|
 2004
RACE REPORTS
Brands Hatch Indy
9th/10th
October
1 point,
0.005secs and a cupful of petrol…
Going into the final 2
rounds I stood 7 points behind Mike Blackadder
at the top of the table and 4 short of
John Aylott in 2nd place. The rules of
the championship dictate that you drop
your 2 worst scores but the margin was
the same with or without the deduction.
There were 40 points up for grabs so it
was all wide open. As the day panned out
it appears Lady Luck decided to come along
for the ride but she was in a fickle and
mischievous mood…
Race 1. Consistency as
you know is everything in racing and as
usual I qualify 8th, almost a second off
my time in testing 2 days earlier. I really
must do something about that… Blackadder
and Aylott are P1 and P2. Well at least
I’ve been here before so know what
to expect!
I get a good start and am up to 6th by
lap 2. About 4 laps in and fortune smiles
on me; Blackadder spins on the pit straight!
Thankfully his damage is relatively light
(and most importantly he’s OK) but
he hobbles home last. I plug away at the
field ahead and work my way up to 1st!
Too good to be true? Aylott tries to re
take the lead at Druids hairpin but out-brakes
himself and spins into the gravel trap.
He is pushed out by marshals (think Schumacher
incident) but finishes 14th. With everything
going to plan I am still in the lead as
the last lap board goes out but as I accelerate
out of Druids my engine cuts - I'm low
on fuel!!! Nick Potter cruises past me
as I stamp repeatedly on the throttle
pedal. The fuel levels out and the engine
picks up in time for me to tuck in behind
him. I use as little throttle as I can
get away with and let Nick drag me round
in his slipstream. The 2 left handers
at Graham Hill bend and Surtees push the
fuel to the right side of the tank where
the pump is but I'm nervous about the
long right-hander at Clearways which leads
on to the finishing straight... The engine
keeps running and I decide to have a go
at passing Nick before the line (I decided
that “Big” Tony Di Lorenzo
in 3rd place was far enough behind for
me to roll across the line if it ran out
again). I didn't get the full slingshot
effect but we are dead level at the line!
Well I say dead level, actually Nick beats
me by 0.005 secs...
So I am at this stage,
with dropped scores taken into account,
level on points with Aylott and 3 behind
Blackadder. However Blackadder is starting
from the back of the grid in race 2 and
Aylott from 14th which of course is good
news for me.
Race 2. I get away clean at the start
and Nick Potter and I trade 1st a number
of times. We just begin to pull a gap
on the 3rd place man when there is a 5
car pile up at the bottom of Paddock Hill
bend; Howard Pessall spins collecting
Daryl McNey and Roger Norris and others
end up in the gravel as they try to avoid
the mêlée. The race is red
flagged and restarted. This unfortunately
plays nicely into Mike Blackadder's hands
as he is now brought back level with the
pack and has 5 less cars to pass. Despite
another good start the battle for first
leaves me exposed and Tony Poole gets
a nose alongside going into Surtees. Rather
than defend heavily I decide to be cautious
and give him space to get through as I
was unsure of Aylott and Blackadder’s
positions and finishing the race seemed
more important. I decided I could challenge
for the place later but unfortunately
(there’s that word again!) I see
the last lap board as I round the corner
and Tony drives a perfect final lap to
keep me in 3rd at line. Mike Blackadder
finished 5th which means I ended up losing
the championship to him by 1 point after
deducted scores!
As
one friend put it “you couldn’t
make it up, all you needed to do was fall
in love and you’d have a film script”.
It’s been a fantastically close
season with many memorable moments and
this weekend was unforgettable. My congratulations
go out to Mike who battled continuously
for that crucial point and at the end
of the day 2nd in the championship is
a great place to finish.
TOP
Snetterton
11th/12th
September
I
returned to Snetterton for the 2nd time
this year following the non-championship
rounds in July.
With the title race hotting up the pressure
was on me to keep my recent run of form
going if I was to stay in with a chance
of improving on my current 3rd place.
Qualifying has been a problem for me this
year so I tried some new tactics. They
didn’t work as well as I’d
hoped and I found myself in 7th place
on the grid. Could have been worse…
As the lights went out for Race 1 I thought
I’d got a good start, however by
the time I was in 2nd gear both Darryl
McNey and Andrew Beaumont had launched
past me! Andrew’s surge was short
lived as he slotted 5th instead of 3rd.
