European Grand Prix - Race Report

Post below...

Q6th
R, LAST

Replay to follow,
to sum up- My worst race of the season ever.!!

cant wait to Silverstone

Q1
R1

Qualifying - I knew that to do a 2 stopper in the race I would have to keep my tyres in the best condition possible. I knew I was looking good for pole position so I went out with 3 laps of fuel and didn't stick in my best lap to keep my tyres. I was 7 tenths of my best time in Practice

Race - Had a really good race!! A very good battle with DarkPSI all day long. I didn't think I would be fast enough to keep up with him as this is one of my worst tracks and he looked really fast in practice. A 2 stopper was the correct strategy of the day. It was close all race and I had to give it my full concentration to keep it away from the walls. No drama today except Dark had a little collision with me in the middle of the race which put me into a spin, but he waited for me so no appeal will go in. All in all, a result that was better than I expected.

Another good result for Red Bull Well done Vernon!

See you all at Silverstone!

Pole Lap...

Qualifying- 4th

Planned to set my time on primes so I could have a good race strategy. Was very surprised to qualify 4th on primes as I know most of the drivers in the league are capable of getting into 1.33's in qually.

Race- 3rd

Was very concerned about the 1st corner at the start as it is very compact and easy to have a collision but I managed to avoid any contact as everyone did (i believe). I was stuck behind Ambassa-dior and was clearly quicker but couldn't get passed which gave Freeman, Demon & Ravve all to close in. On lap 4 going into the hairpin I was tagged from behind by Ravve who was being very ambitious underbraking trying to overtake 2 cars in a corner (bit of a talking to is needed I believe). Pitted on lap 10 for a set of primes and done the whole stint in lean mode and staying within 3-4 seconds of Freeman so when I pit for options I can do the most of that stint in Rich & Standard mode. Pitted on lap 21 for my set of options but came out behind Ambassa-dior, Freeman & Demon as they also had the idea of doing a 2 stop strategy. A lap later Ambassa-dior pitted putting me into 5th place but I still needed to pass the McLarens to get into the podium positions. Passed Freeman on lap 25 in the 1st part of the DRS zone. Tyres and fuel were still good so my pursuit for Demon was still on. Then on lap 27 I passed Demon also in the 1st part of the DRS zone as his primes were wearing and his fuel was running low. Once I had completed the move and had put a bit of a gap on Demon it was all just about getting the car to the end. Set the fuel to lean to guarentee me getting to the end and so I looked after my quickly wearing options.

Well done to ThaCookster for the win and to DarkPSI for getting 2nd. Great result for Red Bull.

See you all in Silverstone

Vernon-ator_1991

Q: 8th
R: 6th

I Would like to start with a apologie to Vernon for the incident om lap 4. I had a " meltdown" and thought i were on the 1st long straight, when i realised i were on the 2nd long straight and looking for the wrong brakingpoint, it were to late. I just tried to avoid contact, but ran straight in to Vernon. Sorry !! After that i droped down to 10th place. Worked my way up the field to finish in 6th. Did a 3 stop race, not the best strategy.

Qualy:
I knew that it would be nearly impossible to beat Cookster in qualy session. So my target was the 2nd position in the starter grid, and it worked. Unfortunately I had some problems with the right setup for the lotus the whole weekend as the lotus behaves a little strange compared to other cars (also in equal mode), hopefully I can sort that out in the future.


Race:
I had a good start and was lucky to be close behind Cookster. After a few rounds behind Cookster I realized that I have a serious understeering issue. The only thing which kept me close behind him was the slipstream.
Next i realized that my 7th gear ratio was too long. So my only chance was to poker a little bit with the pit stops. I changed my strategy from prime, prime, soft to prime, soft, prime and indeed was able to lapfrog Cookster while he is pitting. That worked and I was able to get the lead. Last stint was on primes, and Cookster had a long 2nd stint and so was able to go with the options for a quick 3rd stint. He was able to overtake me in a situation where I went a little bit wide in the last turn. I was hoping that his options would get weared but no chance due to my fuel problems.

To sum up I must say that Cookster had a brilliant setup, brilliant driving pace and controlled the race quiet well. It felt a little bit as I have driven in qualy mode the whole time and he in race mode. His car was so stable and smooth in front of me, surely a sum of setup and driving skills.
Well done Cookster.
Looking forward for the next circuit!

Best regards

DarkPSI

I wasn't ready for this race as my pace prooved. I strongly disslike this track. To slow, wrong 3 stop strategy.

the whole race i where strugling with the car. I remember the first stint where i was holding up a train behind me. sorry guys i wont give up my position even if i am much slower then the rest of the pack. i think ravve was behind me for a lap or 5. I did my best not to let him pass but eventually a mistake ( one of meny) made him go for the overtake. I allso Tboned linden as he lost control right in front of me. that crash i could'nt avoid since he where so close. We all know that when you Tbone a car that's not moving eny more you loose soooo much time. as first he needs to move out of the way. verry frustrating all together.

in the second stint i lost my front wing in corner one (so a whole lap with no wing ) due to a steering mistake and after that the race was over. No more chance to gain a position after i noticed i was doing the wrong strategy again.

second time i've had the wrong strategy, me and my teammate agreed to set focus on this mather in our weekly pre-race test sessions.

thanks for clean race.
dizzy

Q - 4th

R - 4th

Had good clean racing with a number oif drivers...some brave moves out there !!

'Cookie' & 'Dark' were miles away !! good racing guys...

See you all in UK, when i hope to be feeling & sounding little better !!