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Post by Rob de Vries on Sept 8, 2024 20:20:39 GMT
Had a decent qualifying and a good start for R1, found myself around P7 in a fierce battle with Wittmann and Wilks I think. A lot of fun and best result of the year so far with a p5.
R2 saw me starting from p7 iirc. Chose the outsideline in t1 and could cut back underneath a Renaut to slide into 5th for the opening laps. Unfortunately I got mixed up in an almighty moment from Dave Miller who touched the grass entering turn 4(?) and the four or five of us turned into a pinballmachine. Wilks got punted off onto the grass, back onto the racetrack and I had nowhere to go. Found myself with some very quirky steering around p10. A little touché with White and Putrafki meant a premature end for me.
See you in Spa
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Post by Felipe Elias on Sept 8, 2024 22:53:02 GMT
Had to put myself in a cooldown room today...
Some disrrespectful movements on track that cost me a top 10 on R2.
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Post by Niklas Kirsten on Sept 9, 2024 10:41:18 GMT
Q1:
Luckily my injured knee got a bit better so I could brake normally with left foot. Put together a decent lap which was good enough for pole. It was 4 tenths slower though than what we did earlier this season at Doningston, probably related to the physics changes.
R1:
Bad start, as always. After the first lap I was in third, right behind the two Volvos. John was putting pressure on Jonatan who was visibly struggling with grip after 10+ laps. After John had taken the lead, I tried to pass Jonatan as well, but he fended of some of my attacks. Then he had a bad entry into the hairpin which allowed me to get onto his inside and then past. There was slight contact, but I think it was ok. Jonatan dropped back then due to his tyre problems. I, on the other hand, was not able to close the gap to John, so finished P2.
Q2:
It was quite obvious that the track marshals had been paid to invalidate all my laps. Fifteen minutes into the session I still hadn't put a time on the board. The very last lap put me into P3 at least.
R2:
It was a reasonable start this time. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of Richard who had a great start with the Audi. I closed the door a bit on him unintentionally, some light contact but no damage. Somehow Dave slipped through in the first turn, so it was P4 after lap 1. Then Dave had a moment into Old Hairpin, but saved it. There was a minor collision between us at the exit of the corner, we both survived but it looked like some mess behind us. Anyway, I was running P3 now and stayed there for the remainder of the race. The Volvos were clearly quicker in the first half of the race, then it seemed that I had a bit of a tyre advantage in the second half. But the gaps were too large.
Congratulations to John for a nearly perfect weekend. It looks like it's going to be a very close championship right until the end.
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Post by Maximilian Putrafki on Sept 12, 2024 14:24:09 GMT
I had a lot of fun in the two races (and the qualifying sessions before them).
In the first qualifying, it was mainly about finding out where the limits of the car laid. Unfortunately, I found that they were far below what I expected (At least with the likely pretty bad setup I cobbled together), but it was still enough to qualify in P11, which I was very happy about it.
In the first race, nothing really went to plan. I wanted to finish in the top 10, which I got into before Turn 1, but my choice to use Mediums instead of the very obviously superior Hards (which I had no idea about - Until I asked after Race 1) severely diminished my ability to keep the car sticking to the ground, and, in the second half of the race, I regularly found myself in the gravel trap lap after lap - Especially during braking for the chicane.
In the second qualifying, I had the setup figured out a bit nicer, but pushed a bit too hard on most of my laps, ending up with me only getting a single valid lap done at the end of the session.
At the start of Race 2 - And I really can't say this any other way - I really screwed up. Twice. Firstly, I lined up in the wrong grid spot (One too far back) and didn't realize for at least 10 seconds! It probably really screwed up the timing for a lot of the other drivers, which could explain some of the chaos that went on at the start..
Even before Turn 1, a contact with Sibanyoni caused Drechsler to fly off the track, into the gravel.. Then, during the hectic first few corners, David Sabre, whom I overtook going into Turn 1, attempted the same on me going through Starkeys Bridge and into McLean's. Unfortunately, my momentum of having a compromised line through Starkeys Bridge caused me to go wide, touching David just enough to send him into a spin. His front then collected my rear and we spun off into the gravel, with myself hitting the wall. From then on, I was kind of "anger-driving", pushing very hard to get back into the top 10, which was my objective. A lot of incidents, including Jason White and Rob de Vries, slowed my 'progress' a bit (and unfortunately put a early end to de Vries' race, although it was a bit of a awkward contact..) and I ended up having two drive-through penalties. The first due to cutting the track too much, and the second due to speeding when I went through the first time.
Having served these near the end of the race, I was pushing hard to try to make up another position. Unfortunately, that ended up on the last lap with contact with Felipe Elias. I will not speculate on who was at fault, all I can say is that I was side by side before the corner and nearly cutting the track on the apex while he was on the outside. In the end, I finished in P12, a culmination of my own mistakes costing me a good top 10 finish.
All in all, I may have caused a bit of trouble, but I had a lot of fun and hope to appear again (hopefully with a bit less trouble for both the other competitors and myself!) for Brands Hatch.
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