That was exciting on the first two laps! After a bit of a disappointing qual (I aimed to do a 31.4 on the first lap and then see if I could improve on that a little on the second lap) I still went with two stops because it was faster although not as much as at Interlagos. I really wanted to get the lead from the start but Martin got a good one and held on to P1.

Braking into the hairpin for the first time I immediately noticed that he was on one stop so I knew I’d have to get by as soon as possible. With a light car it felt like I had KERS and at the end of the first lap we were side by side through the last turn and then the first turn. I took it too safe on the outside of T1 leaving a margin for any lag contact but went too wide. Hugo went by there which wasn’t great for my strategy but I quickly got the position back when he went sideways into the hairpin.

The backstraight seemed the best place to get a run on Martin so I tried to focus on getting a better exit from the previous corner which I was able to do. I think Martin got a bit loose on the exit, too, so I got a good run and managed to pass into the last corner. I then had a clear track in front of me and thought that my strategy shouldn’t be a complete disaster at least. The rest of the race was all about pushing as hard as possible every lap and every corner so it was pretty intense.

Hugo was fast with the heavy car and I wasn’t pulling away quite as much as I wanted. He lost more time on a couple of laps so that gave me some breathing room. After my first stop I was about 4-5 seconds behind him and was able to keep that gap until his stop. I then had five laps to increase the gap to keep the lead after my second stop. I wasn’t even looking at the gap during those laps, just focused on my laptimes and those laps were pretty good.

Just before pitting I checked the gap which was well over 30 seconds. It was enough to stay in the lead but I was a bit surprised to be about 7 seconds in front. On the last stint I was able to take it easy and just drive smooth laps to the finish. My strategy worked out really well after all the events and won me the race. Well done to Hugo and also Martin with the pole and getting P3 after struggling without FFB almost the whole race. Seeya at WG.

Well, that was a trouble-free event for me and I put myself in a position to win with a good qualifying lap and a clean launch from pole. The race was a bit lonely due to the way things settled down after the start and with Hugo and Atze having bad luck very early on.

My qualifying lap was probably the best for me this season especially considering the fact that at this track you only get one lap. I lost a tenth to my PB lap in T2 even though I felt like I got through there well. But that corner is really strange and even though you feel like you nailed it, you can suddenly be over a half a tenth down. The rest of the lap went really well and I was happy to see I pretty much hit the lap time that I wanted.

My start was good enough to hold on to the lead and I got a bit of a gap on the first lap which always helps to settle in. I wasn’t really looking at my mirrors much and then suddenly after a couple of laps I noticed that both Hugo and Atze were gone. My race pace was really good so I was able to pull away from Martin but after a while Max had passed him and started closing in. I actually did a lap behind him in warm-up where I noticed him being quick so I thought he could be on a lower fuel load.

Max overtook me just before his first stop which happened pretty much around the time and lap I anticipated. That was really the only anxious moment in the race for me because you can never be 100% sure of what strategy someone is running. I still didn’t know if he was on two stops or just 1 stop with a short first stint but when after my pit stop he was close behind it was clear that he was on 2 stops.

After he caught me I didn’t have a reason to fight and hold him up so he passed me another time. He pitted a lap or two later and after that it was smooth sailing for me to the finish.

Too bad with Hugo and Atze having their issues, a win like this never feels quite as good as in a “normal” race. But my performance was good throughout the event so I’m happy with that. Well done to Martin and congrats to Enzo for his first podium! Cheers to Fanatec, Obutto and OKYO. Seeya at Sebring.

Great to have a 1-2 finish for Team Redline! Congrats to Greger for his win and to Hugo.

Quali was uneventful, I struggled to get my laps in right before quali so I took it safe in my 2 laps. P3 on the grid was not bad, but can be improved!

My start was amazing. Everything came together and I took p1! That wasn’t something I was counting on, because I changed my setup to drafting instead of leading in clear air. Greger was comfortable behind me and once I started to think about letting him go, I made some minor mistakes which gave him a close run. I decided to go off throttle because Martin and Hugo were close behind. Greger was driving a stable pace and it was easy to follow.

Two mistakes cost me 2.5 seconds on Greger and I lost a bit in the pit also. Out of the pit it was rather looking in the mirror than trying to close the gap on Greger. The car with long gearing was a pain in the beginning of the stint, but got more comfortable towards the middle and end. I was able to hold off Hugo and consolidate the gap with Greger in front.

Not a bad race at all! Need to work to get those errors out that cost me time, but I’m glad I’m back on pace after 2 mediocre races.

