Back To Brands Hatch for More Fun and another Trophy!

I arrived on Saturday Evening, a bit later than hoped due to being diverted through Yaxley as a new footbridge was being hoisted across my route to the A1. On route also discovered, that the Winnebago is only about 3 inches narrower that the Dartford tolls... which makes life interesting.

Anyway, after the storming performance at Anglesey I was actually a little concerned about Brands. I've proberbly done more track miles here than anywhere else and I was rather worried that I would drive it in my old comfortable (and slow) Style, plus I hadn't tested so was bound to be a bit rusty

The Championship background was that may great mate Neil Constable-Berry and Stephen Dean are 18 and 14 points ahead of me in the championship respectively.  But they've scored points in every round so far and I've already had my two dropped results due to a failed driveshaft and a failed clutch.  So assuming consistency from here on in and allowing for their drops we're really only three or four points apart for Class B championship 3rd.  I've beaten them both in races this year so I was on a mission to demote them again at Brands and get right on terms with them for Championship class B 3rd

Practice

We were first out in the  morning, but mercifully the track was dry and pretty grippy.  It took me a while but I worked up the track in a nice progression.  57.8, 57.5 ,56.8 ,56.5 ,56. .55.5, 55.3, 54.6,  and so on, actually on what I think would have been my fasted lap I moved over to let a flying Martin Brooks and Derek Jones through.... still can't shake that back marker mentality! 

Most of the while the in car lap time kept me posted on my progress so I was pretty happy.

Anyway when arrived back at the Winnebago a Grinning Duncan shoved the stopwatch with 54.6 unde rmy nose.  Cool! previous best was 55.8 so that's another 1.2 seconds off my Brands PB.

The results had me 18th on the grid and 4th in class B 1 place above Neil Constable Berry who is currently flying high in the class B table... but who is very much being hunted down by me.  Amazingly in the next two rows towards the front were Stephen Dean,Tim Hoverd, Colin Chapman and Josh Smith (2nd in classB) that's pretty exulted company who breathing rarified air as far as I'm concerned! 

RGB is so tight that between 5th and 15th place every body is in the 53s.  ten places separated by less than a second!  She's still a bit tail happy under power so I want to try and get a hold of this power oversteer before Cadwell

Race 1

We grid up and its a new experience for me to be staring at the back of one Mr T Hoverd through the gap between Colin Chapman and Stephen in the row ahead.   They hold us on the lights for at least three seconds, and due to Hi specs ineffective hand bake, I have to do a heel toe start to stop the car from rolling. This is basically crap. However on the Run to paddock I do see a gap between Tim and Colin that I'm going to go for ... but Stephen Jumps in there quite decisively and in the first corner confusion I lose a place to Rob Grant..... Arse! Not being keen to repeat the crap performance of falling off in the Allcomers at Anglesey I'm being a bit too circumspect on the cold tyres, and Neil gets me around the outside at Druids next time round.... double Arse I left that door open!

Initiate Steely determination mode! Neil and I then spend the next few laps glued together... never more than two or three cars lengths apart  , and mostly a lot  less than one. Him defending like crazy and me crawling all over him, trying ultra hard to make a clean pass without contact... he is after all a good mate.  A couple of times I'm along side out of paddock but my tighter line hurts my speed and he gently closes the door. Similarly I'm going for the Apex at the Mcleans`Surtees complex and if I was more assertive I'd have made the pass. His motor is pretty strong down the straights and he can usually pull away a tad. It goes on like this hammer and tongs for 10 laps.  Kate and the Kids in the crowd said it was great to watch... real entertainment.... It was pretty fun in the car too! Eventually my better speed through the complex puts me right on his tail on the entry to Clearways, He runs slightly deep and is about half a car off the apex.  I'm alongside but cant make the pass stick as his strong motor starts to tell on the straight, but I'm much closer than before. I modulate my brake pressure at Paddock to be right behind him again and he runs wide and gets a little out of shape, I grab the apex and we're side by side at the apex and on the run up to Druids,  this time I brake slightly later, hold the inside line and gently squeeze him on the exit so he puts two wheels on the kerb/grass.  The pass is made and I then hold the defensive line to Graham Hill Bend H to complete the job. However Neil is still there fighting back... now it is my turn to have my mirrors filled with yellow Fury. He's not giving up.  

