Well it was back on the track and this time at Palmer. Justin could not make it so this was the first solo run for me and the car in 3 years.
Got up early on Saturday and the guys in tech were great with a quick annual. I had paddocked close by and that spot worked great all weekend.
The first qualifying/Practice session was cut short after 4 laps as one car blew it's engine and another couple spun in turn one, littering the track with bodywork. Since I had not been there in 3 years, I was hoping for some more time, but was in the top 50% for qualifying time.
Note: We talk about the difference between sit up and laydown cars in FV. I had only driven the track in my Citation (sit up) and now driving the Caracal (laydown). Since Palmer has lots of hills and blind turns, I had to relearn all my track markers!
First race was a learning experience - for some reason was not getting a good jump at the start. I still say the Start Tower is in a bad position and the green flag gets lost in the background of trees. But we had 3 laps under yellow while they removed a car that made it all the way to turn 2...
When the flag dropped, I settled in and got a decent 13th with a fun race behind Guy Bellingham and ahead of Mike Sampson. No thrilled with the lap time, but there is always tomorrow.
Tomorrow dawned with the threat of rain. Now I needed Justin. The rain tires were out, partially on and then off for the race. The track was "dry" but with occasional sprinkles. The turns that got wet first were T1 through T3, the fastest on the track. On lap one, into T3 one car locked up and punted another and 3 cars went around. I took it easy with the track damp in places as others went around. In the end I finished 10th and the lap time, while no better than the day before, was closer to those in front.
BTW - Great video was lost when my helmet cam stopped working. Will probably be running two cameras from now on! The fantastic moves only exist in my head right now...
The third race was, from my POV the best, but others had issues. There was a spin and crash after turn 5, and 3 or 4 cars got caught up in that. Guy Bellingham got the worst of it, but in the red flag that followed, several other cars sustained damage....
Back to the race and it was quiet until Kevin caught back up. He had to start at the back, but when he Jeff and I got together, it was the perfect drafting train. At the end Kevin got in front and threw a perfect pick with a lapped car. So I finished 10th again but knocked 3 seconds off my fast time.
