HARRY'S BROKEN WING!

(The actual events chronicled below took place during the Spanish Grand Prix which I have used in my illustration. All I have done, is to convert them into a real-life scenario.)

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had led the Spanish Grand Prix from lap 15, and had extended his lead over Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton to nearly 30 seconds. Neither driver was in any danger of being caught from behind, as Damon Hill's exit into the gravel on lap 50 had put Fisichella well clear of the new 3rd place man.

Frentzen cruised into his 62nd lap, with just 4 more to complete to win his second race of the season. Sadly, 5 corners into the lap, the rear-wing support de-laminated, and the wing fell off. Heinz-Harald rushed into the pits for a new wing, and naturally, got a new set of tyres too. The stop actually occupied about 15 seconds standing still, but by the time he rocketed (at the speed limit) out of the pits, Fisichella had just gone by in the lead. Giancarlo had his foot down hard for those last 3 laps, but Frentzen, on new tyres, was closing fast. Harry's final lap was a staggering 1.14'762 - half a second FASTER than his own pole position lap. It wasn't enough; Fisichella crossed the line '327 of a second ahead, in the closest finish at any of my races for many years.

If you remember that all the times achieved in my races are multiplied by a circuit reference number, (10884 for Barcelona), the actual time difference between the two cars was '03 (three-hundedths) of a second.

It was very difficult to be delighted for Fissy and devastated for Harry, at the same time.

BUT I WAS !!!