Looking at the video I'm plainly not fully on it... very defensive, and dont open up any sort of gap.A couple of laps later I run slightly deep into Druids, Neil closes up and we just tag on the right rear corner as I pull the car back to the apex.   It's like that lap after lap...fighting hard but clean for every corner, every straight, every apex!All the defending has cost us time and we get lapped by Derek just before the finish... but I managed to hold Neil off all the way to the chequered flag and we finish 3 10th apart. Now I know what it feels like to be in a race long dogfight!  and even after all that defending  I've taken another 2 tenths of my time. 54.4!  Whooo Hoo!

When the results come out poor Josh wasn't seen by the time keepers and has been given a DNF when he actually finishes second in Class B.  For a moment there was some excitement that I'd achieved another class B podium... but it was rightly awarded to Stephen Dean when Josh was quite correctly reinstated.   Neil and I congratulate each other in the paddock on some great fun and great driving.  Where we tagged the rear body work is broken, and Neil has some red paint on his yellow fury.   But the Kevlar in the carbon weave on my car has held it together  and means that it is basically just concave.  Duncan panel beats it back into shape!

Fab... now for Race 2.

Race 2 is the replacement race for the season opener that should have been held at Snetterton but was abandoned due to rain.  This is a bonus as if we had raced then I would have been nowhere near as fast as I am now and would have finished a long way further down the field.

This time I'm another place further up the grid and once again directly behind Stephen Dean with Neil  two slots and 1 row further back... This time Stephen is my target as I need to demote them both If I'm to keep moving forward in the class B championship. Once again we're held on the lights and the whole grid is creeping and peoples engines revs are being bounced up and down as they touch the brakes to stop the roll. 

Again a carp start, and Rob and Andy Grant get between me and my quarry along with Stuart Tanton......grrrrrrr Rob in a brave move around the outside of Druids..... where incidentally Paul Rodgers has just outbraked himself into the Kitty litter promoting me into class b 3rd. As usual I'm way faster than the guys in front through the complex and I climb all over Andy in Clearways and out drag him under the Gantry to move one directly behind Stephen.  Josh Who is now in Class B first is only three cars ahead and less than a second away (he's struggling with grip after a spring change) so If only I could despatch both Stephen (whom I passed at Anglesey and Rob Grant) and I'll be duelling with Josh.... Wow!. 

I dispatch Stuart Tanton with a similar drafting move a lap later, and now I'm right behind Stephen Dean. Sadly its not to be, After I miss an opportunity to pass him as he runs wide into Clearways ,Stephen is not going to give up class B second easily and puts Rob Grant between us at Paddock.   I then spend the remainder of the race getting very frustrated behind Rob.  he's defending well and I'm not being consistent enough to pressure him into a mistake. Plus Stuart Tanton is keeping me honest! Watching the video I eventually decide to take the points, as I can't afford any more DNFs but I do manage another 54.4 on lap 13.  Neil was some distance behind and said later that he never really got up to speed and finished a lapdown.

So there we are another very succesful and improving weekend.

New PBs every time I went out, (-1.2 secs) and a best theorectical lap of 53.3 :-)I demoted NCB a place in both races which helped in the championship but Stephen D gained a point on me in both races which didn't.

And I got another 3rd place trophy.... this one is rather an oddity.  It is inscribed with Snetterton rather than Brands (as this was a replacement race). But Snetterton is a circuit where I've never actually set a wheel on it in anger. 

This glorious season of improvement continues :-)    Another great weekend!

Next off too Cadwell where I beat Stephen last time out... but Neil was some 4 seconds ahead of me..... needless to say I'm going to test.

Now I'm 13th in the Championship

A "Moment" at Anglesey

It seems that blogger now supports video, so here's a "moment" at Anglesey. The entry on the start/finish straight was problematical all weekend and here is a little clip of when I got it quite a bit wrong.  I distinctly remember thinking "Don't Lift" as I was facing the pit wall as a big weight transfer in this slide would have had me spinning along the wall wiping both ends off the car.

One for the end of season blooper reel I think.

