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I'm halfway around the third lap, chasing 4th place Trent Hamp into the kink on the back straight. Trent is still comfortably ahead of me, with a big gap between us. | ||||
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Right here on the video you can see how Trent's car skips across the ruts in the ice. | ||||
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Anxious to get past Trent, I carry more speed than him into the left hander at the end of the back straight, and that allows me to get right up on his tail. | ||||
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I'm even closer going into the second left turn.
Actually Trent has the corner speed pretty much correct. It's me who's going too fast! I very nearly overshoot the corner, and in my panic braking I momentarily lock up the wheels causing me to run even wider of the apex. Watch in my rearview and you'll see Jim Graham's red car as he almost manages to pass me back at this point. |
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Coming onto the finish straight I swing way over to the right again,
trying to make Trent believe I'm going to pass him here, and hoping to
draw him over the right side to block me.
This worked well on Jim on the previous lap, so now I'm trying it out on Trent. |
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Then I swing back wide to the left before the corner where there
is better traction for braking.
You can see that Trent is braking on the dark slippery ice surface, and approaching the corner from a much shallower angle. |
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Right here, Trent should have slowed right down and hugged the
inside to prevent me from going there. I might then have gone
around the outside of him, but that would have put me at a disadvantage
going into the following left turn.
In the heat of the moment and now focused entirely on safely sliding his car around this slippery corner without spinning out, it's far too late for Trent to change his trajectory and for certain he's going to slide away to the left on exiting this turn. |
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Just like that, the door is opened for me and I slot right in there up the right side, being extra careful while crossing that nasty off-camber slope at the apex. | ||||
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Trent is still beside me on the left.
Earlier in the weekend, I would have been reluctant to try going around the outside of him from here into this left turn. I wasn't sure earlier whether I could trust him not to push me off. But I probably won't get another opportunity as good as this, it's no time for hesitation, so I jump in with authority. |
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Trusting him not to hit me, I pinch in as close as I dare while still
leaving him enough room to get around the corner tight alongside me.
From here I can still run a fast line through this corner onto the straight, whereas Trent is completely screwed. He came at this corner from too far over to the left, and now can't accelerate through the apex without sliding into me, and thus he is doomed to be very slow entering the long straight. |
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Because Trent was slow coming out of the last corner, Jim Graham
easily picks him off and also passes him behind me in the drag race down
the long straight.
In fact, I'm lucky Jim didn't catch me as well going into the hairpin. You can see flashes of red Chevette in my mirror as I'm turning into the hairpin. |
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Exiting the hairpin I can see now that it's hopeless from here
on. Unless Chris, Landon, or Kevin ahead of me make some major
mistake, there is no way I'll ever be able to catch them from this far
back.
Landon eventually passed Chris for the win. From there back, the order remained the same with Kevin Sakaluk 3rd, me 4th, Jim, then Trent.
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