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The last race of the Solstice season took us back to Summit Point for the last time, and back to the Jefferson layout. I had been busy most of the week so the only chance I had to race (or at least join a race with more than a couple of racers) was Friday evening.

I joined the 10:30pm race (with 21 other racers) and was gridded on pole. Pole being very important at this circuit as there is really only one serious overtaking place out of the measly seven corners of the layout.

I had an OK start, leading the pack into turn one, but the grid was competitive and we formed a front pack of four cars that were lapping very closely. For whatever reason I simply could not get back to my usual pace, and was generally lapping around four tenths off my anticipated pace. I couldn’t build anything close to a comfortable lead, and the opening laps were intense!

Luckily, the lack of overtaking areas on the circuit meant I only had to defend one corner lap after lap, and this was the form until roughly the halfway point of the race when the second and third place cars had a collision, leaving me to defend the lead with a more comfortable four second gap to the new second place runner.

The race carried on to form, and the remaining battle was between me and my left front tyre, which had taken some punishment and caused me some anguish… luckily it held on!

So the final result was the straight flush – pole converted into a win (sadly no fastest lap, but zero incidents), and a handsome total of 137 points for the week. The result also popped me up a whole two spots in the standings from 9th (where I expected to finish) up to 7th (currently!)

Race Results (iRacing members only!)

iRacing Solstice Week 12 – Summit Point Jefferson from Samiad on Vimeo.