F1 Fanatic

average race for me. good driving from most. :) started 6th, ended 7th :(

had a glitch all race though, under braking in ONLY turn 3, sometimes the car would not brake AT ALL. it would go straight into the gravel. lost about 40 seconds in total as it happened about 4-5 times. very annoying. every other corner brakes worked fine.

Anyway, my report: Poor start, slipped down a place or two. very cautious into turn 1, exited on the outside line then a sauber and another car forced me to go on the grass leading to turn 3. then i eased off and let a few cars pass before turn 3, to avoid possible carnage. some cars spun infront of me during the next few laps, so ended up back in 6th again! :)

then my braking glitch (see above) eventually dropped me to 7th, where i ran most of the race +25 behind @olliekart and -25 infront of @spud .

very lonely race, but got some points at least. teammate retired half way i think…

Qualifying Report:
My best time for Quali had been a 1:24.403 I think, though I knew that if I could hook up all my best sectors, a 1:24.2 would be possible. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t do it. My first couple of laps were quite poor, in the 1:25 range, though I was pleased to see that no-one could beat it for a while, until @CommonMonsoon set a 1:24.433, taking provisional pole.
I lowered my fuel, and went out for one final run, securing second place with a 1:24.883. Not my best lap, but good enough for second, which was far more than I had expected!

Race Report:
In truth, I was pretty nervous at the start. It was the first time that I was starting on dirty side of the grid (Since my last race in Melbourne, which had me in the same spot, behind Ollie). Not sure what happened to @CommonMonsoon, but his start seemed pretty poor, at least compared to mine, and to my surprise, I had a clean first corner and was through into first!
I couldn’t quite see what happened behind, but @CommonMonsoon was still behind me, and though I was keeping it clean, he was still catching me by a couple of tenths each lap. By the time he was right behind me, I didn’t fight him too hard. I was willing to settle for second and just have a clean race, but again to my surprise, I was keeping up with him, and although I couldn’t quite get passed, I was able to get DRS and stay with him and then catch him through some corners.
I’m not sure what happened a few laps in, but at turn 9, I was trying to leave a gap behind, but then he went into the gravel. It was a little laggy so I’m not sure if you felt a tap from behind, or whether you our-braked yourself, but I promise it was not intentional :P.
After that, I had a reasonably quiet race, trying to keep my consistency. I pitted on lap 13 for primes, and came out about 3 seconds behind @Brooksy007. I was quickly catching him, and eventually passed him down into turn 1, though I’m pretty sure he just let me through, and if that’s the case, then thanks! :D
After that, I just maintained the gap to second place and made sure not to make any mistakes. I had honestly expected to be fighting for third at best, so to win the inaugural round is fantastic! I think that makes me the first Brit to be on the podium in Melbourne (and win as well), so that makes it all the sweeter :D

Great race guys, and I look forward to racing you all again soon!

Qualified: 4th

I was really struggling in qualifying to begin with, and I couldn’t even get a clean lap in. I stiffened my suspension as my tyres were perhaps a tad cool, and put in a lap right at the end. So as you can imagine I was surprised to do as well as 4th!

Race: 3rd

The race began not so well. After trying desperately not to hit anyone, I believe I clipped the back of @olliekart. I’ll await for a video, but I remember I couldn’t quite brake/make a rash movement in time to get out of the way. A couple of corners later I was hit by someone else (think @jonnyw360f1 apologised to me about something? But who knows)

I had a recovery drive on my hands. I was in 13th, and for the rest of the first stint I was picking off cars quite quickly, just trying to keep things clean. But through all that involved another couple of incidents. I went off as I tried to avoid a spinning Ferrari at turn 3, and @olliekart had now caught up. The battle was good – he was on my back for a long time, but I didn’t want to push too hard, seeing how my strategy panned out. We both caught up @slr and into turn 6/7 I closed in unexpectedly fast and this perhaps caused @olliekart to take us both off.

@Olliekart pitted and I followed suit a couple of laps later. Before I pitted, I set the fastest lap, and came out in front of him. Later on @slr pitted, and I found myself with a dilemma – do I take these to the end, or do a 2 stopper?

I ended up doing a 1 stopper, although I’d already compromised it. I found myself closing in on @commonmonsoon , and at some point got distracted by a backmarker and had a minor off. I figured it’d be sensible to nurse the car home and settle for 3rd as I figured he wasn’t going to stop either (but I think neither of us were sure to begin with :P). Luckily I was pulling away from @BROOKSY007 behind me so that helped matters.

So minus all them incidents, it could have been even better! But a very strong race from @JamieFranklinF1 and a crazy pole time from @commonmonsoon.

Qualified: 5th
I set my best time on the second lap of my first stint. After that I ran out of fuel; on the run to turn 13 I was on the racing line and not paying enough attention. I then noticed Silverkeg approaching, I went right, but so did Silverkeg and he went off the track. Sorry.

I didn’t get to the start line in time at the end of the session to put in another lap so 5th was where I qualified. I couldn’t get anywhere near the pole time, however not many people could, so 5th was a pretty good position.

Race: 6th
Electrolite and Olliekart collided at the start, so I was up to third. Brooksy passed me when I went wide at turn 3 on lap 3. I tried to repass him with DRS later, but I got caught out by the extra straight line speed and missed the braking point. Electrolite and Olliekart were right behind me after that, however they both went off at turn 7 and the pressure was off me for now.

I was in 4th until lap 10 when I pitted where Electrolite pass me at the pit stops. Olliekart then caught me rapidly. My car just couldn’t accelarate out of any corner and I was passed at turn 11 by Olliekart. He then half spun a lap later a turn 1 and I was back past. He then repassed me and pitted. Olliekart took about 14 seconds out of my lead over him in about 5 or 6 laps and he repassed me on the run to turn 9. After that, I was all alone and I finished 6th.

I don’t know if it because I had a bad setup, or if it’s because I use a gamepad, but my pace was appalling. I was 2 or 3 seconds a lap slower than the leaders. Fortunately, so were many people, so getting 6th place was pretty good.

I will upload a video later.

Coo. I had a dismal race. Should’ve qualified around 5th but started 8th. Up to 4th or 2nd after turn 1 then span at turn 2. I span my way through a few more laps and gave up. Don’t know what happened there at all, I was fine in the F1F Winter race. Feeling ya, Fernando, the Ferrari is frightful.

^ @magnificent-geoffrey @commonmonsoon

Qualied 7th on primes and was surprised by the pole lap – that was a ripper!!! Got a good start considering i was on primes, and took a very cautious line through turn 1 as cars were everywhere!! Kept plugging away and got myself up to 3rd!

JF-F1 – i did let you through mate as it would have just slowed me down trying to keep you behind me! Plus, with lag, it doesn’t make sense to battle too tightly if someone is clearly faster than you. Let them overtake cleanly under drs and have another crack next lap if you are fast enough..

Pitted on lap 17 for options and was surprised to be dropped to 5-6th? i turned the engine up and punched out some of my fastest laps of the race. Near the end i just couldn’t even close the gap to electro and ollie was closing in sooo quick!! I was lucky to get home in fourth as ollie i think was out of fuel.

I still cannot understand how i came home 40 seconds behind JF!!!! Its got me baffled???

Congrats to the podium places today, that was a great drive and certainly you 3 and ollie are the ones to watch for the season!!!