Mattback,

The irony is that after I suggested to you to stay in second, I went out and started downshifting to first! But, I still think staying in second was better for you. It allowed you to concentrate more on driving smoothly and keeping a nice line.

My best times came from staying in first for the first half of the course (bouncing the rev limiter in 3 places), and finally shifting to second for the big sweeper leading into the spiral. I downshifted back to first to exit the spiral and finish.