With me only inches behind him it made
for a heart-stopping moment! As the field
jostled into place there was more drama
as John Aylott, Tony Pool and Howard Pessall
came together at Riches. John and Tony
naturally fell down the order but managed
to resume. Howard unfortunately retired
with a holed radiator.
I pressed on and worked my way up to 3rd
place behind Nick Potter and the 2 of
us pulled a small gap on the chasing field.
Mike Blackadder had broken clear at the
front following the Riches melee so Nick
and I worked together to catch him up
by giving each other good slipstreams
and easy passage. Once Mr B was successfully
caught it became open season. The last
lap board was shown with Nick in front
followed by me then Mike but Mike had
a “cunning plan” which paid
off and he towed past both of us down
the Revett Straight and on to victory;
me crossing the line 2nd just a couple
of hundredths ahead of Nick.
So,
was the run of good luck broken for good?
Starting from 2nd on the grid this time,
race 2 on Sunday was a much closer affair
despite me finally nailing a good start.
Pretty much the whole field were dicing
and passing in an unbroken line. I found
myself in a four way battle with Aylott,
Potter and Blackadder up front with Beaumont
and McNey joining in from time to time
to keep the pressure on. Slipstreaming
and lead changing figured highly with
me spending almost as much time in position
4 as 1. The last lap board was shown and
I rounded Sears in 3rd with Nick Potter
chasing. John Aylott moved left towards
the Esses as he passed Blackadder and
in doing so tried to shut the door on
the tighter inside line I had chosen.
However, demonstrating the firm but fair
spirit shown throughout this season, he
took the decision to only block once and
I squeezed through; the 2 of us gently
clipping wings at 120mph before braking
heavily into the left-hander. “I
didn’t think I’d left you
enough room!” he said afterwards.
I wasn’t sure either but he obviously
had! Winning that critical corner set
me up for the win and I crossed the line
in first ahead of John, Mike and Nick.
So, it all comes down to the Brands Hatch
Festival weekend to decide the championship
with Mike and John best placed for the
title and me with an outside chance.
TOP
Silverstone
7th/8th
August
After
buzzing my engine at Snetterton in July
(choosing too low a gear for the car’s
speed and driving the engine past its
maximum revs) I contacted Minister Engineering
for some advice and to establish what
damage I may have done. Kevin, the man
who rebuilt my engine at the end of last
season, was as helpful as ever and he
recommended some rudimentary checks. Fortunately
these looked positive and all seems to
be well; no damage done hopefully!
I
qualified 8th on the grid for race 1,
not my best but neither my worst but I
was hopeful that I could pick up a couple
of places. We were racing on the National
circuit which is quirky with wide straights
and tight corners and a reputation for
getting bottlenecked.
I got a good start, up to 4th by the first
corner. From there on however I can do
little to describe the progress of the
race, the lead changing almost every lap
with cars going 5 abreast into the corners
a common sight! I would be in front going
into one turn and be 4th on the way out,
it was that close! I saw the final lap
board from 1st place and spotted that
my 2 pursuers, John Aylott and Nick Potter
(Nick joining us from the Inters series)
had chosen not to pull off the classic
slipstream manoeuvre through Copse, meaning
they were saving it for Brooklands; two
corners from the finish straight. True
to form they went for it and my only chance
was that they would go so deep that I
could find a way through along the inside
line. I braked a little harder (almost
catching Mike Blackadder out behind me!)
to get a better line and the move worked.
I nipped through and got to Luffield first.
It was then a case of keeping it clean
to the line which I did earning me my
second championship win (3rd in a row
including the last Snetterton visit) and
the Driver of the Day award!!
Race
2 was the next day. The weather was again
bright sunshine and I was starting on
pole wondering if we would see such a
close fought race again. All anticipation
and eagerness however was shattered with
the terrible news that a competitor, racing
in the Mini Cooper Challenge series, had
been involved in a fatal accident in an
earlier race. The meeting halted and the
mood was sombre as you would expect. We
decided as a group however to continue
with our race in line with the wishes
of the organisers, the MSA and Silverstone
Race Circuit. To everyone’s credit
we went out and had another cracking race,
a fitting tribute I like to think. It
was as exciting as the previous one and
had a more thrilling finish; John Aylott
and me side by side throughout the whole
of the final Brooklands/Luffiield complex.
