This better?
Mallory park - 28th August 2011
We’ve been looking forward to this meeting all season. We really like the circuit due to its short but fast layout. It suits our car well and we had a very successful test there earlier in the year. We arrived early and the circuit was damp in places, the weather was cold and windy as we went for a walk of the track. Photographer Dan has gone AWOL so Tim stepped in to help out and take some snaps.
The forecast was for scattered showers during the afternoon. We had breakfast and prep’d the car for quali. We were sharing the session with the new Deutsche Marques series and the track was quite busy. It was interesting being on track with the German stuff, they do similar lap times to us but are quicker on the straights. A safety car during my run meant I didn’t get a fair crack at it. But I’d got a feel for the car and it appeared that the setup change we had made was the right way to go. Tony went out after and had a bit of traffic but not a bad run.
We were surprised to finish 7th in the session and 3rd in the Tintops. Our best ever grid position.
The race was quite late in the day and some light rain was forecast. We had some time to kill so had a lovely lunch and went through our usual pre race checks. We only made a small tyre pressure adjustment. We were both happy with the car.
I took the first stint and it was my first standing start since October last year. As we sat in the assembly area it started to spit with rain but it came to nothing and luckily the race was dry throughout. I made a reasonable getaway into 2nd place as Jerry in the 306 got a lot of wheel spin but he repassed down the back straight. At the hairpin the Dibble Civic went around the outside, they had told us before the race that they had lost 2nd gear so thought I’d have an advantage on the exit but had to concede into Devils Elbow, 4th at the end of the lap.
We had a great run together for the rest of my stint. I could gain around Gerrards but he just had the legs on the straight. The loss of 2nd gear wasn’t hampering them much at the hairpin either. I pegged the gap at just under a second and on lap 5 we both did exactly the same lap time. Then I managed to close down the gap a bit on the following few laps. After lap 10 I started to drop back a bit. My pace was consistent but I found it difficult to push any harder. The engine began to get a little warm and some understeer began to creep in.
I fell back steadily over the next 10 laps but still kept them in sight. The top 3 pitted on the same lap, 23, we stayed out and went into the lead. We led for 2 laps and the Dibble boys came out of the pits right in front of me. A good pitstop would see us jump them. I was in at the end of that lap and it was a fairly swift stop. But then the car wouldn’t restart. We had to bump start it as the starter had decided it was too warm under the bonnet to come out to play, loosing us 10 seconds. Tony came out of the pits in 2nd, luckily still ahead of the Dibble Civic.
On the pit wall we had no idea what the order was. We had no timing info. I ran across the bridge to try to listen to some commentary. 5 laps later Mike Jordan in the Integra caught and passed us. Pointless trying to hold him off. So Tony was in a lonely 3rd. He caught and lapped the #87 Integra thinking it was possibly for position. It was strange not having timing screens. We’ve been pampered this season. The balance started to go away even more as the front left tyre cried enough but it was manageable.
So another trophy and this one was more satisfying. We’d had a great race and it made up for last years bad luck. Still areas to improve but getting there, step by step. Car just gets better.
Massive thanks to everyone who was there helping and supporting, we really appreciate it.
Will upload some videos later this week when ive had a chance to look through all the footage. We had 3 cameras rolling.