Qualifying went brilliantly! I reached P12 with a personal best and my first 2:09. I am very happy with that time, I can really see the improvement coming.
It was great to start a bit further up the grid this time, as it would likely decrease the chance of lap 1 incidents. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived as I got front-row seats for the Lap 1 mayhem. This time three cars touched right in front of me, and I was lucky to even just get around. However this did cost me my nice stating position, being overtaken by several cars.
I was quickly able to fight back and overtake two cars. On the run up to the chicane, one of them came back at me due to my car missing some power. I leave room at the inside to get to the corner together safely. We get through the first kink safely but when getting ready to turn left again, I get hit from behind and my rear bumper detaches on the right side. Weird incident as we already passed the apex.
Now the bumper is scraping on the tarmac behind the car. When entering Scheivlak corner, the car breaks loose on me and it is time to ease off, something in the rear suspension must have gotten damaged as well.
We found out the right rear wheel was pretty loose and could move around freely in undesired directions.
For the next race, we duct-taped the bumper back on and headed out from the rear of the grid. Car still didn’t feel 100%, but I was able to pick up some spots and finish 19th.
Some repairs on the agenda before next race! Hopefully, I will have better luck then!
