Race Day - British GT

We turned up at Brands Hatch not really sure how the day was going to run.    Access to the paddock was strict due to the high profile event and c-19 restrictions preventing the public having any access.  

The Porsche area was full so we grabbed space next to the biggest truck you have ever seen belonging to the F3 Double R Racing team.  A touch out of our league there just on the number of spare wheels and front wings carried.  

Sign on and scrutineering was done via electronic declaration before the event. We managed minor drama finding the fire extinguisher battery flat so needed a hasty trip to the nearest petrol station for a new 9v pp3. 

At the morning briefing we learned of a number change from 46 to 146 due to a clash with the 'cole trickle days of thunder replica nascar' so some 1s were hastily cut out and added to the car just before qualifying. 

Qualifying

Was busy with 46 cars starting from pit lane. I found some reasonable space to learn the track in to start with but never got a clean lap.  It was damp in places so needed some respect - especially up the back of the GP circuit amongst the tree lined track sections screened from the wind.  A mid session safety car was unhelpful, and I felt the car could have been pushed aside more quickly.  After 8 minutes slow lapping I did get clear track for 3 laps at the end of the session going 1s quicker each lap into the 1m49s for 16th place on the grid 6th best Porsche.

Rain threatened all afternoon as we waited for our main race, so talk turned to planning the pit stop tactics as we watched the British GT qualifying and F3 race beforehand.  I went back to our pre-planned suspension setup for dry as the car had good balance and turn-in handling in qualifying so didn't want to do anything too radical there.  

40 Minute Pit Stop Race

On track we were gridded up as usual but followed the safety car round for my first ever rolling start.  Staying in formation as the pace  quickened towards he end of the lap was fine, but the car in front checked up just as the lights went out round clearways and I got jumped by 3 V8s and a Porsche Boxster before paddock hill bend.  With the Porsche and V8s mixed up on the grid with very different performance characteristics it was always going be interesting!  I narrowly avoiding a spinning Nascar replica at druids  and the first 5 laps were brutally close racing as we scrapped for position.  

Every time I got past on the bends the V8s just roared past down the straight and I could see the class leader PDA  Boxster disappearing into the distance.  I managed to pick off two round the outside of druids and block the inside until the GP circuit where my the aero wing and splitter allows me to build a gap round the fast flowing corners. 

I got straight onto chasing down and passing the Boxster in front and headed into the pits for the mandatory 2 minute stop with Leigh right on my bumper.  I found my crew (my son and brother) waving a yellow jacket adn took a drink whilst they took a couple of psi out of my tyres which were v hot.  

We left the pits bumper to bumper (Leigh having jumped me by a second in the stop) and I wasted no time getting past.  Every time I tried to get more than couple of seconds lead other cars brought us back together.  We swapped positions at least 5 or 6 times to the end what was an amazing race for us.    

With I two minutes (2 Laps) on the clock and was desperate to hold position with my tyres and brakes rapidly over heating.  Coming down into clearways Leigh got alongside yellow flags mean't we both had to check-up - it didn't matter and the chequered flag was out a lap early due to the 6pm noise curfew.  

I genuinely had no idea where I finished overall, how many positions I gained or lost by pitting early or how many overtakes after were for position.  I was solely focused on the Class battle.

I finished P9 overall (setting my fastest lap on the penultimate one having learned the track by then) which is pretty special given I dropped back to 20th on the first lap. 

An amazing race and winning the PDA Boxster class was fantastic.  Moreover just being part of a 46 car grid with really respectful drivers who value their cars more than a position on track is what the CALM Porsche trophy is all about.  

Onboard showing battle for PDS Class lead:

Hopefully we'll be back for some more in 2021.

 

An early bath at Snetterton

The 2016 season opener at Snetterton circuit in Norfolk started well as I put my learning from our shakedown test Into practice posting the 5th fastest time in qualifying, nearly 1.5s improvement over our shakedown trackday time. 

This year we've switched to an SJCAM 4000 camera which is fixed using go-pro compatible mounts on the rollcage.  It has much better video & sound than our previous camera, and also still has a "car" mode which automatically starts recording once the ignition is on via a 12v to usb power lead. No forgetting to turn it on, or flat batteries!  

You can see from my lap timer (behind the gear stick) how the lap timer unfolds vs. my best previous lap. 

