So, the semifinals:
Round one was a mess for us - we were undercomped and had an 11 flick pitstop, subsequently only putting in a 3:13.
However, Fitz/Mellins had a good race and recorded an easy 3:09, putting them into second behind Surugue/Surugue with a 3:07.
On the second day of the semifinals the weather changed a bit, allowing for slightly faster air and the potential for quicker times. I had a hard draw with a Russian team and Kram/Chaika, but they had some overheating issues while we managed to finish it trouble free with a slightly quicker 3:07.
Thierry and Roland also had a superb race, running a genuine 3-up 3:05 in tough conditions, also putting them into the final.
The final was originally run at about 4:00, and started will with all teams in the air from the first flick. We had the slightly better airspeed in the centre, but not enough to overtake anyone I think. So, everything was going sweetly, and we had a good first stop, putting us into the lead by a lap or so. But, Surugue/Surugue dropped a catch (I think), and Thierry tripped over Pascal, putting both teams out. The Jury allowed us to finish the race 1-up, where we recorded a 6:15 or therabouts.
However, Ougen/Surugue put a protest in, which was upheld to give them a refly with us. So the 2-up final then began between us and Ougen/Surugue. Once more, both engines started first go and the airspeeds were close to identical. The second or third pitstop for Thierry and Roland was a tad slow on the restart, putting us ahead by 3 laps. Thankfully, nothing went wrong and we retained the lead through the race to record a 6:13.
Anyway, I can't really remembered what happened after that, so I'll just skip it...
Monday, August 4, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Had a phat time today.
Started the morning by going over and cleaning Trevor & Steve's Lerners, as well as mixing them some fuel in preparation for the day. At that time, Australia was in contention for third team place, hence the pressure on Steve & Trev. Went out to the practice site to see how they went - they picked up almost a second/10 over night. We were looking good.
Official practice went well, though everyone on the field was about 0.5s/10 slower than yesterday, due to the sudden change in air conditions.
Fitzy had a tough race, but still managed to put in a 3:12 which somehow turned into a 3:15 due to timer variation (!!!!!!).
Trev/Steve had a rough race, but were given a refly due to a minor line tangle with the RSA team.
Meanwhile, the 3rd and 4th Ukr teams put in a 3:15 and a 3:21, putting them pretty solidly into 3rd team spot. Nonetheless, Fitzy was still in P4 with his 3:07 from yesterday.
Grant and I were in the final draw of the day with a reasonably difficult draw, but the engine setting was perfect (albeit 1/2 a second/10 slower than before), and the restarts were brilliant. So, with some circle traffic we recorded a 3:05.8, 3-up the whole way, which feels pretty f**king good to tell the truth!
Anyway, we had a few beers afterwards, and wandered around the flying site chatting to the poms, french, hungarians, italians, dutch, and anyone else that would listen.
So, tomorrow is the semis, where we'll have to put in a repeat performance - gulp!
Started the morning by going over and cleaning Trevor & Steve's Lerners, as well as mixing them some fuel in preparation for the day. At that time, Australia was in contention for third team place, hence the pressure on Steve & Trev. Went out to the practice site to see how they went - they picked up almost a second/10 over night. We were looking good.
Official practice went well, though everyone on the field was about 0.5s/10 slower than yesterday, due to the sudden change in air conditions.
Fitzy had a tough race, but still managed to put in a 3:12 which somehow turned into a 3:15 due to timer variation (!!!!!!).
Trev/Steve had a rough race, but were given a refly due to a minor line tangle with the RSA team.
Meanwhile, the 3rd and 4th Ukr teams put in a 3:15 and a 3:21, putting them pretty solidly into 3rd team spot. Nonetheless, Fitzy was still in P4 with his 3:07 from yesterday.
Grant and I were in the final draw of the day with a reasonably difficult draw, but the engine setting was perfect (albeit 1/2 a second/10 slower than before), and the restarts were brilliant. So, with some circle traffic we recorded a 3:05.8, 3-up the whole way, which feels pretty f**king good to tell the truth!
Anyway, we had a few beers afterwards, and wandered around the flying site chatting to the poms, french, hungarians, italians, dutch, and anyone else that would listen.
So, tomorrow is the semis, where we'll have to put in a repeat performance - gulp!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
