It was another great race on the Weekend for Nismo Legends - with Scarnie and I not only managing to grab the top spot in the Pro-Am class, but 9th overall!

This was beyond what either of us expected, we knew the car wasn't as strong at Indianapolis as it was at Watkins Glen and neither of us had a great deal of track time here. We both went in with fairly low expectations, maybe we could sneak into the top 15 again and put on a challenge for the top class spot, but to crack the top 10? this really blew us away.

In the end it all came down to a strange mixture of luck (both good and bad). We'd originally planned to do a simple 2 stop, with Scarnie in first for a short stint, me doing a long run in the middle, before swapping back again to Scarnie for a final push.

We decided I'd qualify, simply because we both had roughly the same pace anyway, and I'd managed to be just a bit quicker in practice. Unfortunately after running a bit long in the session - I ended up stuck in the car when it ticked over for the race and we couldn't switch back.

This left us with a very short amount of time to decide how we'd play it. We could have simply reversed the roles, with Scarnie doing a longer middle stint and me taking the aggressive shorter ones - but given I'd practiced extensively with high fuel loads and had a good idea of how the car felt from heavy to low fuel loads, we decided instead to do my long stint at the beginning and have Scarnie do two shorter stints back to back depending on how things went.

It wasn't exactly an ideal plan, and I wasn't entirely confident starting the car around such heavy traffic. Not because I hadn't done it before, but because it just wasn't how I'd practiced and the decision had to happen so quickly I was still processing everything as we began the formation lap.

It was a shaky start for me, I made a mistake while in the tow of another car on the back straight, misjudging my speed and out-braking myself. Thankfully we didn't make contact but it did drop us down to 28th. I spent the next few laps crawling back up - but with a heavy fuel load and a fuzzy mental state, I wasn't able to get us higher than 24th.

This is where the tables turned however, as the weather radar updated to show rain in 30 minutes, just about near the end of my stint. We'd lucked out a bit here, unlike most others, we actually had enough fuel to run my minimum stint time without needing to endure a lengthy splash and dash for fuel (the pit lane transit time at Indy is rivalled only by Spa, it feels eternal).

This would put us right back on track to do 2 stops without fear of loosing time in the pits, or running too close to the maximum stint times. There was a catch though - I'd have to drive what ended up being 3 or 4 laps in the wet on some seriously worn down tyres. I wasn't keen on this idea honestly, but Scarnie convinced me that the cost of not doing it would be much greater - all I had to do was keep the car on track.

After some of the most stressful laps of my life, wrestling the car and trying to avoid slowing others down or making contact, we did manage to get me into the pits with time to spare. Scarnie jumped into the car and out on the wet track in 20th position.

From there it was simply a masterclass in wet weather driving, taking the car right to the limit the conditions would allow and getting the timing just right for when the track conditions would truely be ready for dry tyres. After this stint, we'd climbed to 15th and with the track now dry again, were ready for one final push.

The final stint was a brilliant mix of control, patience and perseverance. Scarnie would keep us out of trouble, without being too conservative. Pulling off overtakes when needed and using the traffic around us to our advantage. Things definitely went our way a few times, with some favourable retirements ahead of us, and a fair share of penalties, but there was no denying that Scarnie was right on the pace – sticking with the leading pack. Speed is important, but so is keeping your nose clean.

We would cross the line in 10th on track, barley ahead of P11 after a very stressful final lap, with some late penalties pushing us up a further position and into 9th.

And that was it - my very first top 10 in any serious competitive event and a fantastic experience that exceeded my expectations. I really thought we were done for after the rushed start and my initial mistake, but we managed to pull it altogether.

With two races to go we're a serious shot to take out the Pro-Am title - pressure that I'm trying to not let get to me. I'm just trying to remember how we got here. Our approach has been focused - but also quite relaxed, in both races we've approached it with a 'fun first' attitude so I'm going to try and keep that going for the rest of the series.

The idea of taking the title is enticing, but I don't want to let it get in the way of what has been such an enjoyable endeavour so far.

We're off to COTA next - a technical track I've never quite excelled at, but a challenge I'm looking forward to tackling together.

Be sure to check out Scarnie's stream which covers the whole race here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMK3Vpe_cqA&t=5006s

For more of my perspective you can check out my steam, but unfortunately, it's only the second half - after I'd jumped out of the car: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2092305440
For a broader view of the entire race, check out the official Broadcast too (it was a great race overall!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgFY_akHMmg&t=2047s

See you next time!