spocking their fivers

 

OEL Blancpain Series Round 4 - Silverstone 2 Hours

For the first 10 laps or so, I was able to stay within 1 second of the ET. I was on my limit, using all my energy, and killing the tires. For a moment I thought I had a chance to win, but it became clear ET was just pacing himself and had speed in hand. 

I began to fall behind, I had used up the tires and was getting tired. I was first into the pits and ET sped away into the distance. In the clear air I was able to put in some good laps, and at about halfway through the race I took the lead when ET went in for his pitstop. It was only a matter of time though until ET retook first place.

After my second pitstop I did my fastest laps of the race. But it was all for naught. ET was too far ahead, and I just spent all my energy. ET did a splash and dash and promptly showed how much speed he really had. He was more than 2 seconds faster in qualifying and it was the same when comparing our fastest laps in the race. I felt thoroughly beaten and just cruised to the checkered flag.

Beyond the Emotion

 

HRL Super Formula 2022 Series - Round 3 Sportsland SUGO

It was a wild start, with some cars blinking and warping because of lag. Then there was an incident early on in the race and the Safety Car was sent out. The slow laps behind the safety car were a bit dangerous as I was following a lagging car. And then during the restart I got tagged into a spin and fell into my customary last place. After that it was a bit of a lonely recovery drive back up to 7th place yet again.

This race was postponed to 1 week later and so I was able to put in some practice sessions. I did hundreds of laps testing different setups and I was happy to find a stable platform that wouldn't punish me so hard if I made a mistake. The result: my Qualifying lap was more than 3 seconds slower than the pole lap. Looks like the fast guys are going with a looser setup, getting quicker rotation and carrying a higher speed through the apex. If I try to drive like that, I'll crash. I think I'll stick with my safe and forgiving setup.

HRL Super Formula 2022 Series - Round 2 Fuji

Off the pace again, about 2-3 seconds slower per lap than the fast guys. I finished 7th again, but this time I got lapped. Otherwise, it was a trouble-free race, just a few little mistakes. There is something weird about the Super Formula car, something the fast guys are exploiting. Time to go for a deep dive in testing and find some speed.