, so my plan is to conserve my tires, run clean and consistent laps. All hoping I can keep a safe cushion on the Kevin as he closes the gap.
On Lap 16 I am gifted 6th as Yuri attempts to navigate the dunes without the benefit of GPS. Kevin is now 1.5 seconds behind and gaining. I lose sight of my braking mark in the final turn as the smoke from Jarrod’s damaged car obscures my view. Kevin pushes valiantly. I manage to cross the finish line with 0.6 seconds to spare.
Race 2 finds me starting in 3rd on the inside. I know that the speed demons from hell will be hot on my trail. Trying to leave plenty of room for them on the outside, I take Turn 1 to shallow and run off into the dirt. As I try to ease back onto the tarmac, Keith gets slightly into my left rear which causes him to nudge Adam Vaughn off track (this information is only courteous of the replay – my sincerest apology to both, especially Adam). I am in 9th by the end of the lap, wedged in between Eric Nelson and Jesper. After holding Jesper up, I finally concede to him at Turn 4. Dan Allinson promptly takes his place on my bumper. I gain 2 positions as Keith and Dariusz tangle at the entrance to The Light Bulb.
Jesper begins to pull away as Dan continues to hound my bumper. I am able to fend off Dan’s attack for over 2 laps until he runs a little wide at Turn 3. Keith, who won’t be as easily defended, promptly replaces him. I eventually succumb to the power of his Vauxhall and his driving prowess (a deadly combination) at Turn 1 of the next lap. Keith pits at the end of Lap 7. I am gifted 6th position as Kevin Hopkins goes Robby Gordon on us (off-roading) due to some side-by-side contact with Yuri.
I’ve been so intent on staying on track and hitting my marks, that I forgot to signal my intention to pit at the end of Lap 8. Too late now, got to go at least 1 more lap before I can get fresh rubber. Lap 9 finds me in unfamiliar territory, in 2nd just 5 seconds behind the leader, Yuri. Enjoy it while you can! I follow Yuri into the pits and briefly have 1st as I pass him entering his stall. I rejoin in 8th, but know this won’t last as I just barely beat Dariusz and Chris Rigby to Turn 1. I battle them both, but soon become the meat in their sandwich by Echo Valley, with Dariusz ahead and with Claudio pressing Chris. I let Chris by at Turn 5 and now Claudio thinks he should be next.
Chris slides underneath Dariusz at the final turn. I follow Dariusz’s draft down the straight with Claudio doing likewise in my wake. Dariusz goes slight off track exiting Turn 2. As I lift ever so slightly, Claudio gets a bit out of shape trying to avoid my rear bumper. He only loses a fraction as he deftly regains control. But this gives me the narrowest of breathing room as I pursue Dariusz. Claudio attempts to draft past me on the straight, but has to drop back in line for Turn 1. He finally manages to sneak underneath me in Turn 3, as I lift for a couple of backmarkers kicking up the dust. 5 Laps to go.
Now running in 9th, I do my best to keep both Dariusz and Claudio in sight (Chris has pulled a comfortable lead over them). I have a 4.3 second lead over Glenn Petersen who is fending off a charging Dan Allinson. Claudio eventually clears Dariusz, but as they battle, I can keep them in sight. Though I know I don’t have anything for them, unless …
The final lap, Claudio has a small cushion over Dariusz and I am still keeping abreast with Dariusz. Though Glenn has narrowed his gap to 2.3 seconds. Entering the home stretch, Echo Valley. Dariusz is only 0.8 seconds ahead and Glenn is now 3.4 seconds to the rear.
Claudio drops the right rear into the dirt at Turn 9 and goes back across the track into the wire fence. Dariusz loses his right rear into the dirt at Turn 9, but instead of going across the track, overcorrects and goes up the hill into the dunes. I tip-toe through and Glenn gently threads the needle behind me. We’ve both moved up 2 spots. I pull out of the final turn 2.3 seconds ahead of Glen, but a good 8.7 seconds behind Chris Rigby in 6th. But wait! Apparently Chris is running on fumes and has thrown the car into neutral as he heads down the straight to the Start/Finish line. I manage to beat him across the line by 0.023 of a second to take home a second 6th place finish for the night.
I had a great run (for a mid-packer) and it was greatly enhanced by the caliber of racers I ran with on the track. It’s been a long time since I felt comfortable to run this close and hard, feeling confident that I wasn’t going to get rear-ended by an overzealous and non-patient charger. I know I briefly held up some of the highest caliber and fastest racers in RD while I battled to hold onto my position. Each time they were patiently aggressive, riding close, but never overdriving. If they know enough about my racing style, they knew that once I know I am beat, I would concede and not do something rash in holding my line before then.
Thanks again for an enjoyable night at the races!
