How can I describe this race? Let me start by saying I had a lot of fun. I really enjoy the character of this track which forces you to drive the Abarth on the edge, so every corner is an exciting moment. I had numerous near misses with the fence (and unfortunately one that went wrong in a very bad way).
I qualified 4th, which was good. But I forgot to press the drive button, so when the red lights started, I was teleported to the pits with a 15 second time penalty on top. So that was it for my podium chances. Coming out of the pits in 24th, there was a big rumble just before T1 and I was able to pass a lot of Mazdas. In the rest of the lap I was able to catch up a bit more and started lap 2 in 17th. On lap 2 there was also a problem with two Mazdas in front of me which caused me to brake hard and also hit the gate and lost some time. At a good stage in the race I was able to catch up with other Mazdas and Kimi's Abarth. When I was just behind Carsten, Kimi left on the straight on the left, but reappeared just in front of Carsten and me. We hit Kimi and we both turned. A few Mazdas could pass us then. So start again by catching up and overtaking the same Mazdas as before. I think I was 11th when I chased Andre. I was able to pass him on the start/finish straight, but in the Tenni corner he gave me a little tap on the back, which was enough to get me spinning again. And this time too, a few Mazdas were able to pass and I had to overtake again. I must have passed Dave, Raul, Gary, Douglas, Taj, Daniel and Omar about 3 or 4 times in this race. I hope they were all legal.
After my pit stop I was surprised to see Paul ahead of me about 4s. My pace was a little better and after a few laps I started to overtake him on the straight but I was on the inside when I got into the kink. Knowing that Paul would have a much better exit if I lifted too much, I bet on the Abarth's grip to stay out, but in vain. I hit the fence and bounced to the other side behind the fence there. When I tried to get back on track, I got stuck on the fence/tree. I had to teleport to the pits with a lap penalty and a 35 second time penalty on top of that. Then I did some overtaking on Mazdas for fun. I finished last of the guys to finish the race.
So a very eventful race and I enjoyed almost every second (not being stuck in the fence).
I doubt I would have as much fun if I had a normal start. I probably would have had a fight with Paul but otherwise I would have watched Allan and Ernie slowly getting away and Fulvio flying by. I would have gone to relax in Nomansland and therefore make a mistake that left me frustrated and behind Colin and Mika and ending up as 6th or 7th.
I would like to say that I do not hold a grudge at all for the drivers who got me into trouble with the incidents I described. It's racing. I'm sure these incidents weren't intentional and it's all part of the game.
Congrats to the podium (Fulvio: a 2.26.5!!??? It's frustrating to see that it's possible to go so much faster).
Thanks all for joining. And thanks to
@Fat-Alfie for this amazing track!
Next week on a whiskey tour at Thruxton and in two weeks to the Deutschlandring.
Deutschlandring has three very different sectors. A long straight where the Abarth will be much faster. A slow sector with many hairpin bends where the Mazda will gain a lot of time. And a sector with fast corners. I think it will depend on this sector whether the Abarth or the Mazda will be the fastest car here.
For those who have not ridden the Deutschlandring before, I recommend that you start practicing beforehand. It's 10km, so a lap takes about 4 minutes I think, meaning it will take you that time for another attempt to optimize your turns in a particular corner.
it was a steady race on my end, trying to hang onto various drivers, finishing 1/10ths behind Thomas with Paul pulling us both along 
