Next Race - ???

Monday, July 21, 2008

Donnington Park

I woke up in Donnington park service station and flung open the curtains to my room and found myself looking in on the service station but I could see outside that it wasn't raining yet. 10 minutes later I was driving to the circuit under a very large black cloud. It was going to rain but when !!!

The previous night I had dropped the car in the garage and left Ian at the circuit in the Minnebago. :) I've not got any photos of our infamous folding caravan (Rapido Confort for all you anoraks) but here is one I found on the web... Checkout the haircuts and their window opens !!! Snobs ! They must have a Confort+



While routing around for a photo I found this. Who said all Porsche drivers are bankers !!!

Anyway it bucketed it down 10 mins before going to scrutineering. It stopped pretty quick and we got through scrutineering and back to the pits, dry and with no drama.

First practice and the track was wet/damp but drying out. Everyone skated around for a few laps. Very entertaining with the car wiggling around wanting to break traction. Then I got into a groove and caught up with Graeme Kiddy but then I got stuck in a rut behind him. I was just getting use to the conditions and the track was drying and there was more grip and I thought I need to push now and then the chequered flag came out. I need to put an egg timer in the car to remind me when the session is finishing. Ah well, reasonably happy and quite enjoyed it.

The next practice session was way quicker and so they split the grid. Session A on one side and session B on the other. It put me just behind the middle of the grid.

Ian wielded the spanners, changed the oil and fiddled with the front brakes. During the lunch break it had chucked it down again and so the track was back to wet/damp again for the race. The first 3 seconds of the start was going great, I got of the line well with not too much wheelspin and was closing rapidly on the guy on front and then I missed second gear. I might as well have found reverse because everyone went past. So it was catch up time. I nipped around sombody Senna style around the outside of Craner and then the next few laps picked off 4 or 5 cars. Then there was a long gap to the next gaggle of cars and it initial looked like I could catch them but then the track was drying out and I didn't push hard enough. A few spinners and retirements meant I picked up about 4 more places.

Well I scraped into the final at the back of the grid. An ok start (I found the gears) and I had a lap of keeping John Bowles behind me and then I overtook Robert Cowburn and Richard Potterton (who nipped off the circuit for some grass tracking). I was slowly catching the next car (Peter Gregory) but it have taken me 5 laps to do it. Then on the last lap I figured out a decent line around Goddards (the chicane thing at the end of the lap) and posted my fastest lap. A bit late, ah well something to forget until next year :)

Good weekend, despite the weather. Still need to sort out the tracking, the car pulls to the left but with the bits of string and a few tweeks, I am sure we'll be flying at Silverstone. Can't wait

No video from Donnington. Well I do have some but we all had to sign a very serious letter saying that if we did publish anything they would fine us 25K - so that's how they're going to pay for the GP.