Round 2 saw intense competition at Malaysia and China.
I wasn’t expecting much from Malaysia, as when Practicing in Grand Prix mode I was unable to qualify any better than bottom 6, even with the Ferrari. It seems Malaysia is a tough track for everyone, because I slotted in in second place on the grid, just.
The race itself was pretty uneventful as I race from second place into a second place finish. Flouncy was untouchable the entire race. I did enjoy some close racing with HolyGhost79 and he probably would have got me had he not speared off the track at the hairpin in the closing stages.
China quali was a mess for me. I pretty much only play F1 2010 for the Atomic comp now I play iRacing and I hadn't turned around China since the last AtomicF1 event. I kept missing my braking point big time at the end of the straight. I'd either brake then accelerate to the corner or see the braking marker at about 75m and go flying off the road across the gravel trap. did that a few times in the race too - I think I needed to practice before the event. Maybe next time . And some wet weather practice.
The race was ruined by my start. I tried to take it easy but the wet really caught me out. I lost it on the first corner and then the second and the third. By the time I got going I was a good 20 seconds behind 2nd last place (Fredzfrogz). I managed to catch back up to fourth pretty easily but made no impression on Lambo, where the time remained pretty much constant unless someone made a mistake. Every few laps it would go up or down by a few seconds. I started Melbourne on inters and that was what China felt like; like I had started that race on inters too! When I switched to in wets @ Melbourne I immediately had more grip and felt like it was dry. I expected pretty much the same behaviour in china. Wrong!
The track started to dry a little at about the same time my front left went yellow. I was going to leave it for another lap but seeing as it went yellow on that hairpin at the end of the straight I thought I may as well pit now, just in case. Unfortunately I was too busy thinking about all these things and forgot to select Inters. Result I came out on primes. To my surprise, the primes were immediately as grippy, if not moreso than the wets in the still raining conditions! My first timed lap on slicks was 2 seconds faster than my previous. then it only got better. I think Lambo must have spun though because I caught him pretty damned fast. Before I pitted he was 22 seconds in front of me and I must have been catching at 5+ seconds a lap. Was fabulous.
Otherwise, China sucked. I still raced into a lowly position. I feel my race was definitely ruined by my start and my poor qualifying.
If I’m to stay in the hunt for the championship title, I need to perform better at the next round.
