15 July 2006 - BRSCC Clubman's
Raceday, Cadwell Park
And
so to raceday!
First thing was qualifying and having got some confidence
back in the third test session after my coming together with the hay
bale, I was still building up so this session was a slow and steady
affair, the essential three qualifying laps dispatched with barely a
squirm from the tyres. After the terminal understeer in testing, my
car was now shod with nearly new front slicks and the problem had vanished,
to be replaced with oversteer when attacking the dipped apex through
Barn.
A half-decent lap towards the second half of the session
saw me qualifying under two hundredths of a second behind Snett race-rival
Vicky Dyson. At least we're consistent!
In the race, the battle at Snetterton was relived in amazing
accuracy, battling closely with Vicky and us both struggling to pass
Len Turner's 1000cc car. Len had qualified a good six seconds behind
us, but the extra grunt down the straights meant he was always in front
going into the corners and steadfastly refused to let us past. On a
few occasions, VIcky managed to pass as we tripped over ourselves trying
to pass the Class B car, but with the misfire which has plagued me at
Snetterton well and truly solved, her advantage down the straights was
gone and I seemed to have the advantage. All was going well until the
very last corner. Bunched up behind Len through the hairpin, he entered
Barn far slower than I had anticipated and having to brake to avoid
him, got very sideways, the oversteer catching me out at just the wrong
moment. Vicky also got out of shape trying to avoid me, but as we both
recovered, she was alongside me on the run to the line, eventually taking
the place by 0.01seconds!
Second qualifying started with some drama. Allan Dallas
lost his car going into Halls Bends on the first lap of the session,
burying the car in the tyre wall and knocking himself out in the process.
The session was red flagged and we all assembled in the pit lane while
the medics and marshalls worked their magic.
With the session back underway, I fell foul of the car's
newfound oversteer cresting Charlies and spun into the infield area.
This part of Cadwell fortunately has a lot of space to make use of and
it's all nice and flat so spinning across it was a relatively painless
experience. I was fine to rejoin the track, waved back on by the ever-efficient
marshalls and on to complete the session. I found myself behind Len
Turner's 1000cc car, again finding it hard to pass, but slowing up at
the corners so took a very slow lap to build some space, then gave a
real charge, finishing the session with a best time of 1:38.016, some
three seconds up on Len and ahead of Vicky who had been suffering from
a sticking throttle.
Race two started with a fair bit of confusion as the
grid order didn't entirely match the qualifying results and the guy
on the line with the clipboard not making it to the back of the grid
to check the order before the green flag was given. As a result, I was
behind Len on the start and destined to spend the race attempting to
pass him once again.
The
battle continued, as it had in race one, with Vicky, Len and I all fighting
for position, up until lap 5. Coming into Charlies, I took a wide line
to get a run at Len onto the straight, but ran a little wide and put
two wheels onto the grass. Vicky saw the opportunity to make a move
and got alongside me so unable to pull back onto the track, edged my
way along the grass until suddenly the back end broke away. Missing
Vicky by a very small measure, I spun across the track and onto the
infield, scrubbing off a lot of speed, but sticking the car fairly firmly
into the tyre wall some way up park straight.
The marshall was immediately present and, looking over
the car, declared that all was "pointing in the right direction"
so I was ok to continue, albeit taking it easy for a couple of laps.
I pulled back onto the track and had a lot of clear track to get a feel
for the car. Without the distraction of trying to overtake, I was able
to focus on having fun and getting some good laps in. The collision
with the tyres had put a slight bend into my front nearside lower wishbone,
meaning I had slightly less front grip, but as a result, this had balanced
the earlier oversteer and I was able to get some good laps in! Towards
the end of the race, Graham Dyson has slowed in his misfiring 1000cc
car, so was someone in the distance to try and catch, and in doing so,
I almost equalling my qualifying time with a 1:38.042.
Another two races down and two more signatures obtained
for my licence, it was time to pack up and head home. Even a few bumps
can't take the fun out of the Jedi experience, and I'm looking forward
to the wide track and plentiful run-off areas that Silverstone will
provide as the location of my next races in October.
30 September 2006 - Rockingham
Entry
After the confines of Cadwell Park, I was quite looking
forward to the open space of Silverstone for my final outings of the
year, but the BRSCC had other plans and the event has been relocated
to Rockingham. Not as tight a track as Cadwell by any stretch, but there
are some big walls.
Nevertheless, my entry is in and in a week I'll be braving
the banking at Turn 1 before entering the infield section of the new
International Super Sports Car Circuit - like the old international
circuit, but with a fiddly little section to cut out the final hairpin
and Turn 4.
Aim of the game here is to get two more signatures, get
rid off the novice cross and upgrade to a National A licence. Oh, and
to stay on the track, avoiding a repeat of the Cadwell incident.