What fun in the Sun Anglesey

Thursday/Friday Testing

Duncan and I arrived at around 2am after a pretty long drive across the centre of the country. we simply crashed out until the  following day.  Arriving at night meant we missed all the scenery and the circuit is located in an area of outstanding beauty  I guess we saw it at its best over the weekend. And I'm so pleased that the club got great weather for it's inaugural meeting at the massively remodelled track.  I expect it'll be a firm favorite on the calendar for years.  It certainly will be with me. :-)

Fridays test got under way after Duncan and I had walked the circuit early in the morning.  the best way to describe it is like Cadwell, but with better run off and  better scenery and wider tarmac.  Like Cadwell it also features a split between a blindingly fast section and a slower technical section.  You need to be committed in both.. but in quite different ways. The Tarmac is slippy in places and the corners represent many different challenges.

So as I was bedding new F+R brakes with new compounds, and learning the track we didn't time the first session.  The compounds required a tweak to the break balance and I spent most of the session sorting this stuff out.  It didn't stop me having one rear lock up induced spin where I ended up facing the wrong way down the hill at Rocket 1 with two cars bearing down on me.  So I sat still and let them do what they needed to do to miss me and then got back on it.  Duncan wasn't timing me but guessed at mid 1:25s ish.   The car was still very predictable in handling and I was provoking lift off over steer to get me around some of the corners particularly Rocket 2 which I just couldn't find the right line for.  Rocket 2 and the entry to Peel proved to be my "Problem" corners all weekend.

In the next session with confidence growing and the car moving around nicely under me I start driving my times down.  the car is a bit tail happy but controllable and my times come down to 1:23,1:22,1:21,1:21, 1:20 .  As my familiarity with the circuit grows I'm simply getting faster and faster.  The nose is very pointy and I'm getting good grip everywhere except the entry to Peel and the S/F straight which everyone universally agrees are very slippy.  I abandon my confidence dab on the brakes for Church and start taking it with smaller and smaller lifts and experimenting with flat in 4th and snatch 5th on exit or short shifting to see which works best,  Apex speed is of the order of 104mph and I actually think it could be taken flat if only I had the balls.

Its an absolutely lovely circuit to drive and I'm having such fun... big grin-tastic fun all the time.  In this session my benchmarks competitors  do a 1:18.2 (Tim) and  a 1:19.2 (Neil Constable - Berry).  The front running boys are in the high 15s low 16s Championship leader Derek Jones is likely to post in 1:13-1:14s

We let some of the air out of the tyres to and I go out again fully resolved to get into the teens this time.
13 laps later I come in.  I'm confident I've got in the teens, and learned the circuit.... the tyres are going away a bit and I decide not to risk the car any more until race day, plus after the previous late night the mind fade is kicking in too.  I've achieved my objectives, namely learned the circuit, and gone waaaay faster.  My speed is evidenced by the people I'm barging past (formerly my peers at the back of the pack) and the few people who are coming past me... normally the top 10 drivers.... ooh this could be good.

Well, Duncan can hardly contain himself......"Your slowest lap was a 1:22" and your fastest was 1:18.4  WHooooooo Hoooo! Damn that feels good :-).

Top Top fun.... best day in a race car for a very long time well since Brands in fact :-).  And I had one or two moments flat out through Church where I was indeed "whooo Hoooing" in my helmet through the sheer exhilaration of it.

Saturday Dawns bright sunny and Dry and I'm confident I can go even better.  We heed Derek's advice and drop the tyre pressures down to  17psi to combat the heat  and head out to practice.  I'm pushing harder and harder and have a big sideways moment on the entry to the start finish straight, which I collect really well while keeping my foot hard in and then pass Duncan on the Gantry giving me the quit signal.  it takes me until the hairpin to decide if he is telling me to stop sliding it or if I should come in.  I opt for come in and it appears the front splitter is hanging down and wearing on the track after an ill judged exit that had me  straddling the curbs of The Banking earlier in the session. So we have to abandon the rest of practice
As a result my best time was a 19.9 and puts me 26th of 30 on the grid.... not the result I was hoping for and a bit out of position relative to my testing times Derek Jones Posts 1:13.4 having never seen the track before practice!  the man is simply a genius.

Still we fix the splitter and then discuss the handling... what was fun yesterday is now costing me time so I want to dial out some of the oversteer without sacrificing the good front end grip. We decide on a slightly stiffer front ARB and 1 click off the rear dampers.

And we're now ready for the best race I've driven so far. :-)

2 slots up the grid is Stephen Dean the next class B car and and 9 slots further up is Neil CB also class B and 3rd in class B.  These guys are my targets.

