Friday — Learning The Bend West (and the Weather)

• FP1 (wet/greasy): Careful laps, sussing grip. Understeer focus, but the damp limited meaningful setup work.
• FP2–FP3 (dry): Finally some reps. Worked on rotation and momentum into West’s key corners, especially the bumpy T6 right and the vital T11–T12 run onto the straight.
• Track limits: Friday confusion at T6 (white-line enforcement) clarified by race day—stay inside the paint or expect a warning.

Qualifying — Tricky, Patchy, Slippery

Damp surface, slick curbs, and traffic made it tough to string a banker. Every time a lap came together, someone arrived in the draft and upset the rhythm. Gridded mid-pack—work to do, but race pace felt promising.

Race 1 — From Grass-Track to 4-Car Train

Decent launch, but no tow = hung in clean air down the straight. Lost ground into T1/T2 while others surfed the draft.

• Fought back: dives on Gallyer at T6; traded places with Perryman and Eels.
• Had a self-inflicted moment (kept the throttle in vs. conceding—hello, grass), then reset and rebuilt.
• The finale: joined a four-car freight train (Gallyer → Perryman → me → Eels). Used a mega run + late brakes to pass Bailey at T1, covered the over-under at T6, and held firm to the flag.
  Result: P13 — new career best (and scrutineering ✅ this time: ride height, camber all legal—huge relief).

Race 2 — Mind Games, Missed Gears, Maximum Hustle

Headspace wasn’t perfect pre-grid; reminded myself it’s a long race.

• Average start; bump-drafted by Bailey into T2, got rattled, missed 3rd, and bled momentum.
• Eels vs Jacob ahead created a slingshot chance: timed the draft, slipped by on the straight, then defended late into T6 while still fighting a stubborn 3rd-gear engagement (driver nerves? cable fatigue? likely a bit of both).
• Pressured Bailey and Eels again, helped by their scrap; added a cheeky “push me” bump-draft with Bailey to clear traffic—my favorite overtake of the season.
  Result: Back in the mix, solid points, and set up well for Race 3 grid.

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Race 3 — Calm, Then… a Car on Its Roof

Finally a clean launch and tidy first laps. Bailey P. executed a brave, clean move around the outside (T7–T9); I couldn’t match the front group’s pace and ran a lonely stint—until Magnus (on a charge after earlier issues) reeled me in and got me with a textbook tow pass.

• Then: double-waved yellows at T6… a car on its roof, glass everywhere. Everyone OK (thankfully). Racing resumed to the flag, which was surprising given the scene—but we brought it home clean.
  Result: Banking points; overall weekend trend still up and to the right.

• Racecraft in the draft: Reading runs, staging passes at T1 and block-passing at T6 without crossing track limits (dodged a 5s!).
• Mental reset: After mistakes (grass moment in R1, missed gears in R2), reset → basics → execute.
• Car notes: Persistent understeer and intermittent 3rd-gear baulking under pressure. West’s bumps amplify both—worth a cable/linkage check and front rotation tweaks before Round 6.

What Moved the Needle

• Racecraft in the draft: Reading runs, staging passes at T1 and block-passing at T6 without crossing track limits (dodged a 5s!).
• Mental reset: After mistakes (grass moment in R1, missed gears in R2), reset → basics → execute.
• Car notes: Persistent understeer and intermittent 3rd-gear baulking under pressure. West’s bumps amplify both—worth a cable/linkage check and front rotation tweaks before Round 6.

Shoutouts

Huge thanks to: Exo Terra, Aqua One, API, Seaview Aquarium, KJ Built, AquaLabs—and to TCM Race Services (Sam on the spanners all weekend). Also, respect to Bailey Perryman, Jamie Eels, Jacob Leng, and Jake Gallyer for hard, clean battles, and to the marshals—your applause on in-laps always hits.

Takeaways & Next Steps

• Setup: Add front rotation (bar/preload/ride-height rake test), verify shifter cable/ball ends, and re-bleed clutch.
• Starts: Commit to the early move for tow—don’t get stuck in no-man’s-land.
• Racecraft: Keep using the bump-draft choreography when it’s safe—paid off big.

Results Snapshot

• Race 1: P13 (career best)
• Race 2: Fought back after poor first sector; solid points mid-pack
• Race 3: Clean run, passed by Magnus on pace; finished safely after incident