I try to make these races as strategic as possible. I don't race as often and I'm not as fast as a lot of guys, so I use strategy to my advantage if possible. That said, I like to have a backup plan as well.
Early on I was running in second behind Cip. Generally I'd give the edge to Cip over me, but I was keeping up with him pretty easy and that let the third place car get closer and closer to us. Feldynn's lounge had better grip than my lounge and I didn't go through tires at the same pace so I was considering going beyond 10 laps on the first stint. However, I had a feeling Cip was going for a one-stop race and was holding back a little so I went ahead and pitted after 10 laps to get away from him.
I had run enough laps in practice to know my car took 5.667 liters of fuel per lap. I rounded that to 5.75 and multiplied by 30 laps. I was going to need 172.5 liters to finish the race. Since we start with 100, I was going to have to add 72.5 liters over the course of the race, regardless of whether I stopped once, twice or ten times. 72.5 divided by two stops is 36.25, so to prevent a whoops, I took 38 liters on the first stop. I wouldn't say it was a quick stop, it was just the right amount of time.
Over the next stint, I ran with nothing in front and gradually caught Cip as he was pitting on lap 15. With slightly less fuel than a full tank, I started running faster and faster laps. Also, with less fuel, my tire wear was even better, so I pitted after 21 laps instead of 20 so I could drive like my hair was on fire if I needed to to the finish line.
Coming out of the pits, I was just ahead of Cip and only had to stay on the track to win (he was on half worn tires, while I was on fresh and I think I made up 40 seconds in 5 laps on the first stint so I knew he couldn't catch me if I stayed on the track). I promptly drove into the sand midway through that lap on cold tires and fell behind Cip.
Other than that, I didn't make any mistakes. The car is very easy to drive and I think my green on green color combo rivals Cip's gold car.
Again, thanks to everyone who came out. If I remember right, the next race is May 2 and I think what I'll do is open qualifying (if you want to qualify) 10 minutes before 9:00 EST and we'll start promptly at 9. Also, next time once the race starts, the race starts. Get your passports ready for a trip to Belgium.