The second hardest job we have as a team is learning all the rules and making them work to our advantage. The hardest job is explaining them to the people that matter: our sponsors, fans and the media.
I had a bit of explaining to do last weekend after our FIA GT race in Portugal.
Our two Ferraris had qualified down in seventh and ninth for the two-hour race so Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Mullen, the starting drivers, knew they had a lot of hard work ahead of them. A decent result would only come our way via some seriously good driving and some clever strategic thinking.
The start of the race was incredible as Kirkaldy drove right around the outside of everyone going into the first corner and took the GT2 lead. Mullen also started well, moving up a couple of places. Things were looking up.
Kirkaldy dropped down the order a little on lap six when he had a spin but he quickly picked it up and got right back in the fight.
This is where you need to pay attention.
We had decided to give Ferrari No56 the most aggressive strategy possible. We had two sets of new tyres for the race so the optimum strategy is to split them evenly over the two hours.
The rules state that each of the two drivers in each car must complete a non-stop stint of 35 minutes. This is to stop teams with 'gentleman drivers' from letting the professionals do all the work.
So, to split the tyres as evenly as possible Kirkaldy would do a 30-minute stint at the start before handing over to Rob Bell who would run for 35 minutes - the minimum time. Kirkaldy would then do a long run of 55 minutes, easily completing his own minimum time in the Ferrari.
Are you still with me?
Other factors come into play here. You may wonder why Kirkaldy didn't do just 25 minutes before Bell's 35. This is because you start the race with a full tank of fuel so you have to stay out for enough time to burn the right amount of fuel to warrant a pit-stop long enough to complete a driver change. Otherwise you are just wasting time.
I know, it's complicated.
An hour into the race we were looking good. Bell was running in fifth and Chris Niarchos was now in the No.55 car running in eighth. Then everything changed.
BUNCHED UP ... the two Ferraris
The leading Porsche dropped oil all over the circuit and as other cars began sliding off on it the safety car was brought out. Our No.56 car was now in a fantastic position as Bell was due in for a pit stop in a few minutes. We could do the stop under the safety car and get the jump on all the cars in front of us. None of them could stop yet as the drivers in their cars at that time weren't up to their 35-minute minimum time.
Bell came in and handed over to Kirkaldy at the one hour and five minute mark and Ferrari no.56 rejoined the race. All they had to do now is wait for the other teams to take their second pit-stops and sail away into the lead.
That's where it all went wrong. Ferrari No.56 was judged to have only completed 34 minutes and 47 seconds during its middle stint, which meant that Bell's time was 13 seconds short of the minimum. It was a heartbreaking moment for the team as Kirkaldy came in to take a 13 second stop/go penalty.
We finished the race in fifth and eighth, thoroughly dejected. In motorsport though you win as a team and you lose as a team so there was no finger-pointing, just disappointment.
On the plus side the race was in the Algarve so there were some fantastic restaurants and the local plonk was fabulous. You have to console yourself somehow.
We're back out again next week (October 3-4) at Bernie's track: Paul Ricard in the South of France. We're more determined than ever now to get a good result so watch out world!
Now, who's got the new batteries for the stopwatches?
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