I pipped him at the post by 0.025 seconds
for my second win of the weekend!
 
TOP
Snetterton
18th
July
After
a frantic start to the season we found
ourselves with a large gap in the Roadsports
calendar; the next round at Silverstone
being on the 7th August left us almost
3 months without a scheduled race. So
when a chance of a non championship event
came up, a good number of the drivers
were up for the chance to burn off some
excess testosterone.
Snetterton was the venue and the day consisted
of morning qualifying and 2 races.
3 Roadsport A cars joined the 12 Roadsport
B guys on the grid adding to the fun;
Championship front-runners James Bromley
and Nathan Bell and new guy Tony Hawkins.
Qualifying was a greasy affair; the track
still wet from the early morning rain.
I qualified 3rd on the grid behind James
and Nathan; pole for the class ahead of
John Aylott.
The first race was even wetter and a last
minute change of schedule saw us sent
out early, most on a dry setup. Worse
was to come for me however when some confusion
over paperwork pertaining to my on board
video camera resulted in me being deemed
“in breach of regulations”
and I was banished to the back of the
grid!!
Naturally I was “displeased”
especially as I hadn’t actually
done anything wrong, but I thought I’d
make the most of the situation and just
go for it. Over the 20 minutes race duration
I worked my way to the front finally catching
class leader John on the final lap. We
went into Riches at the end of the start
finish straight hard, nose to tail. It
was a little too hard for John and he
span mid bend luckily without any serious
damage to car or person. I managed to
keep it clean to the finish line for a
class win and 3rd overall.
Race 2 saw a dry track, just. A gap in
the rain and the preceding race taking
care of that. It was John’s turn
to work his way through the grid from
the back this time after his DNF and he
finally caught me out front 3 laps from
the end after I missed a gear out of Russell
Bend and messed up the Esses, running
wide and losing traction on exit. It becomes
a slipstreaming game at Snetterton if
you let someone get in touch with you
and John passed me going into Riches.
I re-took the lead into the Esses but
almost lost it completely as I slotted
2nd instead of 4th at around 90mph! (engine
to be checked and I’ll report on
that later…). I recovered enough
to hold John off for the last lap and
finished the day with 2 class wins out
of 2! Now all I need to do is repeat the
feat when we return in September for the
championship rounds…
TOP
Knockhill
15th/16th
May
Knockhill
circuit, placed high on a hill in Fife,
has a reputation for gloomy weather; “If
you can see the hill its going to rain,
if you can’t then its already raining”
as the locals say. Mother-Nature however
had declared it a fine weekend with scorching
sunshine for 2 days!
Testing was limited to two 25 minute sessions
on the Friday, my second session being
cut short to about 8 minutes by a combination
of red flags and a radiator hose popping
off. Saturday morning I qualified 5th
out of a somewhat depleted field of 19.
Those of you who know the circuit will
testify to the thrills provided by Duffus
Drop and Glenvarigill (a chicane on top
of a blind crest); I was looking forward
to this!
Race 1 saw me in an early battle with
David Yu and the ever present Mike Blackadder
and John Aylott. John span at the hairpin
rejoining 8th and after a few more laps
David Yu ran deep at MacIntyres where
I took advantage and claimed 2nd spot.
I’d lost some ground on Mike in
the tussle with David and spent the rest
of the race chipping away at his lead.
We ended crossing the line nose to tail
2 tenths apart, Mike 1st and me 2nd.
Race 2 and despite taking an early lead
from the start I was down to second before
the lap had finished, me just giving John
too much room at the hairpin. Mike squeezed
through a few laps later and I decided
on a waiting game, staying in touch and
watching them tussle it out for a while.
Unfortunately I ran wide at MacIntyres
about halfway into the race following
a compromised line into Duffus as I passed
a back-marker. I never recovered the lost
time but held on to 3rd with a comfortable
gap to the on form Darryl McNey who took
4th in both races (it must have been the
home crowd spurring him on!)
