Turned out to be a pretty ok night for me, even though I was frustrated by my own mistakes and some car issues, throughout the 2 races.
I hadn't raced this version of Watkins Glen before, and I have to say, I like it! Regardless of that, I had no setup for it, and I spent most of my time sorting through online setups before I ended up with something ok. Never did get the brake balance right, and that was the biggest problem for both races, except for me overloading with fuel the first race.
Qually - Put the Logitech Corvette in 8th, next to Eric Estes in the Spyker.
R1 - messed up the launch off the start, but managed to recover and pull ahead of Eric into t1, and caught up with Peter Ross and Glenn Peterson near the end of the first lap, passing Peter into t1, and promptly spinning out when trying to accelerate out of t1. Now in 15th and last place.
About 2 laps later I've caught up to Hassan and Willie, and shortly after inherit 2 positions after their above mentioned incident. I now try to catch up Eric Dennis. After about a lap or so, I catch up to him and start trying to figure out how to pass, and we come up on Jarrod Keen re entering the track, and we both go by. Eric goes a little wide into the next turn and I manage to slip by into 11th. A few laps later I've caught up to Corey Theman, and I eventually manage to pass him into t1 under braking for 10th place. I was then starting to close up on Eric Estes when I go wide and into the wall just before the pit entrance. Into the pits, and to the bottom(again) I go, and its where I stay.
R2 - Made some adjustments in fuel load, sway bars, shocks, ride height(guessing,lol).
Start in dead last position on the grid(15th), next to Willie Watt in the BMW. Manage to have a tire smoking start, Willie has a great start and rockets away. I get going and pass Sam Mehler and Willie going into t1, just keeping ahead of the incident with Willie, Corey, and Sam.
Im now chasing Hassan for 10th, and pass him on the long straight after I get a good run off the esses. Catch up to Eric Estes next and we dice a little before I manage to pass him in the final esses before the main straight, and Im now 9th.
2nd lap starts and Im trying to catch Eric Dennis and the main group. Eric slows at the exit of t1 on the beginning of the 3rd lap, and I get by. 8th place.
Chasing the main group now, and I see a bmw spin a ways ahead, and disappear, and I inherit a position. 7th place I quickly come up to another Vette motoring along offline, and its Saul Boucher. Im guessing he was waiting for Eric Nelson to come by, and I get by for 6th.
Saul definitely wants his pos back, and proceeds to pressure me for the next lap or so. I get a bit of a breather when he goes off while accelerating out of a corner.
All this time I m trying to catch Peter Ross, and Im slowly reeling him in down the back straight, and poof, he's gone. 5th place.
I see Glenn ahead of me and try to make a dent in the gap for about 2 laps. Its getting close to the end now, and with me pushing hard, the tires get most noticeably greasy, and I get more sloppy. Glenn drives away, Saul has caught me up and passed me,and I manage to screw up the exit on t1 trying to keep up with Saul. I spin, but manage to keep 6th place to the end.
I was pretty content with this race, but I still have a load of work to do trying to get into the times that were posted by the lead guys. I also have to start thinking about qually setups, as grid position is huge when running with you guys. I think my race times were pretty good when compared, but you can't gain many spots when you're running similar times, just hope for incidents.
Was a great time, and thanks to Racedepartment for hosting, Eric for organizing, and everyone for showing up. First class stuff.
I hope my next race won't have to wait 2 1/2 months, lol!
Cheers'
John