The display is a Chinese Android 5" smartphone running the Racechrono app.

The top left of the screen is the best lap so far, and the bottom right the split time which is constantly updated. Green is faster, Red slower.  You can see I'm checking on the straights so know to take the final corner steady (no mistakes) and bank the new fastest lap over the finish line.

The sun was out and it was a glorious spring day. Learning a lesson from last year, we made no changes to setup, simply refuelled and went out for race 1 later in the afternoon.   Tyre pressures were reduced though as they got a bit too hot (32psi) during qualifying. 

On the grid the car in front stalled immediately the lights went out and I had to take swift action to dart around the stranded car.  Avoiding it and the pit wall was a feat in itself.  Going into the first corner I was a couple of places down as a result l, but confident of getting them back. 

As the pace picked up I closed on the 5th place car but overcooked it into the long right hand final turn.  Whilst I sorted out the oversteer  two cars sneaked past on the inside - More work to do now I thought to myself! 

Over the next few laps I passed the first car several times, but never quite got into the right position to take the (faster in a straight line 987 model) in front.  Everytime I got close, I stopped defending and allowed the car behind back passed.  This cycle repeated for a while.  

Going into the the fast (70mph) left Hamilton corner the car in front suddenly lost the back end and slewed sideways across the track.  I've had this before - but I was so close behind this time. Jumping on my brakes bought some thinking time to decide to go left or right around the spinner.   As I went right into the grass the car spun backwards into my front left corner. 

I immediately knew it was race over, with water pouring the the front radiator.  Sadly for everyone the other car was standard on the edge of the circuit causing the red flags to come out. 

On getting back to the pits it became obvious our weekend was over too.   Damage was extensive to the front left wing, bumper, radiator, suspension and steering.   Offers of help were received but it would be a long job and we simply could not afford to replace all the parts at the track.  

For the first time ever we manhandled the car onto our trailer and returned home for an early bath. 

** Update - A day later, the car is already stripped and we have a few weeks to source cheap second hand or OEM parts to repair it for the next round at Rockingham in mid May. 

Silverstone Season Finale

Arriving early Saturday morning I found our section of the paddock was already full, with the many Caterham series having the luxury of the F1 pit garages. I had to get some drivers out of their motor home beds to help create space to squeeze us in, which was taken in good spirits!  

Once we unloaded the car, I had it safety scrutineered, which went fine and we got ready for qualifying. I had my first shock of the weekend when at the pre-track noise test, the tester announced I was way over the limit and would NOT be racing. The car in front had the same issue and we scratched our heads in disbelief (the Boxsters are very quiet compared to other cars). 

Without my knowledge the other cars then passed on re-testing (miraculously registering half the noise level previously measured). I had to battle my way passed the queue of Caterhams, missing half of qualifying before I too passed and headed out into track. 

With just two hot laps put in I was happy with a 1s improvement over last year and 8th place. 

Race 1 was after lunch and went well. I lost out a couple of places in the early laps but then gained them back. The balance of over and understeer was good and new front discs and brake pads (fitted after qualifying) along with a switch to our newer tyres were giving me great stopping power into the corners.

Track limits continued to be a problem with warning boards, for other drivers, posted by race control almost every lap.  Whilst I finished 8th on track a number of 5 and 10 second penalties elevated me to a great result of 6th. 

Race 2 was on Sunday lunchtime. It had rained overnight and whilst the temperature was rising through the morning there was still moisture in the air and clouds overhead. 

Watching the last Caterham race before lunch, a dry line was just appearing and I was hopeful for our race after the break. That was dashed when it started to rain consistently with a few minutes left and so we retreated to our pit to convert to a fully wet setup. 

Two green flag warm up laps let me assess which line to take through the corners (racing or an alternative wide line) on the way to the grid. The track was very wet, although it had just about stopped raining. 

I had a great start off the line, avoiding wheel spin; almost too good in fact, as I nearly hit the car in front and had to brake.  That lost me a few places, but the car felt very stable and over the next two laps I repassed several cars and was feeling very confident as I gained on the top 5. 

