Well, let's ignore the cars that aren't in my class. They are slower, older cars that run to different regulations. Then let's ignore the bike engined cars (which aren't in my class either), which lose out at the top end, which is pretty important at Thruxton. Also let's ignore the car that is in my class, but who have chosen to run with an F3 engine and the smaller restrictor dictated by the rules. That leaves about 4 cars. One car, the leader, you never see because my camera breaks before I catch him. The others were relatively new to the class (second race in the car) and were still learning a lot.
Also, Thruxton is rarely visited by Monoposto, so very few people actually knew the track. Qualifying was damp, which is a great leveller of cars, but that meant most people didn't know the track in the dry race, so took it easy. After my stall, I wasn't taking it easy at all.
Watch the video (e.g. 3:35) - there are times when I lift to avoid a crash, and when I get back on the throttle I am no faster than the cars around me - until they lift for a corner and I stay flat. My car is not the most powerful out there that day either.
That was the advantage that day - I wasn't lifting and everyone else was. Even the leader, who was taking it easy having seen his main rival apparently fail to start.