So… I’m still recovering from the world of hurt kristiannn’s AI mod put me into. At least I managed, if barely, a point’s finish! Overall ranking hasn’t changed, 6th in WDC, 5th in WCC… The news is though, I’ve eventually signed with Sauber for next season, which promises to be in tier 2! So I’ll have to get a new helmet to fit my upcoming livery, too! (yeah, that’s how seriously I take my job as a virtual driver, oh, oh, oh)
Time to get serious, on to some São Paulo racing!
Free practice bode well for the rest of the weekend, as I got into the top 3 every session. My best one was FP2, with a 1:11.2, giving me 1st position. I celebrated that by blowing up a 3rd engine during FP3, nonetheless securing 2nd pos. I think I’ve learnt my lesson by now: never make more than 2 hotlaps in a row, if you don’t want to become a pedestrian, or, even worse, ride on the back seat of a scooter!
Quali was a breeze in Q1 with a 1:11.4 on Primes, possibly the best performance of my weekend. I also easily qualified for Q3, where I couldn’t make any better than 1:11.3. It was still enough to make 4th on the grid, and meet my team’s objective, for a change.
That said, I was in a quandary concerning race day, since 50% rain chance was forecast. I chose to play chicken, in the end, and loaded up a veeeeery conservative wet setup, knowing that I’d suffer some in dry conditions, but should at least be able to control damage in wet ones. At this point, I’m just praying this won’t be my Spa race scenario all over again!