Coming into Vale on the 3rd lap I had my second big shock of the weekend when it hit the brake pedal and it locked solid without warning. I'd taken the same line and braking point as the previous laps.  Cars in front were spinning and taking avoiding action too, and I was approaching the corner way too fast. Reapplying the brakes I skewed the car around the corner, brakes now squealing loudly and tried and avoid the gravel, using the extra Tarmac run off.  I ended up a meter or so too far over and ploughed into the gravel catching the rear corner of the earlier spinner who was now lodged in the gravel.   Steam from the front radiator was the sign my race; and my season was over with the added embarrassment of causing the safety car to come out. 

Returning under tow to the pits a crowd gathered looking at the damage and we resigned ourselves to going home.

Drivers and other teams however quickly persuaded us to attempt the repair and multiple offers of help arrived. 

To the onlookers disbelief, and ours a patched up car rolled out for the final race just 2 hours later.  A huge effort all round and we are massively grateful to those who helped get the repairs done in record time. It didn't look pretty with an odd wing and tape masking a huge hole the broken bumpe. 

Race 3. 

We finished bleeding the coolant system as I drove up to the assembly area. 

Starting 13th, last in class I held back a little, wanting to avoid any shenanigans caused by the reverse grid and once it settled down I was able to gain several places with overtake moves and drivers making mistakes under pressure.  My hastily applied dry setup with stiff roll bars and suspension all round was working well and giving me a lot of confidence.  

I got up to a mighty battle for 4th-6th place with a 987 spec boxster.  The more powerful car stretching out a lead down the long hangar straight and me closing and attempting to pass into the slower corners.  I was faster overall, and after a few attempts managed to get alongside and nose in front, but couldn't hold it.  It got a bit hairy in the closing laps as rain started so settled for another 6th place. 

Whilst on lap times I could have managed 4th, 6th was a amazing, and a absolute high to end the season on. 

Donington Park Masters Festival

Whilst the rest of the UK headed for Silverstone for the F1, we went further north to Donington Park in the East Midlands.  

We were racing on the undercard of the FIA Masters Historic racing series, which brought out some mighty sports cars from the 60's and 70's. 

Our car was pretty well setup following our track day last month.  The only snag for qualifying was that we'd never driven the full GP circuit layout before.  A last minute hitch with my gps timer mean't I had no live lap timing. But I quickly decided that was irrelevant as nobody knew what a good lap time was on the new to us layout.

I did my best to string a few fast laps together, with brake and tyre cooling laps between and to learn a path round the tricky downhill hairpin (Melbourne loop) and the frustrating off camber hairpin (Goddards) back onto the main straight.  

Photo coutesy of Chris Valentine

A big thumbs up greeted me in the pit lane - I had qualified 5th fastest, a best ever, despite me thinking there was still bucket loads of time to be gained. 

I had felt the car was still tending to oversteer so for race 1 I made a small suspension adjustment, which I immediatly regretted.  I lost a couple of places off the line, which wasn't a problem, but later in the race went wide onto the grass out of the first turn ripping off a front wheel arch liner.   Braking and cornering seemed unstable after that and I struggled to keep up with the front cars, making a fair few mistakes and finishing 8th. 

Photo courtesy of Chris Valentine

Photo courtesy of Tracey Walters

We quickly found the wheel arch backets were fouling the front wheel and I was lucky not to puncture the tyre. With no spares we removed the other side wheel arch liner and both went in the skip!  We'll run without them from now on. I also reversed that suspension tweek out and in future will stick with a setup which is obviousbly good.

Starting 8th on the outside is a good place to manage the inevitable concertina into turn 1.  I haven't had great starts recently but go away fine keeping up with the main pack of cars and overtaking two places within the first couple of laps.  

I was reeling in the battle for 3rd-5th but when they tangled I had to take to the grass again to avoid the spinning car and that let them get away.  

I had my own challenge with a car behind steadily gaining on me on the last lap. I let a last ditch lunge up the inside on the final corner go and cut back on the inside to win the drag race to the line.  Great, fair racing with both drivers leaving each other room to avoid any sort of contact.  

Race 3 is always a reverse grid, and is usually great fun as there is an opportunity to get near the front and try to hang on as the front runners try to come through.  My good finish in race 2 put me further back, but I got cut up on the inside of the first turn, taking a big dent in the front wing, and ended up near last by the time I recovered.  When there is contact you just hear an almighty bang, such is the booming effect of no interior.  You have no idea how big or small the damage is. No radio for someone to tell you and I don't have anyone in the pit lane for me most of the time either.  The answer is just to get on with the race is if nothing happened.  

