Anyone in the North-East fancy a day out at Croft watching some racing? I'm hoping to get some minor tweaks done and get a decent result if possible... I think I'll play my 'joker' in the first race as I should be more competitive there than at any other circuit, since I've raced more there than anywhere else (albeit some years ago).
I don't know if anyone got to Croft or not but you missed a great weekend....
The car handled really badly in Qualifying with low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer. I have fitted a bigger diffuser and done some other bits and bobs and, in a bid to reduce drag since Croft is mainly fast straights, I reduced the angle on the rear wing.
After only doing a 1min 32 in Qually (and feeling beforehand that I ought to get a 1min 29 or possibly 2 I ended up 9th on the grid for the first race, and eighth on the grid for the second. Before qualifying I had played my 'joker' for the first race, which means you get double points for that round. The reason for doing this is that I have more experience at Croft than any other circuit.
Between Qually and the race I put some droop into the front suspension to try and cure the understeer because I felt that it was the small bumps causing it to hop at the front losing grip. I also lifted the rear 4mm and put some more angle on the wing to reduce the high-speed oversteer.
Even on the warm-up lap the car felt better. Come the race start I was ligned up behing the Lotus Esprit with the Chevy V8 in the back and I thought "that's a good do, I'll just follow him through the hole he makes in he traffic with all the grunt and wide body he has ...." However, he got stuck in first at the start and I was then stuck behind him, unable to get out into the traffic now passing us at some speed.... I felt wounded.... I fell back to fourth from last, in a race with nearly thirty cars in it. Anyway, not being the giving up sort, I got my head down and got on with it.
The car now felt fantastic with the minor tweaks made after Qually and the power felt good, being able to catch, pass and leave every car I saw, the very powerful Lotus excepted. Towards the end the tyres started to go off a little with the heat, it was a lovely day on Saturday, but I kept it on the track and ended up fourth overall and won my class, just 13 seconds behind the winner and only half a second a lap adrift at 1min 29.7. So many people came to me afterwards and said the race was fantastic to watch with me catching and passing what turned out to be almost two cars per lap. The man who writes for Autosport and Motoring News came bounding over in Parc-Ferme after the race, so I suspect I might get a mention this week.
In the second race I was in 8th slot on the grid and managed to get to fourth by the second corner. I had a car directly in front of me who is a class rival, with a Caterham R400 and the Locost/Kawasaki in front of that. I was two seconds a lap faster than the car directly in front of me so I was keen to get past him and stay in touch with the two at the front. I have a little nose up the inside at 'Sunny-In' but Chris (himself a race instructor), the wiley old dog he is, cut my nose off. I thought that I would get him on the next lap, as my car had so much more speed out of 'Tower' and through the 'Jim Clark Esses' and was better on the brakes at 'Sunny'. Anyway, now only on the third lap, I took the Esses flat (which you can when the tyres are warm enough) to find that they weren't actually warm enough yet and I spun off into the corn field on the iside of the track and got beached there.
There's no real damage done apart from my feeling of guilt as my girlfriend had brought her two young lads over a hundred miles to watch me do two laps....
Some minor repairs and tweaks to do then it's off to Anglesy at the end of the month for another double-header...
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Croft a week on Saturday/Sunday.... (currently 118 views)
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I ended up 9th on the grid for the first race, and eighth on the grid for the second. Before qualifying I had played my 'joker' for the first race, which means you get double points for that round. The reason for doing this is that I have more experience at Croft than any other circuit.
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