noctivagant alley cat

 

pic by Iker Vera

Round 2 of LFR DTM 2015 Series at Brands Hatch. I've raced here a few times before and got some good results. Familiarity with the track allows me to immediately concentrate on car setup because I don't need anymore to learn the line and the brake points and all that. During the practice week, checking my pace against the grid, I find myself just behind the fast guys but ahead of the chasing pack. I qualify P3 in a session full of traffic and trouble. 26 cars looking to set a fast lap on a short circuit within 20 minutes. That was wild.

I lose two places immediately during the race start. Look at how close we lined up at the start! I have to improve my drag racing skills. I can stay close to the two guys who overtook me, but the two fast guys ahead go off into the distance. Soon one overtaker makes a mistake, and then the other, and I am back through into P3. We pulled away from the midfield as this happened, and I have a big enough gap to complete the mandatory pitstop and stay in P3.

At this point in the race we are catching up to the backmarkers, and some seem to ignore the blue flags. It makes for tricky times in this tight race track. I'm not able to hit my best pace and the guy behind me closes up the gap. I have to defend the P3 for a few laps, it was thick but eventually I am able to take the podium finish.

kitkat vs tictac

Well I took a break from the racing and it was good to rest and recover. But after a few days I started to feel uneasy and anxious, like I was procastinating or neglecting to do something important. It was weird to just hangout and watch movies and tv shows, and to go out at night and binge drink and chat with people face-to-face. Seems like I don't have peace of mind if I am not preparing for the next race. 

So I signed up for LFR League DTM 2015 series. Eight races, more than 20 drivers registered. Gonna drive the AMG Mercedes for Scuderia R4G3. The car is easy enough to drive and I was able to find a baseline setup quickly. Funny thing is, we used this mod over at Racin Nexus. Of course in that league it was modded to the Racin Nexus style torture test, and the car I drive now is nothing like that previous one. In the Racin Nexus version, I had to tame the oversteer. With LFR version, the understeer is so bad it feels like a FWD car sometimes. 

As I am writing this, the first round of LFR-DTM at Nurburgring has just concluded. I qualified at my pace, starting P9 out of 24 cars. Unfortunately I got into some incidents and finished 13th and out of the points. It's always tough with such a big grid. One error and you lose a lot of positions and it is very hard to fight back. I have to get better when running with a crowd. Also, the last few series I raced in were with single seaters, and now I get confused with just how big this car is and how I am not seated in the center. I need to work on my spatial awareness and all that.

Anyway life goes on and there will be more racing in the coming weeks. I hope to make up for this terrible performance in the next rounds. It could be I just need to shake off some rust after my short break. After such a wild and wacky race, things can only get better.

unofficial results - pending sanctions

The sample size of the universe negates any personal significance

Soon paranoia becomes the fickle mistress

between the self and the mind

Then comes the mania followed by fear

And pretentious philanthropy ain't far behind

It is just sad

That now you feel empty and hollow and abyssal

Still waiting for the final dismissal

dive dive dive

 

Congrats to Enzo Castillo, LFR GPE Series Champion. I finish third overall, scoring points in every race. I was lucky to win the wild and wacky opening race and had the points lead through the early rounds. But inevitably the fast guys got settled in and I couldn't keep up with the pace. Jean D'Apremont in particular won 4 of the last 6 races to take 2nd place overall after a slow start to the season. 

Thanks to all participating drivers and admins of LFR League. It was fun to be a contender even if I was a bit off the pace. I got some podiums just by driving clean and consistent and coming through when the guys up ahead ran into problems. 

And with that, it's time for me to take a break from competition. I am feeling tired and burned out after this foolish attempt to do three different series simultaneously. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.