I did drive fairly cautiously after though,  about a second a lap off my fastest pace not wanting any further incidents or to end up in the gravel like last time. A bit like Rockingham disappointment in the final race, but really showing we can live with the front runners in qualifying and racing.   

For brands hatch in. August we need a new front wing and hope to have more front camber for a track I love and know well.

2015 Season Starts at Rockingham Speedway

We made the trip up to Corby to the Rockingham Speedway for our first event of the 2015 season. The outer paddock is not the most glamorous of places on the BRSCC Calendar, but we made do, setting our trailer down alongside some of the other drivers who run with race trucks and awnings.  Many had tested the day before, but were remaining tight lipped about how they'd got on!

Scrutineering completed without a hitch  which is always good.  And at 10:30am on the Saturday we headed round to the infield section and out onto the track for 20mins of Qualifying.

I immediately realised something was not right with the engine.  Erratic idling in the holding area escalated to hesitation every time I went between 5000-6000 RPM.  Intermittent at first, I headed back to the pits as red flags came out for an accident.  A quick chat in the pits decided there was nothing we could do, and with the track back open I headed back out.  Using a higher gear round some corners and gingerly taking the banked oval track section (usually flat out at 110mph) I qualified 11th 2secs off my expected pace.

Picture: Chris Valentine (88-racing.com)

Back in the paddock we immediately found the airbox was broken causing erratic air flow past the Mass Air Flow sensor (MAF).  An extra jubilee clip solved the problem and will ensure it doesn't return.  

Feeling confident that the car was now running fine and with a slight suspension tweak to dial out some over-steer I went out for Race 2 on Saturday afternoon.  

I climbed 3 places on the opening lap.  A couple of cars spun off under pressure, falling to the back, whilst another two collided bringing out the safety car.  Running in 4th place, eying up a first ever podium, I spun up the rear tyres too much as the safety car pulled off and this led to loosing a place a lap later.  A three-way battle for 3rd place finished with me reclaiming 4th for my best ever finish.  

Race 1 Video

A great social event and BBQ was put on that evening in the paddock before we headed off to the hotel. 

On Sunday I had to add the obligatory "Championship Success Ballast" which was 20kg's for my 4th place finish.  This took me to 50kg's over the minimum weight so I still need to lose some more from somewhere.  

The two races didn't quite go to plan.  A poor start in Race 2, left me high on the outside of the banked first corner.  Another car tried to go higher in my blind spot and we collided as the pack of cars ran out to the wall of the track. I got lucky with a slight dent and an unbalanced wheel, whilst the other car sustained lot of damaged with the wall.

The final race started reasonably, although I lost a lot of places off the grid (reversed so I started 2nd).  Then on lap 2, my brake pedal went solid and I careered off into the gravel for a rare DNF.

Smoke from locked brakes - heading off into the gravel

Race 2 Video - https://youtu.be/0sky5078Gz0

Race 3 Video - https://youtu.be/V_yHiCZctMY

A weekend of highs and lows.  Another situation where we managed to resolve technical problems with the car ourselves.  On the down side we absolutely need to fix the power steering pump which continues to leak, and likely also need the alternator replaced (potential cause of ABS failure).

Two outstanding additional performance modifications are also overdue; GT3 suspension arms, which will increase corner grip plus the under-drive pulley to slow the ancillaries and increase power a little. 

Next race for us is Donington Park in July.

Donington Park Finals

Donington Park in the East Midlands was the final event of the season.  A triple race schedule with the added twist of a reversed grid for the final race.  

Having not done any changes to the car since Brands Hatch, we arrived early Saturday and set about changing the car setup (roll-bar stiffness and damper settings) to suit the fast and flowing Donington track. We also swapped our worn wheels/tyres for the spare ones which we bedded in at Brands.  

Qualifying wasn't until 12pm, so the track had dried from the early morning rain by the time we went out.  I needed a few laps to re-aquaint myself with the circuit and then stopped in the pits to check tyre pressures.  It was warm, and they were already getting too hot, so a few PSI was let out of each corner.

I'd already gone faster than ever previously and my lap timer twice showed another half second improvement in the session, but a mistake and a slower car late in the lap meant I qualified 9th.  Back in the paddock, I decided the car was still over-steering a little too much, so before the race we sorted this by adjusting the ride height before the first race.

