Just climbed out of the car a short while ago after a longer-than-normal stint behind the wheel due to a couple of unscheduled pit stops. Not long after I got behind the wheel I had side-to-side contact with an E2 class Integra through the high-speed kink that precedes the climb up the hill on the back section of the course. Having gotten along side the previous corner I thought for sure the driver of the Integra saw me on the inside - but clearly not. Perhaps it was because it was a right-hand-drive car and I was on the left side. But the result sent both cars off track at a high rate of speed, and caused damage to the #21 Lexus in the form of a cut tire, broken wheel and some new racing stripes down the side of the car in the shape of tires. After a quick stop, I rejoined the race none the worse for wear. We did make another stop several laps later to change another tire as a precaution and re-torque of lug nuts on the right side and 10 more gallons of fuel.
After that, the car ran just fine with the exception of a lumpy brake pedal. But leaving more room in the braking zones and carrying more mid-corner speed kept the lap times within our target. Traffic, as hinted at above, is quite a challenge right now. Everyone is excited and not paying as much attention as I had hoped. But no more contact that session, and plenty of passes.
We're presently 5th in the E1 class and gaining on our competitors. The weather man is calling for lots of rain starting at about 9 tonight. We'll see. Until next time...
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