Grand Prix of China

Running in 3rd place. Leader was 2 laps from the finish and I had a 1m30s gap on 4th place and my game locked up.

There are no words...

Had a decent enough qual with front wing damage after an early spin touching the wall.

Got a nice start up to 5th behind Bob and was hanging with him for a few laps but lost a bunch of time avoiding a spun car in the hairpin and lost a position.

Had a couple real scary laps racing with Steve, I guess he was having trouble with braking when behind people. Eventually he had a small off and I got a nice gap.

Rest of the race was pretty flawless for me, continually improving my best laps. People ahead had issues and I was just racing alone in 3rd controlling the gap to Justine. Eight laps to go, literally cruising and kaboom goes the engine, and in a really slow area to boot. :(

Grats to Tristan, David and Tim.

Same issue here Justin. I was 4th closing hard on Tim in 3rd.....then everything locked up. Frustrating to have a great weekend of racing with decent results, just to get a DNF and lose momentum in F1. Sux the big one! Very sorry to Steve Wood for hammering him in qual. I lost my braking point from getting such a huge tow off you Steve. All me. Very sorry.

That sucks, Bob. I saw Darren suffered the same fate right at the pace lap started. Though, I'd rather get disconnected/crash at the start of the race than 3 laps from the finish so I could do something worthwhile with my day. I'm going to reformat this fucking thing right now.

i blame my bad performance on being dumped by my girlfriend recently..

Well done to those who finished ...

David didn't get a good start, so I moved up to 3rd. I wish I could have held my place, but I lost some grip on turn 6 and Tim pulled away drafting Tristan. Then my worst nightmare became true as I was being followed closely by David who was intent on getting in front of me. David eventually got in front of me then on the hairpin after the backstraight I think he wanted to play it safe and slowed way down...I moved to the left, but my left rear tire fell off the pavement into the dirt and I spun...losing a place or two.

I found myself behind Bob Fay with Kent breathing down my neck. He got by me, then into the turn 4 right hand hairpin...for some reason, and by his race post he was looking behind him and was thinking I was going to run into him...he didn't turn in, so I found myself turning sharper than I wanted to avoid him...locked up my front right and couldn't make the turn...then I spun around almost back on the track. Justin barely bumped me...it could have been a huge mess because Francesco, Todd, and Heinz were right behind him. I managed to get back on the track in 10th just ahead of Krol. But, thankfully I didn't have any damage. I took my pit stop then and came back out in 11th with fresh tires, but I couldn't get my pace back...I was turning 37's and 38's with just one or two 36's.

My strategy was to use softs...no matter what. During initial testing last week I was able to make softs last 16 laps, but for some reason in the last couple of days they were only lasting 11 or 12. I really wasn't getting a lot of uneven wear...my rears were changing colors within a lap of the fronts. I suppose it was just the faster pace...and that long right hander that leads to the back straight. I tried to work on my setup, but couldn't get anywhere. I eventually decided on 5 stops with 6 laps of fuel for my first stint followed by 5 stops of 10 or 11 depending on tire wear. The extra stop should have only put me behind by 30 seconds...which I was willing to take if it meant having a start at the front of the field and a race pace that should keep me on the lead lap. Alas...strategy was good...all I needed was a driver that could turn consistent laps...failure.

And, part of the reason for softs and an extra stint or two was to have a faster qualifying lap. But, today seemed like the day for running into people, Bob swatted my rear at the last hairpin and we had to limp back to the pits...fortunately, I was able to get back out and turn a mid 35 to line up on the 3rd row. But, Scott must have disconnected, which gave me a 2nd row start...the view is a lot different up there.

Everything was going as planned, but on lap 41 disaster strikes. I pulled up behind Francesco, but on that same corner as the incident with Kent I actually ran into Francesco...sorry man. I had enough room for someone ahead of me with the same braking rate as me, but Francesco (and most other drivers) are able to out brake me...at least on the first portion of the braking zone. I came out right behind Todd who was following Tim. Well...one lap latter I run into the back of Todd...and I mean it was a big collision knocking Todd all the way to the fence...extremely sorry Todd...I was sure I had given enough room. The only thing I can figure is that I was taking the corners faster than them...due to my running softs so I didn't expect the extra slow down, and I'm not getting enough braking done at the beginning of the braking zone...will need to work on that. I do feel really bad if that's any consolation.

I got lucky today. To finish 3rd after having a suspension failure on lap 18 was very unexpected.

Qual did not go as planned. I thought I would have time for another flier, so my final lap was not fully up to speed. Probably would not have made much a difference anyway as 3rd is what I was expecting with my fuel load and hard tires.

Race was going well. I kept Tristy in sight for a while until Fisher caught back up to me after another poor start on his part. Fisher and I battled for a few laps even though I think we BOTH were trying to let the other person go (doh). Once we got sorted, Tristy had pulled a pretty good gap.

Lap 18, my in-lap for stop-1... I entere T1 and the left front caves in on me. Car doesnt want to brake and I go off nudging the outside tire wall. Took the front wing off, but more critical was the suspension failure. It took for ever to get all the way back to pit lane for repairs. By the time I got going again I was a lap and a half down to the leaders and dead last on track

I basically just cruised from there. @ boost-1 and not taking any risks in hopes to capitalize on others mistakes. By my 2nd stop I was in the points and cruising with my team mate. Todd and Steve got together gifting me that spot. Then Kent gifted me another. and Finally Justin gifted me a podium.

Very tough race that is for sure.

Didn't do so much prep for this race since I fully expected to have another disco. However, I was pleased with my pace on hard tyres and a 2 stop strategy, I didn't expect to get a 36. Then I was perversely pleased to get my DNF before race start rather than mid race or, God forbid, 3 laps from the end, eh Justin! Bad luck dude.
I'll be back next week with a new connection and a re-formatted PC, if it doesn't work after that I'll retire for good.
Grats to the finishers.