The 2nd race of our season and it felt like it had come around quick. The weather during the week leading up to it was really warm and sunny. Today was no exception. We were interested to see how we would do around Silverstone as the layout had not favoured us in the past. Now with the new engine we hoped to be a little more competitive.
Scrutineering was interesting, they always seem to find something we’ve got missing at Silverstone and today we were told we should have rear sidelights. He said to read the blue book but for 2 bulbs and 1 wire I’ll just fit them and save the query next time. We did some prep jobs on the car after breakfast, I had to tidy some wiring under the dash that I hadn’t finished from moving the display last week. It now sits on top of the dash instead of the steering wheel so its much easier to see. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the bottle of water that was poured on me whilst I was in the compromising position, making me think I’d pissed my pants.
Qualifying time and Tony was taking first stint, luckily we were in a shaded bit of the assembly area as it was getting very warm already. As at Brands the practice/quali session was only 20 minutes so getting a decent lap in and both of us getting into a rhythm was going to be tight. Within 4 laps Tony was in the low 9′s and quicker than we went last year. We pitted mid way though, gave the car a good check over and I hopped in for a go. The car felt ok but the brakes were suffering slightly with the heat. I got into the low 9′s and set our best time on the last lap. 1:09.2 giving us 10th on the grid. We were slightly disappointed with that, we really thought the car would do high 8′s now.
After the session we were called up to see the stewards for exceeding track limits, i’d had an off at Beckett’s and Tony had run wide at Luffield. We said our apologies and went back to the paddock for a think about things. We chose to leave the setup as it was as it was driveable. We took out the brake cooling ducts completely to leave just 2 big holes and get as much air into the wheel arch area as possible and gave the front calipers a one pump bleed. It was really hot by this stage so we had some lunch and a good chat. We really didn’t feel like doing pitstop practice in the heat but did so. It took a few goes to get it right but as soon as we’d done a good one we changed back out of our race suits, sweating buckets.
The race was due to start at 14:30 and we were in the assembly area in plenty of time. This time, no shade. Tony starting on the right hand side of the grid got away well but a slow shift to 2nd cost him a few car lengths. Once in, he was away and passed 2 cars before Copse and was 8th towards Becketts for the first time. Looking for the gaps as always he passed Jerry and Davids 306 on the left and dived to the right of the #87 Integra. Carrying a little too much speed had an oversteer moment into Becketts loosing momentum and was back to 7th at Brooklands. The 306 with its superior straight line speed went by along the pit straight leaving him 8th. I’d watched the start from the inside of Copse and was making my way back to the pit lane. I stopped by a timing screen to see that Tony was now lapping in the high 1 minute 8 second bracket, quicker than qualifying and the times we were aiming for. When I got back to Mike and Nick on the pit wall, Tony was hanging on to the group ahead and pulling a gap on those behind. We were in a good position.
A few laps in Tony began to struggle with the gearbox, difficulty selecting gear and crunching on down changes, the engine was also running a little hot. By Lap 10 he was gaining on the car in front slowly as they were in the traffic and still only around 10 seconds behind th leader. Tony and the #87 Integra began a great dice for the next few laps, swapping positions at Copse and Brooklands. The pit window was now open and some cars were stopping so the battle moved up the order, becoming the battle for 2nd as most front-runners had pitted. To start with they kept their times within the low 9′s whilst fighting but as soon as we saw Tony loosing time we called him in.
Tony shouted about the engine being hot whilst strapping me in. The demister was on but I couldn’t hear the fan. The pitstop felt slow as we fumbled the belts a little ( I sat on one) but it was a quick one and I rejoined still in P2. On my 2nd lap out of the pits I thought everyone had gone home as I didn’t see any other cars. Nick and Mike showed me the board to say we were in P2 so I just pushed as much as I dared, leaving plenty on the table at Copse as to avoid any penalties for running wide. I had no idea if Tony had ran wide anywhere during his stint and after 3 incidents you get a penalty so I chose the safe option and avoided pushing too much. The car felt great but I too was struggling with the gearbox and had the engine temperature around 102 degrees. I fiddled with the demist switch and felt a rush of warm air. The switch was faulty. That briefly brought them temperature down to 99 degrees but it didn’t last long and I ran the rest of the stint at 101 degrees.
On lap 25 I saw Mike Jordan in the Integra approaching in my mirrors. Knowing he had a 30 second success penalty for winning at Brands I knew this would be for position. There was no way id fight him off so slipped to 3rd place. A few laps later I saw Nigel in the 306, who was previously leading, going slowly and passed him before Becketts. He was struggling with a misfire and losing time so we were back up to 2nd place. I continued to circulate in the low 9′s with the gearbox getting slowly worse but felt comfortable with my pace. Three laps from the end, going through Copse, the engine stuttered but then was fine. I checked the temperature and it was still 101 degrees. It then started to cut out and stutter on all right hand corners (everywhere but Brooklands) We were running out of fuel. I was desperate for the chequered flag to come out and at one point coming onto the back straight it died completely. I really didn’t think we would make it and rounding Luffield for the final time it was coughing and spluttering. I could see the chequered flag and limped across the line to finish 2nd, our best ever result.
It was even cutting out on the slow down lap and barely made it back to the pits. I was greeted by Tony and a bottle of water spraying everywhere (no champagne to hand) We were interviewed for the circuit commentary and had a good chat with Mike and Nigel in the Integra. They had issues with their car and the misfireing 306 had held on to 3rd place. We were the only 3 cars on the lead lap and all of us carrying problems. The car wouldn’t restart in the pits. It wasn’t the fuel, it wouldn’t crank so we now had a starter issue as well. We bump started it to get it back to the paddock and there was a rattling noise coming from the clutch. The car had given it’s all for the result.
So a brilliant day and such a unexpeted result before we arrived and even after qualifying. We couldnt of done it without a great team around us. Mike, Nick, Helen, Dave, Dan and James. Thank you all so much.
The photos look awesome to me, really like them and the colours are so vivid! Have a great trip and look forward to seeing you at Llandow with the VX!
