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Race #3: Milan
Milan has long straightaways with some high speed turns. Hoping for positive result for Valdes. In practice Valdes turns in the 15th fastest time, while Dembele is 17th. Setups are ok, but not great after practice. Optimism fades after seeing these results.
Dembele starts from the 6th spot, and Valdes from 12th. Dembele quickly drops back to 18th, but as the pit stop cycle begins, Valdes finds himself in 1st with Dembele right behind in 2nd. We decide to try and run a fuel conservation strategy to see if we can economize the way to a solid finish. The strategy is doomed 2/3 of the way through the race when mechanical issues require both to pit within a lap of each other. Without the extra stop, a top 10 finish for Valdes was within reason and possibly top 15 for Dembele.
The extra stops for both doom the race efforts. To rub salt in the wound, Valdes ends up running out of fuel on the last lap and just misses a sponsor bonus if he had finished in 16th place. He coasted to a 17th place finish, in sight of 16th place car, while Dembele limps home in 19th.
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