Thank you once again to my sponsors Fanatec – OKYO – DeRose Method Tribeca – Obutto!

This time my first lap in qualifying was good, although I thought it’d be a bit faster than what it was. Probably not enough maximum attack in a couple of corners. Wanted to put in a better time on the second lap but it ended up being a similar lap. The first lap was still just enough to get pole.

My race was good with no mistakes. The start wasn’t optimal and Atze passed both myself and Martin with a great start. The draft plays a big role here so I thought I’ll just follow Atze and try to work together during the first stint to pull away from the guys behind. I seemed to be just a little bit faster and on lap 6 I think Atze made a couple of small mistakes and then decided to let me go by on the front straight. That was great teamwork from him and it paid off as we started to pull away more from Martin and Hugo in the middle part and end of the stint.

Atze was following me closely until he dropped further away after a mistake or two. The rest of the race was straightforward and I was able to keep up a good pace until the finish. Cheers to Atze for his smart move, no multi 21 needed there. The positions could have just as easily been reversed too, but in the end it was a great race for us and our first 1-2 for some time.

My race performance was pretty strong after not getting qual quite right. My first lap was going well but went wide in Spoon and got an off-track. I really wanted to finish the next lap in order to not leave it all on the line again for the last attempt. The lap wasn’t as good as the first one and I lost some more time in the final chicane but decided to complete the lap anyway. It was enough for P3 which wasn’t too bad but I would have been happier had I been one tenth quicker.

I got a pretty good start but Aleksi behind me got the best start of the field. I was focusing more on Hugo who had a slower start in front of me. I tried to get to the inside for T1 but had to lift off of the throttle a bit and swerve to the left as Hugo went to the right and noticed that Aleksi came flying past as well.

On lap 5 Aleksi made a small mistake in Degner 2 and I eventually got a run on the backstraight and made a pass into the chicane which he didn’t fight too much. For the rest of the first stint I tried to keep the gap as small as possible to Martin and Hugo in front of me. Managed to do that pretty well but I should have been one second closer to Hugo which might have allowed me to take the lead after the pit stops. But at least I came out of the pits right in front of Martin and into P2 which wasn’t looking likely after lap 1 so I was pretty happy after the race with how things went. Hugo and Martin were both fast, congrats guys!

I made qualifying a bit too exciting for myself; on the first lap I got an inc in turn 4. Then I aborted the second lap as it was a bit slow and I made a small mistake out of the last turn. On the last try I had to get some kind of a lap in or be out of the race completely. Luckily I nailed the first turn which is always tough. I actually got pretty close to getting an inc again in T4 so the rest of the lap I took easy. The lap time was a bit better than I expected from that lap but I guess I managed to hit the apexes pretty smoothly even though I wasn’t pushing 100%. Really happy to get pole with it.

My original plan was to go with a safe 1 stop strategy but after getting the pole I made a quick decision to go ALL-IN with 2 stops since the car was much more fun to drive with less fuel onboard. It’s always a bit risky as you have to get the start right and avoid getting in too much traffic. Well, things worked out perfectly for me in this race. T1 was a bit slippery in the start but I managed to hold on to the lead and then the rest of the race and especially the first stint was all about hotlapping every lap.

The car was really good on low fuel and my lap times were similar to practice so I was very happy with my pace. Before my first stop I already had a lead of over 20 seconds and came out right behind Hugo out of the pits so it was looking good. I was able to hang with him until he stopped and then on low fuel I increased the gap. I didn’t hit any traffic either as both times when I approached a group of cars it was time to make a pit stop so it was a pretty optimal race.

Well done to Hugo, Atze and Fulvio for his career best qual and finish.  Thanks to Fanatec as always. I also had my first race with the Obutto R3volution cockpit which is awesome and very comfortable. Also check out http://www.okyo.com/ - that’s all for now, ’til next time.

To start: Congrats to Greger, Hugo and Fulvio for their extremely strong performance.

To get to the point: I felt like shit during the race. I got the flu last week and while I had have slept more than 3 hours last night finally I had this horrible annoying cold that make your head feel like 100kg with 120psi crap inside. Sneezing during the race was a hell and it almost cost me a podium finish when I almost canned my car out of t3 while fighting a long upcoming sneeze haha.

Interlagos is a challenging track and with 0 grip it’s even harder. Greger and Luke did sick laptimes during practice and I’ve put more practicing in than average. During I wasn’t efficient but at least I didn’t feel like shit because I was thinking about something else.

