OEL Historic Touring Car Series - Postmortem
It could be the toughest series I ever raced. There was no taming these HET Cars. Up until the series finale I was tweaking the setup, but the car just didn't respond to the changes. Every corner, every bump or dip, every control input lap after lap... there was just this sense of dread that the car will snap or slide or even flip over. This series was a true endurance test; not of physical exertion, but the fear.
For the first three rounds of the series I was chasing the ET. I just couldn't match his pace and was the first loser for three consecutive races. In the fourth round in Mid-Ohio, I went the wrong way with the setup and finished a lapped 3rd place. Then came the breakthrough at Spa, where the track layout and my car's engine power advantage came together and propelled me to victory. For a moment there I thought I could win the remaining races. But I got into an incident in Bathurst after a minor driver error. And then I threw away the race win in Preluk when my car oversteered after an errant downshift and slid up a bank and over the wall. With that DNF the fight for the championship was over and I lost the motivation for the series finale in Zandvoort.
Congrats to Elia Tartari, HET Series Champ and still the king of OEL. Thanks to all participating drivers and to our admins. I am just glad it's all over and I don't have to race these cars again.