At silverstone

Taking a rest between sessions. The sun is out. Track is very busy with formula fords testing for tomorrows start of their series. Car is running but wouldn't complain if i was quicker. Main thing is its going well and we live to fight another day at brands next weekend.

Winter is over

Friday morning and off to silverstone.

The winter rebuild season is over

Here are some pictures. Testing at Snetterton on Friday the 13th. Eekk.

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.

Brands Hatch Formula Vee Festival

I dropped the car down to Brands on Friday night. We had a few jobs to do. At Snetterton the car was close to the noise limit. So we thought it was time to invest in a new silencer. Steve Glasswell told me about the silencer used by many and at 35 quid from Merlin Motorsport it was a bargain. So Ian fitted it while I fueled it up, fitted the battery, fitted air intakes and fitted
the bullet camera.

Saturday was an early start, 7:45 scrutineering and a 9 am practice. During practice I tried Paddock in 3rd and 4th. Third gave me more grunt on the exit but in the dark recesses of my mind I remember taking that corner in 4th and Surtess was also 3rd (very close to changing up) but again I remember taking that in 4th changing up about 3/4 along Cooper straight. The car felt good through Graham Hill and Surtess and ok through Paddock and Druids but quite tail happy through Clark which meant I couldn't get the power on as hard I would have liked. There was also a lot of tyre squeal when I hit the brakes in McLaren.

The fastest I've ever been around Brands was a few years ago and it was 54.5. I didn't go in with any expectations and I thought the 56.30 I ended up with would either put me near the front of the heat or the back of the final. Well that time lined up 3rd in the heat and my second fastest
lap lined me up 3rd in tomorrow's heat.

Before the heat. We had a few jobs to do. The track rod on the front had come loose (even though Ian had tightened it before the practice). The few milli of tow out was probably causing the mega tyre squealing on the brakes into McLaren. Also the back hub seals had been leaking and it was clear a bit was getting on the rear left. So Ian changed them.

For the race I lined up 3rd on the grid in what I thought was the grid slot but was waved forward. Then the officials realised their mistake when everyone had been grided up. Everyone needed to go back - for me it was just 5 metres but for others it would mean 50 odd metres. With not very much communication I didn't see too many drivers reversing up. In the end the scrutineers came up with the idea of everyone doing a lap and then regrid again. And that's what we did. Then a green flag lap and we were ready to start. Off the line I got a reasonable start and I was closing a little on Jon Storer but I could see Paul Smith closing much quicker and he nipped past on the inside. He also got past Jon and I tucked in close behind Jon. I could see in the distance Miles Southerton spinning and then I could see Jon starting to spin. I came off the throttle a little and went wide and picked my way past both spinners. I didn't have to worry about the big distance to Paul and Alan for very long because the race was red flagged.



On the restart, no Miles in front of me. Again I started ok and again I could see Paul Smith gaining. This time I went to the right and he just came around the outside of me. I held third around Paddock and I could see Paul and Alan fighting it out with Paul getting past Alan at Surtess. Over the next few laps I lost places at Paddock and at Druids which I didn't defend well - I needed to defend better there. Nick Brown nipped past and I was determined to stay with him and hopefully get the place back (and a few others). Then to my surprise the chequered flag came out. I never saw a last lap board and the race seemed quite short. Nobody told me it had been reduced to 8 minutes and there was no last lap board (one of the beauties of on board camera).



After the race with the engine leaking some oil. Ian was sure it was the engine seal next to the flywheel. I had been getting the odd/faint slip of clutch. So with some time available we whipped out the engine and changed the seal and clutch and popped it back in. Bye bye oil leak. Sunday morning we were going to do a little bit of setup. We thought of dring to some where it was flat. We started the engine and then unplugged the slave and the engine died. A bit of frantic head scratching and Ian with the meter out discovered a knackered cut off switch. Alan Harding came to our rescue with a switch and with it fitted it started and stayed running but no time to check the setup.

For the race, I was again third and this time I didn't have Paul Smith behind me. I got an ok start and nipped past Jonathan into Druid and then the next lap Alan spun at Surtess and I had the lead. Way hey and a bit of gap behind me and then out came the red flag.



On the restart I was second on the grid and got another ok start and think was gaining on Alan. I followed him close for the first lap then Jonathan nipped past me and the obligatory Paul Smith and finally John Townsend. With Paul off there was a group of us and it was shaping up to be a ding dong battle and then the red flag came out. A quite nasty one at Druids with a car upside down.



I queued up for the final and the 2 reserves in front got in but not me. So that was my weekend racing over. Bit pricey - 275 quid for about 15 minutes of racing but then you lose some, you win some. Pembrey and Snetterton I got 4 races at each of those meetings.

The only thing left was the parade. Good to take part and wave at people.