Race 1

Paranoid about my recent bad starts, I was really cautious getting away.  I lost a couple of places and was overtaken by a production spec Boxster.  Handily I blasted straight back past on the next corner, and set out following the main pack of cars.  A mid race safety car for two 924's in the gravel setup a 10min blast to the finish. Two cars I was battling with skidded off under pressure.  I avoided t-boning one by centimeters!  I finished 9th, not an amazing place, but the car was handling really well and I was confident overtaking cars for position. 

 Race 2

I maintained position from the start, and whilst not quite able to keep up with the front 6 or 7 cars, they were only a few seconds ahead and not getting away. Mid way through the race I came across two 924's rejoining in the middle of the track after a spin.  I had to take avoiding action at over 90mph to prevent hitting them.  

Breathing a sigh of relief, I descended Craner curves to a Boxster rejoining from the grass, and then my car went sideways.  I only just managed to control it and didn't loose a place either.  Only then did I see the trail of fluid which had been the cause of all the issues, coming from the rear of a Boxster ahead.   

I now found myself in 6th place, but in the remaining laps I noticed my lap times slowing and a gaggle of cars behind definitely closing in. The last lap board finally came out but I lost a position into Redgate. Determined to get it back, I stayed wide and slingshot back past into the Old Hairpin, where I knew I could out brake.

However up the hill I stayed too far on the inside which ultimately compromised my exit speed onto the next straight and I lost the position on the penultimate corner to finish 7th.  My best race result since the start of the year at Silverstone.

After the race I found the demanding braking had worn the front brake pads to almost nothing.  A quick chat with the series parts suppliers Jasmine Porcha-link and I was ready for race 3 which some improved braking. 

Race 3

Reverse grid is always fun.  The aim is to stay at the front for as long as possible before the leaders ultimately overtake you.  Starting on the 3rd row would give the that opportunity.

I worked hard on the green flag warmup lap to get my tyres warm and bed the new front brake pads in.  A few might stops from 100mph plus does the trick.  

I had a minor panic on the grid as the car had popped out of first gear.  The rule is to get into first on the approach to your grid slot and leave it alone!  But your mind plays tricks and you can't help messing with the gear stick whilst stationary.

I got away well enough though, but was boxed in behind the slower cars in front as I approached Redgate corner.  At the last second a gap to the inside appeared and I darted though and into 3rd place.  

I could see I was faster than the 2nd place car and keeping ahead of the faster runners behind me.  On lap two I lined up a block pass into the Coppice corner to take 2nd, but this compromised my speed down the straight and a car got on the inside.  

As we approached  the braking zone I braked late as usual....the pedal went solid and I careered on towards the gravel!  I managed to slew the car sideways across the gravel and out the other side in a big arc to get back onto the track.  Another car was left in the gravel as I rejoined and I had no idea what had happened. 

It wasn't until the lap after that I saw oil flags and thick streak of oil exactly where I braked.  The vibration of gravel stuck on the wheels made it impossible drive at normal pace, but I continued for a while, dropping from 6th to 10th.  With 5 minutes of the race remaining, I noticed something else was wrong, the engine was now running rough and down on power. Then I had smoke coming into the cab, so hastily parked it on the unused Melbourne loop. 

Despite only our second ever DNF out of 30+ races, I had a fantastic weekend on a track where I really found confidence to push the car and my driving.   The car I left in the gravel finished 5th in the end which meant had I stayed on track I should have got a best ever result. 

The highlights of the weekend being  lots of overtakes and a few hairy moments, which cement Donington Park as my favourite track.

Brands Hatch Festival of Porsche

Last weekend we attended the Festival of Porsche at Brands Hatch.   

Whilst the event was primarily a Porsche Club GB event for their members, it was well advertised and open to the public.  We were invited to race as part of the on-track action in addition to a lot of static Porsche displays. 

We arrived on Saturday and did some testing as I hadn't driven the car for several months.  We also changed the setup to suit the slower corners of the Brands Indy circuit.  A more over-steer prone approach was tried to help the acute under-steer out of the last corner.  This comes with a greater risk of spinning and took a reasonable amount of time to get used, and is a not the normal way I set the car up. 

