Pitstop
Rockingham has always had a low-grip surface which is very hard on tyres. I quite like this circuit with a mix of everything as well as being one of the only anti-clockwise circuits. I had a nice result at Hockenheim after which I hoped to progress further and get some more results here.
Practice went well and I put in some quick times to get into the top five. Qualifying turned out to be pretty disappointing as I managed to outbrake myself on the third flying lap of the session. When trying to turn around the engine stalled and I could not get restarted without ‘outside’ assistance. I was not allowed to continue with the rest of qualifying so ended up 14th and 12th for races one and three.
The first race was a good progression as I started 14th and got into the points with an 8th-place finish. I drove a decent race, getting past a few drivers early on, and making good use of the quick car that Fortec have provided me with.
For the pitstop race I was starting third on the grid. I made a pretty poor start, dropping down to fourth, but I made this place back after two laps. I pushed to get up to Adriano Buzaid and, after eight laps of following closely, I made my move just in the nick of time. Daisuke Nakajima in front of me came in for his pit stop which gave me the lead and a two-second gap to make up before I took my pitstop. I pushed like mad and, managing to get the fastest lap by 0.4 of a second, I took my pit stop on the last possible lap. After a good pit entry and a decent stop I managed to pip Nakajima and come out on top. I continued to push for the last two laps of the race and I brought home my first win of the season.
The second race was great and, still buzzing from the result, I made a good start to the final race which gave me a good run into the first corner. There was contact between Oli Webb and Jean-Eric Vergne which cased loads of problems; I got tangled up in amongst the other cars which put me way down the order. I had to push to get past the cars in front of me but Rockingham offers very limited overtaking. After a long 40 minutes racing, and my tyres being very used, I had to settle for 10th place and the final points position.
I thoroughly enjoyed Rockingham, with a great result, and am now really looking forward to my next outing at Spa – my favourite circuit of all time.
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