TOP
Castle
Combe
Monday
May 3rd
After
the events at Brands Hatch my car went
off to the body shop for repairs. With
only 15 days until the next race at Castle
Combe it was always going to be a rush
and I ended up collecting the car from
Virtual 7 Engineering on the Wednesday
evening before the race weekend; Virtual
7 having completed the race set-up work
after Caterham Midlands undertook the
repair work.
Now that may look like I had bags of time
but the next morning I was off to Combe
for testing (my first time at the circuit)
and I had an 8.00am signing on to look
forward to…
Testing was wet to say the least, more
a baptism of flood than fire, and the
morning of the race followed suit. This
was good news for me as I had learnt the
wet version of Castle Combe! I qualified
4th on the grid, less than 2 tenths off
of pole man Mike Blackadder, so I was
on the pace. Come midday however, as we
sat there queuing for the race (most of
us on a wet set-up) the sun came out and
a dry line emerged as the preceding race
was finishing. A few laps into our race
and the track was almost bone dry; not
in my game plan! I came home in 6th in
the first race and 5th in the second,
not bad all things considered, I thought,
and still a respectable brace of points.
It was left to Blackadder and Aylott to
provide the thrills at the front while
I battled it out with Steve Greaves and
David Yu among others. Andrew Beaumont’s
storming drive from the back of the grid
to 3rd in race 2 is especially worthy
of a mention!
TOP
Brands
Hatch: Grand Prix Circuit
17th/18th
April
The
highs and lows of motorsport compacted
into one weekend…
Saturday
17th Race 1: Bright sunshine, though not
too hot for 3 layers of nomex, testing
went well and we are racing the 2.6 mile
GP circuit (which even the BTCC aren’t
getting this year!). I qualify 3rd on
the grid, can it get better? You bet!
After a fantastically close race in which
I swapped places with Mike Blackadder
and John Aylott more times than I can
remember I cross the finish line in first
place ahead of Mike then John!! Fantastic,
a dream come true!
Sunday 18th Race 2: Cold, pouring with
rain, restarts follow red flags time and
again in other races on the calendar and
its looking grim. 8 Radicals go off at
Stirling’s Bend alone during the
preceding race…
I’m on pole following Saturday’s
win and hold the lead from the start.
I pull a gap on Mike and John early on
as they tangle with Howard Pessall but
they pass him and hunt me down. We lose
John to the gravel trap at Westfield Bend
and Mike and I play out a damper version
of the Saturday race. We swap places 4
times on the last lap (!!) and I’m
lying 2nd as we dive into Stirling’s.
I unfortunately go too deep and put a
wheel over the kerb (remember the 8 Radicals...).
The wet grass draws me wider but I manage
to catch the slide and feed the car back
on the track. I’m still in touch
with Mike and the slipstream to the finish
line looks on but the car hasn’t
settled and it fishtails violently. I
meet the barrier head on at the marshall’s
post, staring straight into the white’s
of their eyes! I’m fine considering
the 75+mph impact but the car suffers
£5,500 of damage and the perfect
weekend is gone in an instant…
Oh well, I suppose that’s motorsport!
TOP
Donnington Park: National
Circuit
Sunday
March 28th
First
race of the 2004 season and everyone was
raring to go after a winter of car prepping,
testing and anticipation. A field of 26
turned out for this cool but dry single
header; both qualifying and the race being
held on the one day.
Qualifying was not what I hoped, 13th
pitching me firmly in the middle of the
field.
With the race underway, I made a reasonable
start and I picked up a couple of places
at the first corner, Redgate. I’d
worked my way up to 6th place by the time
the race was red flagged following a shunt
at the chicane; Andrew MacIntosh and Ron
Johnson connected heavily leaving Andrew
stranded mid corner. I was in the middle
of a pack of around 10 cars approaching
the chicane who failed to slow sufficiently
despite yellow flags being shown resulting
in me spinning and sliding backwards into
Andrew’s wreckage… a lesson
to all that waved yellows are to be obeyed!
Fortunately for me the impact was minor
and the damage cosmetic. Following the
restart I had just edged into 3rd approaching
the chicane for the last time (the finish
line being right after). Bill Addison
and I turned in side by side only to find
that 2 into 1 don’t go! We connected
and span, luckily, with surprisingly little
damage. Fortunately I managed to restart
the car and crossed the line in 6th place.
Phew, what a start to the season!
TOP
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