Sunday AM Qualifying:

As the several thousand spectators started to arrive we headed out for qualifying.  Some crazy antics were the talk initially with several cars holding up the pack to create an area of empty track in front.  It came to nothing other than a great photo opportunity (below) and in end there was plenty of room for 26 cars on track in the 20 minute session.

Photo Chris Valentine - 88Racing.com

Right at the end of the session I managed to string my fastest lap together, over 1 sec faster than last year.  This bettered my testing time from the day before and we less than 1 second off the front row.  However the series is close, and that's only good enough for 9th on the grid.  

Race 1

Unfortunately my fuel gauge had stuck on zero leading up to the race I somehow convinced myself I was marginal on fuel.  I then messed up my start, reacting to the red lights coming on instead of going off, and having to jump on the brakes to avoid a jump-start.  The lights then went out immediately and I was left stranded with no revs.  I lost five places, including to slower Class-B cars.

Once I had gathered by thoughts and set about passing them back the main pack of Boxsters were 10 seconds up the track.  My fuel garage came back to life and I had plenty so needn't have worried.  

In my mirrors I had a fast approaching race spec Boxster which started from the pit lane. With 5 laps remaining he was on me and we swapped places four times in the space of two laps, until sadly for me, on the last lap I over cooked it into paddock hill, sliding wide gifting the place.  

Race 2

I got a much better start, but didn't gain any places.  Three laps of safety car, then ensued to clear two Class-B Boxsters who tangled right behind me on the first lap and ended up in the gravel.

Once racing resumed, the three cars in front (8th to 10th places) were battling and holding each other up, but I wasn't able to overtake.  I also didn't want to get involved with what looked like some robust defending of position. One car eventually overshot into the gravel at Druids and I was closing in fast on 9th place as the chequered flag came out. 

On retuning to the paddock my family and friends told me I was classified in 20th place and the commentators were announcing me as last and a lap down!  After a long walk back to race control and a discussion with the tsl-timing reps they agreed my transponder had missed a lap at the end of the safety car period and they hadn't noticed. 

Once the laps were corrected and the car in front disqualified for some over zealous defending of position, the race result was re-issued with me 9th.  

Not the results that I wanted over the weekend, my target was 7th position. ( I actually get points for 7th due to guest drivers finishing in grant of me.)

It was the first time we have setup the car to have much more over-steer as opposed to my usual safer under-steer style. I managed to avoid any damage or spins and improved my best lap by over 1 second from last year. 

Plenty of positives and only a few weeks until the final triple race meeting at Donington Park.   

Rockingham Race Event

Arriving early Saturday morning we setup in the vast outer paddock. We had high hopes for the weekend, as its the first track of 2014 that I know.  I qualified very well here last year despite not having success in the races.

Qualifying: I waited in the pits until last to find some empty track. It's debatable whether best to follow other cars, and maybe be held up or go it alone. I chose the latter. 

After a lap to warm the tyres I found that the PSM stability control system wouldn't switch off! This this seemed to be severely limiting power out of the corners and felt like it was holding me back.  I was 4 seconds off my expected pace, so pitted to see if we could quickly solve the problem.  However everything we tried disabled ABS too - which would make things worse. 

I went back out for the last 5 minutes of the session and improved my lap time by over a second, but still 3 seconds slower than last year. 

Photograph http://www.dwmotorsportphotography.com/

When the timing sheets were issued, it turned out everyone was significantly slower due to track conditions, with it being very slippy (despite being dry) and whilst 10th I wasn't far off 7th in terms of time. 

Back in the paddock the guys from TF Motorsport and Jasmine showed us how to simply disable the PSM without affecting the ABS and we were confident of improving in the race. 

Race 1: The temperature was in the high 20's as the lights went out. I got a reasonable start, holding position through the first corner.  Half way round the lap, the two cars in front were side by and I nipped up the inside of one into the next. hairpin.  As we got to the fast left hander Gracelands the two cars in front of me went in too fast, too wide, onto the marbles and started to spin.   One went into the gravel but the closest rotated back across he track directly into my path.  I had lifted off immediately I saw the spin which bought me a second to react and dodge right.

The old adage is that you aim for the spinning car, and it won't be there when you get there!  

Unfortunately the cars behind me went left. I heard the collision, all three cars were out of the race with significant damage and the race red flagged.  

