Photo: Fotospeedy
Qualifying Sunday morning was in slightly cooler conditions than it had been Saturday, so times were expected to be a little quicker. The session was a particularly hectic one, with a clear space difficult to find on the first set of tyres. On my flying lap I set the quickest first sector, however then ran on the back of another driver late in the second meaning I had to abort that lap.
As I came into the pits for our second set of tyres, I had not had the chance to set an unimpeded lap, so it was going to be very important to do so late in the session. The window for the peak of the tyre here is small so you really only have a chance on one, or perhaps two laps.
My first flying lap was going ok, however at turn 11 I came up on two drivers who slowed suddenly to create track space which was not ideal not only for my lap time, but also as it is one of the quickest corners on the circuit and I narrowly avoided an accident. Obviously I pulled out of that lap and crossed the line with around 30 secs to go in the session so had one last chance.
Photo: Fotospeedy
I managed to string together PBs in each sector for a 1:35.1 which was enough for P10. The times were very close, and we had closed the gap to the quickest time which was a good improvement on the second set of tyres.
For Race 2 I got away well off the line and by the end of lap 1 I was up to P9. From here it was a matter of keeping pressure on the driver in front whilst not making any errors to allow the driver to get within range from behind. As with Saturday, it was incredibly difficult to get close enough to make a move with the dirty air from the driver in front affecting the downforce on the front wing. It was also once again very hot, so concentration was very important.
Photo: Fotospeedy
Mid race a driver ahead was involved in an incident elevating me to P8, though at the same time bringing out the Safety Car. This meant a restart, and also the addition of two further laps to the race to compensate for those lost under yellow.
With the difficult conditions to pass, there was to be no further movement at all in the field and I finished P8. I was pleased to maintain my concentration and again deliver a full race without error and another good result in the Championship points for the team.
Photo: Fotospeedy
I want to thank all of the team at Fortec Motorsport for the very strong performance over the weekend. Also, we were competing as a single car, which when you are racing against teams as large as 4 or 5 cars means there is a big difference in terms of the amount of information which can be gathered in practice in particular. However, this did not alter our focus at all and we delivered a strong performance.
Thank you to my amazing team of investors in my racing back home, many of whom I know were following over the weekend. Thanks to all my sponsors Lazersafe, High Energy Service, Online Logistics Solutions, The Wealth Designers, Edith Cowan University, Grand Toyota, Fullworks Firesafety, Inspired Insurance Services, Rvend, Walker Wayland, F45 Hillary’s and Trizone. I am very appreciative for all the support.
Thanks also for all of the support online over the weekend. Now for a few days off in Vienna with the family, and then it is straight to the Red Bull Ring for Round 6 next weekend!
Photo:Fotospeedy