Canada turned into another great weekend for me personally, which was somewhat of a surprise. My Arela JG01B was far more competitive than I thought it would be, and it wasn't a matter of watching the competition disappear into the distance, which was a relief for me and management, who were entertaining bosses from our newest sponsor Nokia over the weekend.
Satisfying is probably the best way to describe my weekend, although there were a few hiccups for me and for the team over the weekend. It all begun with Marco submitting a bad file and also late by 17 minutes. As Marco had not submitted a race for Monaco, this was seen as his second misdemeanor and therefore he was instantly suspended for two races, and not allowed to race in Canada.
On hearing of the suspension, Marco instantly appealed the decision through team manager Josh Gilles, and the whole matter ended up in from of Championship management on the night of the Grand Prix. Eventually Marco's Canada race ban was carried out but his two race suspension appeal was upheld and he is thankfully able to race in Europe.
On the track, I was having an absolute ball working with my race mechanic adjusting the car to be almost perfect for a keyboard setup. Practices went very well, and I clocked a best time on Friday of 1m18.218 to be second fastest. This time was wiped overnight however as the stewards ruled that I had used too much curb.
On Saturday, I managed a 1m19.286 in qualifying which was good enough for 6th on the grid. This was behind Jason Smith (see news story). I was happy with this time though, because I felt I had a good setup for the race.
Sunday dawned fine and I prepared for my first Canadian Grand Prix, with a fair level of anticipation. I made a great start and slotted into a strong fourth position, passing Lindberg, who seemed to be suffering in the TBA entry, after qualifying on the second row. My car scrubbed in well and I set about a steady pace, making sure I made it safely to the first stop.
Again Smith chose a three stop strategy, and I managed to get up to third for a time, until he came storming past me on lap 23. Soon after, I made my first stop. I was stationary for 11.5 seconds and on my way. The second set of tyres were far better than the first. It's amazing how different sets of what are essentially identical tyres can be in characteristics. This is probably due to very slight inconsistencies in tyre pressure.
I remained in fourth position throughout the second session of the race, as Jason Smith had made enough time on me to take his stop and remain in front of me. My car was sensational to drive for the whole stint. I was drifting beautifully through the second chicane at the back of the track, and the car was behaving just the same as it was in Monaco, which was great as it indicated that we have hit upon some well earned consistency.
I stopped again on lap 48 and returned to the track in fourth still. It was very close between Heath, myself and Lindberg for third. I drove my nuts off trying to catch the very small gap to Wain in an attempt to get another podium finish, but he had enough in reserve to hold me off and I eventually finished fourth.
So we come away from Canada equal third in the driver's championship and fourth in the constructors championship. Perhaps with Marco back in the fold for the European Grand Prix in a fortnight we will move ahead of CVRT, who I believe may only have one driver at Speilberg.
See you in Austria!
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