ELMS: Fuji

Great race congrats to the top!

First half of the race was poor for me, a couple spins, and many mild slides wore out my tires so I had to do nearly 10 laps struggling with them to stay on my 1 stop strategy.

Second half was great, I did steady 32.5 laps and caught up to OG with 15 or so laps to go. We had a great battle the rest of the way OG, a ton of fun!! Just like yesterday in ChampCar at Vanport, I had him in some of the corners but he had me in others and especially at braking. Both of us made mild mistakes and nice moves racing hard and clean right to the end. Last lap, OG did a nice job of obstructing my line in the fast right hander, where I had repeatedly passed him and that was the difference. I couldn't outbrake him into the tight right, but stayed right there. Got side by side on the last corner but b/c of the previous laps I knew my only chance was to punch it early and try to get a better exit than usual and hope he wobbles a bit, but I couldn't hang on!! Great times OG!

See you next time folks, lousy cars but great racing!
RA

Well overall not what I wanted at all. I came into this race hoping to finish on lead lap and instead was 2 down.

Qualifying went pretty well I sat in 5th which I was happy with. Race start went well too I was dicing for 3rd position and felt pretty good. Then like 4 or 5 laps in I came into the second to last corner ahead of Aleksandr Kochut and got smashed by him. Don't know if I was on the brakes early or what but it was enough to take off my rear spoiler. I spun once more on the way to the pits and then rejoined in last and now a lap down 5 laps into the race. From there it was pretty boring and hard to keep concentration, I had to pit once more and that was kinda the story.

I agree about the car RA but I do like how they sound. Good race everyone.

What a dumbass i am! Qual'd second and missed the grid. I used the bathroom and had to answer a phone call and just made the start. So i had to start dead last. Pretty bummed out considering i never qual that well. But anyways.... Was never able to catch up on the pace lap ao started alone pretty much. Was able to make up some time then spun myself. Then later on while trying to make up ground, hit Ryan A when he spun. Sorry bout that, i was on the brakes hard. Lost a spot and just thought it wasn't meant to be. But pressed on running a steady and consistent pace and managed to finish fifth. pretty satisfied considering all the rough cards i delt myself. Even managed to finish on the lead lap.

Omar!!! Gotta say we had soe great battles for a few laps there. Just like Ryan stated swapping positions pending the corner we were in. Great racing mate!! I saw you and Ryan must have been swapping positions every other corner. My HUD kept going nuts. While watching your battle digitally i almost gave up my spot to you guys. Had a good time racing these today!!

Also a giant THANK YOU to Mr. John Onofrey for his setup! Proved to be the determining factor in my qual and race runs!! Without his help i was toast. Sorry Fran had to bow out early with engine failure. Missed the champange after the race mate!

Also big congrats to Dennis for the victory. I think i congratulated Maurice thinking he won after the race. Very sorry. Congrats to both of you and Chris on the win and podium finishes!

Another great race, with lots of fun and clean battles... Lots of action in the last 10 laps against RA, as we switched places so many times. I knew that he would attempt to pass me either in sector 2 or 3 as those were my slowest, I could always get him on sector 1 specially in the front straight, so the last 15 minutes or so I was preparing for the final lap, which was breathtaking as it came to the last lap, the last corner for either of us and take the position, unfortunately he went wide and for a minute I thought we touched, but he just got on the curbs and lost it... I really had a lot of fun racing against my teammate!!! Well done RA! Also, very good clean battles with Scott, not for a long time as he said, but those few laps were very exciting. I made the tires last 55 minutes and I don't know why but decreasing the tire pressures to 17 PSI's at the last minute in warm-up, made the trick. At 21 PSI's in practice the medium tires got yellow in lap 5 and over 255 degrees! :O...There is something I don't understand about these tires, but increasing temps at least for me do not work.

Well, I must say that it was a lot of fun, but the only complaint I have is about the formation lap, I couldn't keep up with the front of the field. The speed needs to be more consistent, not 100 MPH in some sectors, and 155 MPH in others... This was very inconsistent as it has been in other series and unless the leaders have a problem in the first turn, there's no way to make ground for the half a lap lost by the first lap. There's gotta be a way to keep consistency during the formation/single file restart. This can be more fun IMO, at least for the first laps... :D

Congratulations to the Top 3!

Best!
OG - \o/

Agreed with Omar. I started in pit lane a few hundred yards behind and never saw the field again till about 2 laps in. That was ridiculous. I thought for sure after a few corners i would have caught up. But taking the last corner of formation lap, there was still no one to be seen. Was that a legit pace lap? What were the rules on that?

I agree with Omar also-seems like the leaders got an unfair jump on the field. But i guess if you are up front you can set whatever pace you want because i dont see in the rules a max pace speed.

I agree with what your saying guys, the pace pace lap was exceptionally fast. However Chris, to say the leaders got an unfair advantage is a stupid thing to say, did you drive the lap at 80mph? No, and neither did we, I followed the guy in front who followed the pole sitter. Or would you perhaps have let the pole sitter get a half lap lead while you drove round at the correct speed.

The pole sitter was passed on the front straight on lap-1. Definitely no advantage gained by his speed. The field itself was nicely lined up and not spaced too far away from each other so no actions were taken on the pace-setter. The manual formation laps are intended to thin the field slightly, for the endurance races. We do not want you guys lined up nose to tail going into T1.

However, for future reference, the pace speed *should be* roughly 100kph (60mph) for consistency reasons.

"Chris, to say the leaders got an unfair advantage is a stupid thing to say. Or would you perhaps have let the pole sitter get a half lap lead while you drove round at the correct speed, did you drive the lap at 80mph? "
Allen that was a stupid thing to say, if pace speed is supposed to be 100kph then you should stay at that speed even if the person in front of you goes faster-the stewards will penalize the speeder i hope. Spreading the field out is one thing but getting a big gap by speeding away is another.