Rnd 12 Laguna Sea Post Race Reports

Q P10
R P5

With very little practice time on this track and in this car in general over the last month I wasn't expecting a lot from this race so qualifying in 10th was not a huge shock but I was happy with my time and was confident in my race pace to make up some spots.

I didn't make up any spots immediately at the start but managed to pull alongside Wayne and we were side by side through 1, 2, and 3 before I managed to just get ahead of him then managed to pick up a few more spots on the opening laps. After everyone made their first stop I was up in 3rd for a couple laps but immediately made a mistake and lost the spot and would do the same thing a little bit later. At the next to last turn I lost the rear and ended up in the wall but was luckily inside my pit window to still do a 3 stop so I put blacks on to do my only stint with them which went better than expected. I was a few seconds behind Wayne and just barely inside the last pit window and decided to roll the dice and try to undercut him which worked out really well and got myself back up to 5th. We then proceeded to trade making mistakes and letting the other through for 5th until he made a mistake at the corkscrew and I wasn't able to avoid him and we both took a little damage which allowed Dan to get by us. Came out in 6th and managed to get to 5th after Liam's issues with his crew not changing his front wing and having to make an additional stop.

Overall I'm happy with the race but if I could have cut out my big mistake and a couple of the smaller ones a podium was possible but I wasn't able to get it done. Huge congrats to Karl on the race win and championship you definitely earned it!

Also a huge thanks to everyone for making this a great series, I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my first season. You all are super quick and I feel like we all really pushed each other and I'm really excited for next season. And also a huge thanks to Peter and Dave for all the work you guys do to make this such a great series and group to race with.

Q 4
R 8

We had hoped for a better result in terms of both championships and went into the race with a competitive car and a good race strategy.

Qualifying didn’t go well and I couldn’t get the laptime from the car, in testing we had been over half a second quicker which would’ve put us on the front of the grid but a combination of different track conditions and driver errors cost us a better start position.

Managed the Formation Lap well, maintained some tyre and brake temps and had a fairly good launch even thou the lights were early. Jumped my teammate when he outbraked himself on cold tyres and began to plan my attack on Liam and Will in front. Closed the gap to Liam in P2 and began to apply some pressure and got past when Liam went wide after the Corkscrew. I had a small gap to make up on Will and soon closed in and tried to get underneath him at the top of the Corkscrew, we were side by side almost touching side pods but Will had the line at the bottom and maintained the lead, I attacked again but the new tyre grip wasn’t there and I understeered off allowing Liam back past into P3. My race began to fall apart in lap 13 when I over rotated the car in T4 and had a major off with some major damage. I limped round losing ground all the time and made it to the pits for a 3:10 Pitstop, so 2 laps down I set off for a long 2nd stint on the prime tyres which went well until I had another spin on lap 30 resulting in slightly less damage but I had to stop again. I came out a further 2 laps off the lead but in clear air the #9 was very fast and I managed to get a few laps back overtaking cars with my superior grip. Had some great battles with Pete even thou he was 2 laps in front. We ended up racing Ian and Bryan for 7th which wasn’t what we hoped for.

Firstly congratulations to Karl for your Drivers Championship, not always the fastest but consistent and measured, well done mate, hugely deserved.

Secondly well done to Karl and Pete, for your 1-2 last night and your win in the Teams Championship, it was a great competition and you guys deserved the win and we’ll be coming for your crown next season.

Thirdly, to our Team. We deserved better and I’m hoping to bring home some better results in the following season. We’ve been quick at every circuit, we’ve had podiums and wins so all in all a good season.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who took part. We’ve been running this league for 3 years now and thus is the best group of drivers we’ve ever had, competitive, fast and fair. I’m sure that other leagues would be very envious of our drivers but it’s become more than just racing, I think we’ve become a great community and I hope that continues as we grow.

Thank you

Dave

I think it was 2015 we joined PES and then later that year started up the F1 league again on Race Department. Myself and Karl have actually been racing together now for around ten years. Time flies!!!