Wow, what an event!
First and foremost, I want to thank you all for representing Band of Others Racing in this event and the weeks leading up to it! The entire time in Teamspeak clearly demonstrated the fun we have leading up to and participating in these events which in turn sparked interest in our iRacing Programs such as League and #PracticePals.
Terrific work all around!
Personally I was very lucky to be a part of B2O Endurance Team Mercedes. Both Sam and Matt did a terrific job keeping the car clean and competitive.
My apologies to Sam for riding him as much as I was all race long but Sam in my defense, you cannot passionately argue 56 minutes is somehow longer than an hour and expect me not to roast you for a lifetime afterward
This above else is what sent me down the path I was on lol.
Like most we had our challenges. We were racing strong and nearing Top 5 after gridding 15th when I grazed the wall in T1 due to a combination of shallow line, slow speed and wrong gear.
This just rippled the hood slightly (iRacing damage model ftw) but the car was still quick and planted.
As the three of us discussed the Pros and Cons of me triple-stintng over Sam jumping in it was decided that Sam jump in the car as planned initially. To be honest I was outvoted on this one as I felt a triple stint was wiser given the run we were having and reaping the rewards of high confidence but Teams are about democracy.
As luck would have it 2 laps into his stint, Sams Force Feedback quit forcing him to Pit. As Matt was unready to jump in the car I ended up triple stinting however now nearly a lap down.
...but this is Endurance Racing and things like this are going to happen.
Sam did learn that unplugging and replugging his wheel prior to running is all it took to correct any potential FFB issues.
We clawed our way back to a solid 7th where we pretty much spend the entirety of the race onwards. Both Sam and Matt had terrific stints and even the few times where loss of control occurred it was corrected quickly enough to keep the car out of the wall.
Really, terrific driving by both of you. You both drove very smart races and it was always entertaining to watch.
The other thing that must be said is the call outs in comms. This was by far the best call outs I've ever heard by Teammates. Both were so good in fact I nearly begged them to do it all race as my pitiful efforts were nowhere near as insightful as theirs.
Again, great job guys!
My favorite run of all though happened to be my final stint. It was just amazing fun so much so people were commenting on it in Twitch Chat.
I found myself on the bumper of a higher positioned Merc who just did not want me to unlap ourselves. He was overdriving the car pretty much the entire time and his effort only meant I was saving fuel tucked under his wing.
We were close on fuel and unsure if we'd require a splash and dash to finish going into the stint but following this guy all but assured we had both pace and gas to finish.
Unfortunately with only minutes left a Merc got into it with a DP and cut across the track in front of us as we were full throttle leading to the hair pin.
There was just no way to miss him and in viewing both the stream and replay countless times afterward, no way to anticipate this move. Unfortunately the impact was solid enough to throw us into the inner wall at full speed ending our race.
I had lots of room behind me so I attempted to make the hair pin but it was clear the car was incapable of turning. At this time I drove beyond the hair pin off on the grass so as not to slow other drivers.
Unfortunately there was no safe way to continue so we Towed to the Pits where we finished dropping 6 places from 7th to 13th.
Very disappointing outcome to a very good race.
