NASRS Season 15 Race 3 (Silverstone)

NASRS was at Silverstone this week for the rescheduled “first race” of the season due to a server issue on March 28. This was the last race before the long-awaited ACC 1.9 update, which will be dropping tomorrow.

Qualifying was done prior to the race, as it was used to both determine who is in the pro and am classes as well as set the grid for the Silverstone race. I had qualified in P5 which, given the current pecking order of this season, is about the best I could hope for.

The first sector at Silverstone can always be a bit hairy at the start of a race so I was a little worried about getting through that cleanly. Unfortunately P4 jerked over a bit right before T2 and bumped me off track. I lost one place, but thankfully was able to maintain control and not have any major issues. It was kind of a bummer, though, because I felt like I had a little more pace than the guy who got past me, but not really enough to get around him cleanly. So I was stuck in P6 for the entire first stint. I did my best to stay close and not really fight him as I didn’t want to get embroiled in a battle where we’d both lose time to the front-runners and let the folks behind us catch up. One of the really fast Porsche drivers had “a moment” and we were able to get around him. But, he was only a few seconds back so I knew we’d have a hard time staying ahead of him. I had a couple opportunities to make a pass into P5, but couldn’t make it happen so had to stay put.

However, I got lucky during the mandatory pit stop because P5 exceeded the pit speed limit and got a stop-and-go 30 penalty. He let me by right as we exited the pits, which was nice. But, that speedy Porsche was right behind me and I wasn’t able to hold him off for more than a couple laps so I was back in P5.

The Porsche got ahead of me by a comfortable margin but with only a few laps to go made another mistake and I was able to get within striking distance. I made a clumsy lunge in the hairpin and we had contact. I waited and let him go back ahead of me and we ended the race a couple laps later in the same position. So, a P5 start and finish for me.

Overall I was pretty happy with how the race went. I felt like I had consistent pace and didn’t make any major errors. Maybe I could have got P4 if I hadn’t lost that spot at the start, but you never know.

We’re onto Donington Park for another changing conditions race next week. I’ll have to spend some time getting used to the tires and suspension changes introduced in the ACC 1.9 update so it should be an interesting/fun race.

Week 3 final results (Silverstone)

• Qualifying: P5/32
• Race: P5/32

Here are a few highlights from the race