AL2 From the Cockpit: Hungary & Belgium

Since I never got round to writing this column last week (partly because I usually use tallboy's race highlights to aid the accuracy of my account of the race, and the Hungary video won't work) this week's will be a double edition! We will also look at the state of the AL2 championship, as well as touching on the Spa TT challenge, which has been introduced this week.

Since there is a huge amount to pack into this column, I will keep the accounts of the races brief, and begin with Hungary. Knowing that this wasn't one of my favourite tracks, I did some setup work during the week leading up to the race, however this yielded negligible results, and I stuck to the setup that has served me well up to this point, even with the issues I've been having with front tyre temperatures.

Qualifying was an absolute shambles for me. An early prime tyre run was poor, and when I came in I forgot to change tyres and had to return to the pits. The following option run was nothing special, so I pitted again to have one more dash on options...but got a corner cut penalty at the chicane and the lap was invalidated. This left me in 6th and on pretty tired tyres. Meanwhile con_reece did one lap at the start of the session before retiring. The fact that he could do this and get pole showed his dominance on this track.

In the race, as predicted, I struggled with front tyre temperature and it felt as though I was driving on bubblegum from about lap 3. Despite this though, I was able to slowly work through the pack on the twisty track, only having an issue when passing benappleby, who moved very late on the pit straight as I tried to overtake forcing me to take robust avoiding action. Meanwhile con and Barwell cruised away up front.

Eventually, I was able to get into a permanent 3rd placeand set about trying to catch Barwell...and failed miserably as the gap kept growing. The good thing for me though, was that although my front tyres were pretty much on fire, my rears were lasting beautifully, and I was able to do longer stints than those around me. Over the course of the race this led me to do one less stop than Barwell into the last stint. The problem was though, that he was on newer tyres and was almost certain to beat me unless I tried something drastic, so I pitted for options near the end and it almost paid off as I finished only 0.5 secs behind and out-of-fuel Barwell in 3rd place as con took Red Bull's 4th win in a row.

Talk on the way to Spa was of Red Bull dominance and the possibility of con running away with the title after picking up 3 wins in the last 4 races.

Spa-Francorchamps is a jewell in the crown of F1; it is an immense circuit and one I enjoy driving on very much. The start of the race was marred though, by championship contender Barwell having an absolute nightmare with his connection, the scale of which I can only assume resulted in medium-sized explosion. Either way, he would be unable to take part in the race.

Qualifying looked like taking a similar course to Hungary, as con set a fast lap immediately which looked like being the fastest, before retiring to a comfy chair in front of a roaring log fire and chewing on popcorn as the rest of us tried to beat his time.

Benappleby looked like he'd be in with a chance, but fell a couple of tenths short. In his disappointment he pulled the steering wheel off his car and had to retire from the session as well, and it looked like another comfortable Red Bull pole, as con went to make himself a nice cuppa.

BUT, as Murray Walker always says, "anything can happen, and it usually does!", and I was yet to do an option tyre run. I really pulled out all the stops, even turning the traction control of in qualifying for the first time this season in an attempt to match the comfortable con.

The lap I did was about as good as I know how to do a lap, and was feeling fast despite the fat that I wasn't getting my sectors compared to the fastest for some reason, although I was well up on my previous best. I was very happy when I saw my name at the top of the timesheets, and the fact that the gap read '+0.001' made it even sweeter. Somehow at the end of the session con's time changed, increasing the gap to a massive 0.002. Meanwhile, the complacent con returned from making his tea only to choke on it as he read the timing screen.

This 0.002 proved critical, as a still-coughing con was involved in a first corner collision with benappleby, which dropped him down the field, as I was able to lead S007PS in driving rain at Spa and quickly opened up a commanding lead.

It must be said that my race wasn't eventful, it consisted of watching con move through the field and then managing the gap. It would close by a few tenths per lap, before I would hear a cry of "OH THAT BLOODY KERB!!!" and the gap would extend again. I suspect that the kerb in question was the one at pouhon, which has caught out many a man. The other issue during the race was working out when to change tyres as the track dried. It took much longer to dry than normal, but I managed to get my first stop about right. By the time of the second, though, my mind had wandered slightly and I hadn't noticed that the track was dry. The first I knew that it was time to come in was hearing "oh wow Ross hasn't pitted". Nevertheless, my lead only diminished slightly over the next lap and I was able to continue to manage the gap on the prime tyres through to the finish to take the win that I needed desperately to keep my championship challenge alive, while a content con took second. A good recovery drive after an early spin gave ben another annoyingly solid 3rd place to keep him in contention.

The top of the championship now looks like this:

1. con_reece 149 -
2. benappleby 134 -
3. RosstheIcon 126 +1
4. barwell74 117 -1
5. S007PS 95 +1
6. Will_I_Am-3001 93 -1

The big question is this: is the title now down to a four-horse race? Answers in the replies section please!

In other news, the TT challenge was launched to not very much acclaim by Hudunikibolokov, the 3-balled Russian, in Spa. At the last count I was in 5th place on a 1:46.425 and I am proud to be the highest of the AL2 drivers at this point. I actually think that it's a good idea, as it gives an idea of how quick each driver is compared to every other in W2WR, not just those in your league. I hope this challenge becomes a success.

Hungary Awards:

DOTD: con_reece
Michael Schumacher dodgy defence award: benappleby
Jenson Button Award for clinging onto the tyres: RosstheIcon
Alex Yoong mediocre debut of the day: CHM1945
Samuel Eto'o Hat-trick of the day: con_reece


Spa Awards:
DOTD: benappleby
Robin van Persie Hat-trick of the day: RosstheIcon
Alex Yoong mediocre debut of the day: raptor1995curtis
Romain Grosjean start of the day: benappleby
Singapore Sebastian Vettel qualifying complacency award: con_reece