In quali I knew I had to make the difference and with a proper lap I got into the 11.9, good for p3. I had massive wheelspin during the start of the race and nearly kept my car from flying into the wall.. Lucky the guys behind me had not a great start either so I was safe for p3. From there I tried to find focus. Normally you’ll get into a state of mind after a couple of laps so that everything goes natural, but I really had to fight every corner to get through.

I build up a proper gap to Fulvio for the pitstop and from there I thought I could relax. Unfortunately I couldn’t count on my relaxation because I completely messed up after. losing a whole lot of my gap to Fulvio. So I had to get myself together and finish this race. My next tactic was to plan every corner up in advance which kinda worked. In free air I was able to respond to Fulvio’s laptimes so I prevented unneccessary risks and just drove to keep the gap consistant. In non free air I was being distracted by traffic and crashes in front of me. Traffic made me feel like an autistic child that needs to socialise. So don’t take my behaviour of weaving too serious  Never felt so happy when the race was over, just because it was over.

Grats to everybody and thanks to Fanatec, OKYO, Obutto and DeRose Method Tribeca for being you and helping me out.

Up to Suzuka!

check out our website: www.teamredline.co.uk

Finally back to racing! And what a race it was..

The first race is always difficult as everybody has unlimited time to prepare. Last year I ended with a dnf in the opening race so my target was to get a podium result. Pressure was high since I ended on a good note last year, but I felt really good in the final days of testing. Even when other drivers where doing very good laptimes on public server it was about clinching those quali laps when it really mattered.

With two proper runs in quali I made it to third on the grid. Not something to worry about as we all knew that overtaking is an option here. The race setup was good altho I did only test on 22 laps fuel before the race. So I kinda landed in the unknown with 8kg more fuel onboard for the race. Hugo had a good start and I managed to take place in 2nd position. Unfortunately I was a little bit in Greger´s way which cost him a couple of spots.

I didn´t know what fuelload Hugo was driving with, so I just tried to stick into his slipstream. Slowly I lost contact and my pace wasn´t as comfortable as I wanted. Michaels closed in rapidly so I figured he was on a 2 stop strategy. I didn´t bother putting any fight and just tried to stick into his slipstream as much as possible. Also this was mission impossible and I started to worry a little bit. Hugo pitted in lap 22 which was a confirmation that he was a fair bit lighter. In that same lap I saw lots of smoke and skidmarks of a crashing backmarker, (or lag, I still don’t know) in Stavelot and that caught my attention a fair bit which resulted in a near spin. I lost over a second there which was a shame and stupid..

After pitting in lap 24 I just got out in front of Hugo and the fact that I just lost over a second in my half spin I knew the victory was in big danger. Hugo was able to chip into my slipstream and put pressure on me as soon as we both let Michaels pass who had to pit yet another time. Eventually after a bad hairpin from my side Hugo got passed. Now it was my turn to follow and with 4 laps to go I got the opportunity to pass him. The next lap he passed me again and I decided to aim for the last lap. The other laps gave a small opportunity maybe, but that was too risky. Unfortunately I overpushed the car in the last lap and Hugo simply kept his pace perfect. 2nd place is a good result for me in the first race and I´m happy that the team performed great!

Congrats to Hugo for his amazing performance and to Greger and Luke for the strong comeback! Bad luck for Ben and Richie, but the season is longggg!

So again as always! The base of our team is the drivers and Dom Duhan. Thank you to all of them. Special thanks to Fanatec & OKYO for the great support as usual and to my personal sponsors DeRose Method Tribeca and Obutto!

Hi All,

Disappointing start to the 2013 iRacing season. I thought until a week before round one that i wouldn’t be able to attend this race due to other commitments that fell through so I entered the race with a significant lack of preparation. Must have run 50laps or so before qualifying.

Lap one of qualifying I made a few mistakes on my lap and posted a 48.0 which was half a second shy of my personal best. Determined to improve on that position, during my 2nd and final attempt i made an off track which deleted the laptime so I was to start the race from 20th position.

In the race i got away cleanly off the start however there was a huge wreck a couple rows ahead which blocked the track and I had nowhere to go so plowed into them damaging my car beyond repair and the race was over before I made turn one.

I will miss round two due to other commitments, will do my best to make it to round three. Also, this will be my last race in New Zealand as I am heading back over to Europe where I will be based for most of the year.

Congrats to the team on a solid 2,3,4 finish.

Many thanks to our partners Fanatec & OKYO

Till’ next time,

Richie

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