Turbos.
So, Castle Combe was a bit of a nightmare, resulting us losing the championship lead to the Seat Leon Supercopa. It was vital that we beat him this weekend in order to reclaim the lead, as it's inevitabale that Kevin Clarke's BMW will win come the last race of the season (because only the best 6 of 8 results count).
After renting a Clio for familiarisation on Thursday, we were back in the Elise for Friday's test day. It was a bright and extremely cold start, but the forecast looked good.
The Elise was sharing space with two Sports 2000s (Pinto powered bathtubs that lap as fast as us!)
Our aim of the day was trying a new line taught to us in the Clio. I was a bit nervous trying it in the Elise, but it worked and already i was a whole second faster than in the AMOC race i did about a month ago.
The boys worked on a few setup changes but some afternoon showers prevented an honest test.
The Fiestas were the only ones who bothered in the end...
There was bad news though, the clutch sounded odd. The gearbox would have to be take out to replace it... taking until midnight.
Saturday was another early start, and with no practice qualifying would reveal if the setup changes have worked. We studied our race notes from the day before and got prepared!
My dad went out first to warm up the car for me, as i was a little quicker than him. When it was handed over, the car was on fresh tyres, brakes and on a lower fuel load. I managed to knock another second off my PB to qualify 3rd. We were pretty chuffed!
Although, it wasn't all rosy, i had 5 complaints from a marshall that i was cutting the chicane and got a warning for going over the pitlane line. Oops!
I wouldn't be given another chance in the race, so i'd have to avoid the kerbs at the final chicane of the circuit.
A combination of caffiene and confidence meant my dad was going to start the race. There was no point me tussling for the lead when we only needed to beat the Seat that qualified behind us.
My dad made a good start, retaining position despite the long straight that is advantageous for the BMWs. For the remainder of his stint, he had a good race with the Seat but managed to pull a 3 second gap before coming in.
The good news to our poor finish last time was that there was no pit stop penalty for us, whereas the Seat had to wait for 10 seconds. From then on then, i had no real race as the Seat was lapping a couple of seconds slower than me. I eventually lapped him.
I tried radioing the pits for some updates, but it soon became obvious i wasn't getting any of their messages. Little did i know then, that the Clarke BMW was 4 laps behind due to a pit stop problem. I was now 2nd to another BMW (but it was an invitation entry).
As Clarke lapped me, i presumed it would be a simple P2 for us, but 7 laps from the end the invitiation car spectacularly blew up down the pit straight. The smoke was so thick i couldn't see a thing, not good at 135mph!
Eventually, i came round to see the chequer flag after my 1 hour stint, only to see the crew punching the air. After seeing the marshalls and crowd clapping me, i realised that i'd bloody won it!
I felt a bit sorry for the Beemers, but considering the bad luck we've had recently it's not like we didn't deserve a break!
I dished out a few man hugs and savoured the moment...
Next race is at Silverstone in the NSX. It will be Brands later in the year that will decide our final result.. hopefully another strong 2nd place finish.
After renting a Clio for familiarisation on Thursday, we were back in the Elise for Friday's test day. It was a bright and extremely cold start, but the forecast looked good.
The Elise was sharing space with two Sports 2000s (Pinto powered bathtubs that lap as fast as us!)
Our aim of the day was trying a new line taught to us in the Clio. I was a bit nervous trying it in the Elise, but it worked and already i was a whole second faster than in the AMOC race i did about a month ago.
The boys worked on a few setup changes but some afternoon showers prevented an honest test.
The Fiestas were the only ones who bothered in the end...
There was bad news though, the clutch sounded odd. The gearbox would have to be take out to replace it... taking until midnight.
Saturday was another early start, and with no practice qualifying would reveal if the setup changes have worked. We studied our race notes from the day before and got prepared!
My dad went out first to warm up the car for me, as i was a little quicker than him. When it was handed over, the car was on fresh tyres, brakes and on a lower fuel load. I managed to knock another second off my PB to qualify 3rd. We were pretty chuffed!
Although, it wasn't all rosy, i had 5 complaints from a marshall that i was cutting the chicane and got a warning for going over the pitlane line. Oops!
I wouldn't be given another chance in the race, so i'd have to avoid the kerbs at the final chicane of the circuit.
A combination of caffiene and confidence meant my dad was going to start the race. There was no point me tussling for the lead when we only needed to beat the Seat that qualified behind us.
My dad made a good start, retaining position despite the long straight that is advantageous for the BMWs. For the remainder of his stint, he had a good race with the Seat but managed to pull a 3 second gap before coming in.
The good news to our poor finish last time was that there was no pit stop penalty for us, whereas the Seat had to wait for 10 seconds. From then on then, i had no real race as the Seat was lapping a couple of seconds slower than me. I eventually lapped him.
I tried radioing the pits for some updates, but it soon became obvious i wasn't getting any of their messages. Little did i know then, that the Clarke BMW was 4 laps behind due to a pit stop problem. I was now 2nd to another BMW (but it was an invitation entry).
As Clarke lapped me, i presumed it would be a simple P2 for us, but 7 laps from the end the invitiation car spectacularly blew up down the pit straight. The smoke was so thick i couldn't see a thing, not good at 135mph!
Eventually, i came round to see the chequer flag after my 1 hour stint, only to see the crew punching the air. After seeing the marshalls and crowd clapping me, i realised that i'd bloody won it!
I felt a bit sorry for the Beemers, but considering the bad luck we've had recently it's not like we didn't deserve a break!
I dished out a few man hugs and savoured the moment...
Next race is at Silverstone in the NSX. It will be Brands later in the year that will decide our final result.. hopefully another strong 2nd place finish.