On the restart I maintained position, but was always  a second or two behind the cars in front. The heat was extreme and the harder I pushed the more mistakes I made, so came home 7th. 

http://www.dwmotorsportphotography.com/

Race 2: Due to the general lack of grip and the twisty infield section we softened the rear roll-bar and the suspension for Sunday to find more grip and reduce the likelihood of under steer. 

This turned out to be a good move when it started to rain just before the race.  I try to treat light rain as nothing and race it as dry - but in the holding area it got worse, so I hastily got out and softened the suspension a little more. 

With two warm-up laps permitted to get used to conditions I sought different lines through the corners searching for grip. It was very very slippery.

Off the line I got another great wet start, taking two places and holding on, despite a few moments over the first lap or two.  A spinner in front put me 4th, a way back from the top 3 through. The next lap I started to consolidate my highest position ever and build a gap over 5th place. It all looked very promising! 

Then the heavens opened, and a huge downpour ensued.  Coming into the banked turn 1, I very nearly hit the wall; aquaplaning at 90mph, before recovering.  My worn tyres unable to clear the depth of standing water. 

Race control deployed the safety car (A Kia Rio) immediately.  There was so much water I couldn't even keep up with it.  My lap times had gone from 2:10 to 3:40 it was so bad.  Once it pulled in 2 laps later I still couldn't get up to speed and was picked off one by one by the cars behind. I finally finished 9th on track and 7th in class. 

Some good progress, but still not on the pace with the front runners.  We are definitely being hampered by our low budget which only allows a single set of wheels and tyres, a slightly under powered engine, being over the minimum weight by over 20kgs and not having all the performance  modifications permitted by the regulations. 

Croft Race Event

We traveled north; a 300 mile trip for me, to Darlington on the Friday morning.   The Croft circuit is pretty basic in terms of facilities. Portaloos, a stand-pipe and burger van.  What more could you need?  
 
Arriving at lunchtime we grabbed a section of tarmac as our base, next to the TF Motorsport truck, who'd transported the car ahead for us.  Not having an awning meant we'd work out of the boot of the Freelander and expect to get wet over the weekend.
 

We had to get a new left front tyre fitted in anticipation of wet weather, the others are half worn (3.5mm tread) and will do for a while yet.  Heading out for the first of two 30min practice sessions, the track is flat and fast with some 4th gear 100mph corners.  I managed several 5 lap stints, reducing tyre pressures as the temperatures increased.  I finished the day setting times a couple of seconds down on the front runners and pretty happy with how I ran given the limited time to learn the track and make setup changes to suit conditions.

A bonus in the evening was a Mexican food and drink night put on by some of the driver's families which went down really well with everyone.

Saturday Qualifying: 
We awoke to torrential race on Saturday morning, so arriving at the circuit we hastily changed the roll-bar and damper settings back for wet conditions.  Qualifying was very difficult with standing water in many corners and all the way down the start finish straight.  I qualified 13th as the slowest Boxster, 2 seconds off the next best.

Afterwards we found that in my haste I'd set the dampers wrong and the settings were all over the place. This married with the fact almost everyone else has a spare set of wheels with new tyres gave me some solace.

Race 1

The first race is before lunch. We guessed the track would be partially dry, but on the green flag lap it's fully dry.  On the grid I somehow missed the lights and got passed by all 3 production spec Boxsters down to turn 1.

I'm thinking I'll pick them off one by one, but coming into the last section of the lap mud got sprayed up across my windscreen.  In my efforts to get the wipers to clear it I managed over rev out of the hairpin, put two wheels on the wet grass and a 180 spin was inevitable.  Luckily following cars avoided me and and I got the car onto the grass out of thier way.
On rejoining I was dead last so spent the race picking off the slower Porsche 924's.
 
Race #1 Spin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HaxuQ0A9I8U#t=180
 
Race 2
The weather was again changeable, but I went with a full dry setup, determined to make the best of it.
 

I got a much better start gaining a position and keeping up with the battle for 7th place ahead and making it a four way fight down to 10th.  With stiffer suspension settings I found I could push harder through the faster corners to keep up and trail-brake into the slower ones to gain on the cars in front.  I felt confident of attacking for position towards the end of the race.

 

Unfortunately a car went off into the barriers and the safety car was inadvertently put out onto track and we all followed it round for the last 5 laps.  I finished 9th, much happier that I could run with the mid pack of cars.