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| Our race weekend playground |
After a couple of hot laps I had mostly got things balanced, but was still locking the brakes up with ease going into fast corners. At least now I was locking up all four wheels instead of just the front ones.
Just before the hour session ended I convinced Craig to take my car for a spin. I hopped in to the passenger seat and was treated to a exceptionally fine display of driving skill. The boy has talent that's for sure! He managed to drift the car effortlessly out of corners and drove on the limit almost all of the time. This in a car he had only ever driven once before on the track.
We arrived back in the pits and Craig climbed out declaring my brakes crap and the suspension too soft. Ah well, that's why I was so slow! Of course, I knew that!
There is an old adage in racing, not only motor racing, that says "never make major changes just before a race". So with this ringing loudly in my ears I arrived at the track on race day sporting a new stiffer set of springs and a brake system minus the booster. I had collected the car the previous evening so to all intents and purposes I might as well have been driving a new car. Qualifying was going to be a "seeing if the mods have worked" kind of affair. I hoped no expensive Porsches were near me when I came out of turn 5 backwards...
As it turned out, qualifying was not that bad. I managed to keep pointing forward and ended up third on the grid in Class D behind Hennie in his Seven and Paul's GT40.
The race start was called and we rounded turn 5 and formed up for the rolling start. I had the GT40 directly in front of me and Matthew's GT3 next to me. The lights went off and 38 cars roared into turn 1.
At this point I should recall for you a comment I made some time back about wanting to be in the mix of things. I had lamented the fact that my days in Class E had been fun, but rather lonely, as I often circulated on my own. I was about to experience the effects of close racing first hand.
Turn 2 is quite tricky. Its virtually a hairpin, but has a wide sweep so can be taken quite fast when your tyres are warm. However, being only the second corner of the race most folks' tyres were still cold. Add to the mix a car that was starting to dump its entire oil load due to a failing oil cooler line and things are bound to go pear shaped.
The first warning I had was the sound of screeching tyres in my right ear. This was followed by a solid thud at the right rear of the car just as I committed to the corner. A split second later I was facing the rest of the field, watching folk expertly duck and dive to miss the carnage. I managed to roll the car off the track to avoid any serious front end damage and got a sheepish wave from Martin as he limped past in his soon to be three wheeled Lotus 7. Well that was racing in the pack for you. Class D ain't for sissies!
The net result was that I was now stone last by some way. There is nothing like a unscheduled "off" to focus the mind, especially when you had started well up and with great expectations. It was hammer time!
I dusted off my tyres, wiggled the car around a bit to make sure no serious damage had been done and blasted off down the track. Two turns later I caught up with the unfortunate Martin, a shower of sparks emanating from the rear of his car as he pulled off the circuit. I was later to discover that he had collected my rear quarter panel with his front wheel and had sheared off his lower suspension bush. Low swung Lotus 7s do not race well on three wheels.
As I rounded turn 4 and entered the back straight I could see no cars ahead of me. This meant I had at least 500m to make up before I arrived at the back of the field. At least I still had 9 laps in which to achieve this somewhat lofty goal. I put the hammer solidly down. Or at least I thought I did. Lap times would show otherwise, with me only managing to lap in the 27's. Still I though I was going really fast and I did seem to be catching the Class E guys slowly. Around lap 6 I caught and passed Cyril, who was piloting his LS1 engined 944 for the day, and then Di in her Lotus 23. Just ahead I could see Martin in his JPS coloured Seven chasing down William in the second LS1 powered 944 on the track for the day. I snuck up behind Martin at the exit of turn 4 and unleashed V8 power all over him. He didn't stand a chance. The red Porsche was a bit of a different matter having some V8 power of it's own. I managed to haul him in under brakes at the end of the straight and we exited turn 5 almost side by side. I somehow out dragged him down the main straight and took turn 1 first. I was getting cocky now, four cars in one lap, oh yeah!
It's usually about this time that reality is sent along to give you a swift little slap to keep you in your place. Today was not going to be any different. I could see Matthew's GT3 disappear into turn 2. That was the back of Class D and where I needed to be. Two or so laps left, what could possibly go wrong. I flew into turn two, cut towards the apex on my usual line and suddenly remember the oil. It was too late. The rear of the car let go and I slid sideways off the track amidst a shower of stones and sand. I did manage to stay pointing roughly forward so hooked second gear and booted the throttle just as both William and Martin shot past, no doubt chuckling to themselves.
For the second time, out of the same corner, I dusted off my tyres and checked the car for damage. Everything seemed to be fine so it was hammer down again as I filled my helmet with blue air. I had just over one and a third of a lap to catch and pass the two cars again. Turn 3 greeted me with a cloud of dust as Martin involuntarily parked his Lotus up against the wall on the exit, no doubt filling his helmet with his own brand of blue air. The red Porsche disappeared around turn 4 ahead of me. I managed to chase him down over the rest of the lap and we finally exited turn 5 nose to tail on the last lap, but as I pulled out to try and take him he expertly squeezed me towards the wall. We crossed the line as we had left the corner - nose to tail.
Back in the pits the damage was assessed and declared cosmetic. Thankfully the Harper is designed with wide side pods that act as crumple zones to protect the driver and chassis rails. My side pod had take the full force of the impact and sustained minor damage that would be easy to fix.
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| A Lotus 7 wheel shaped imprint |
We headed to the club house for some lunch and a chance to calm the nerves. Ant had lost his clutch in the closing laps of the race while Craig had had a fantastic dice with Hennie and Matthew. Paul in the GT40 was the star of the class disappearing into the distance and leaving us all in his dust. I must ask him what he has for breakfast.
Race 2 was no less frenetic, except this time without the spinning, sliding and full contact aspects of race 1. We started in our "lucky draw" grid placings which saw me fourth on the grid with Craig right next to me. Hennie, Matthew and Paul were up ahead. The race started and immediately Craig snuck past me into turn 1 while Paul bolted off into the distance. I managed to keep up with Craig as he traded places with Hennie all the way around to turn 4. At this point I unleashed some V8 goodness onto them and passed them both on the back straight only to be immediately passed again by both of them into the corner. I really need to sort my brakes out, oh and maybe find some talent somewhere too.
After a couple of laps it became apparent that they were simply quicker than me on the twisty bit of the circuit and they progressively shrunk into the distance. At this stage I had a stern word with myself and decided to settle down and focus on hitting apexes, braking late and generally driving properly. I spent the last five laps of the race trying to get the basics right. This saw me slowly catch the trio in front of me to the extent that I finished half a car length behind Craig. Now if I had just done that from the start of the race ...
Ant had managed to join the race clutch-less and somehow pulled out his quickest laps of the day. He does seem to rise to a challenge!
All around it was a great day of racing with some hard lessons and good close racing. My brakes are infinitely better than before, but still need a little tweaking. Things are definitely moving in the right direction as I managed to break into the 25's, a target I had set myself for mid season only. Next up, 24's !!
For those who want to watch the complete races, grab some popcorn, a bucket of broadband and click on a link below
Killarney Sports & GT Race 1 - 17 March 2012
Killarney Sports & GT Race 2 - 17 March 2012
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