Legends at Lime Rock...eerrk!

Saved up energy to run the first race of the week in the Legends Weekly Road Race Series at 8:15 EDT.

Got into the car offline about 45 minutes before the race and did some laps to get in the mood. :) Tweaked the setup I'd worked on last night a little more, trying to calm down the rear over bumps and help its traction. Got into the high 1:01's, doing a string of them with a best of 1:01.6. Figured I was ready.

In the first race nobody has had a chance to qualify, so we're gridded by iRating. I was third behind the two guys leading the series. Behind me were another couple of quick guys who were ahead of me in the series points. Looked like it would be a fun race!

Sure enough, at the start, the two guys ahead blew away (but not too fast!) and after the two guys behind me shuffled around a bit, one of them appeared on my tail. Still pretty small in my mirrors, though.

I concentrated on staying clean and driving as hard as I could within my limits. But before I could see if I'd stabilized the gap...Pow! Power outage!

It was just for a second, but it was long enough to lose my connection to the server. The router and DSL modem were on a UPS, and the computer was on another, but the switching hub between them wasn't. Damn!

I rejoined about three laps down, just ahead of the leaders. I let 'em through but was able to keep the second placed guy in sight until near the end. Drove a completely clean race, too, until exiting the final turn on the final lap, when I took to the grass to avoid someone who spun ahead of me. I guessed wrong on the way he'd go when he got the thing pointed straight.

My iRating suffered a little but my Safety Rating wasn't hurt by the grassy excursion, and I had fun.

Ran the qualifying session and took a half second off my personal best with a freak 1:01.1 lap. Woo hoo!

Did the next race two hours later and the other three guys who were leading the series were at the front of the grid! Jeez! Will more people start running this series so the fast guys get their own race?

This time everything went smoothly. Had a nice wheel to wheel dice with my old sparring partner Reed Rundell in the early laps, before he finally took off and left me in the dust. But then he spun exiting the downhill and hit the inside wall. Ouch! That hurts, and I know it because I've done that myself in real life, many years ago.

Ended up driving a lonely race to 4th, but it was still fun and it helped my iRating, my Safety Rating, and I think it even helped my score in the series.

I hope more people discover this series!