The race kicks off and I'm a bit circumspect for the first couple of laps until the heat comes up in the tyres.  I've lost no plac

es   but Neil Palmer  and Andy Grant  are between me and Stephen Dean.  I pass Neil Palmer with a good drive out of the Banking on the run up to Church and get Andy 1 lap later after he fails to hit the Apex at Church (where he brakes) and I nail the apex after a short lift , carry more speed and take him on the inside on the exit. The car is much less tail happy and totally predictable so the suspension mods worked like a charm.

Stephen and I are now fighting  for 4th in class B for a few laps.  Well, I reel him in over two or three laps.  My extra speed through Church and better braking at Rocket are really starting to tell and eventually I get a stronger run out of Church, Keep close along the back straight, out brake him on the out side, go round the outside of him  at  Rocket 1, steal the Apex for Rocket2  forcing him to run wide and complete the pass on the exit curbs by squeezing him gently.   That's me in class B 4th and we're about 10 minutes In.

The Next guy up the road is Matt Green, but he's some way off and I'm having a tough time keeping neat and tidy without the focus of another car plus I'm bloody tired after yesterday, the heat and the late drive over.  I'm a bit mind faded for a few laps and lose some of my smoothness.  I'm in the wrong gear here and there... nothing major just not "on it" like I was. I lose a few seconds to the next group.

On lap 12 Derek comes by in the lead, and I regain my focus.... breath through the tiredness and get back in the game.  I breeze past a few back markers   and then a yellow Fury comes into sight.  That's Neil CB!  The gap is about 10 seconds and I now spend the next few laps pulling him all the time wondering if I've got enough race time left to get on terms with him.  The lap times show I'm taking nearly two seconds a lop out of him and within 5 laps I'm right up behind him.  My extra speed through Church and under braking at Rocket making all the difference again and Neil did later tell me that he had a long brake pedal so that helped too.  On the last lap but two I'm climbing all over him, hes totally defensive  and runs wide at the exit from the Corkscrew and I've got the line for the pass into the SF straight.  As I'm completing the pass I get blue flagged and lapped by Tim Gray and John Cutmore.  But having fought so hard for the place I'm not about to give it up by jumping out of the way so John gets 1 cars width at the Apex to turn 1 by and that's it.

1 more lap and then the last lap board comes out.  During these final two laps I'm broadly keeping pace with JC and he came over later to congratulate me on my performance which I thought was very nice of him.  Then its  the last lap. I'm being a little circumspect which allows Neil to take about half a second out of me.  But I concentrate on hitting the brake, turn and apex points and know that If I do that right then he can't get past.

Then it's the chequered flag and I've done it.  I've closed down and fought in live racing for a class podium and beat a guy who three races ago was  much much faster than me.  And he has a lighter car with the same power.  What a feeling!

Afterwards there was more to come.  I get complimented on my speed by various members of the paddock. Neil Palmer comes to tell me that he was very impressed because once past I just disappeared into the distance.  Best race lap 1:17.35 , just 6th hundreths off  Tim Hs time and best theoretical according to the DL1 1:16:35  WOW!  That prompted a "Bloody Hell Adrian" from Tim :-) and would have put me on class B pole had I done it in practice.

Icing on the cake... I won a free set of tyres in the post race drawer :-)

Sunday wasn't so good but I don't care. Flushed with success I span early in the Allcomers practice because I stupidly hadn't allowed the tyres to warm up while chasing Radicals DOoh!  I still Qualified 6th on the Grid though directly behind Tim in a 1:18.5.  My plan was to try and stay with Tim in the early laps and then battle with him later

In the race I span out of 6th place  at Peel on lap 1 due to not allowing for cold tyres,  and over driving and not being used to running at that pace in a pack of front running cars. 

It was plainly a case of  Newly fast former back marker not having the race craft to run in company higher speed.  But I've learned that lesson now and will do better next time.  

Having spun and ending up last  last I fought my way back through the pack until I got behind Matt Jones from Kitcars. We spent the next few laps fighting tooth and nail for 6th place but I never made it past... His Zetec coming on Cam just as my Blade ran out of puff meant that my better corner speeds were nullified as I could never quite complete the pass.  He gave me an abject lesson in defensive driving and shut the door quite firmly on me a few times. Eventually I got bored, frustrated and did something stupid.. spinning again at Rocket.... with that I gave him the place and decided to keep the car for the RGB race, unfortunately with  only one lap to go a slipping clutch forced a DNF and lack of spares in the paddock forced a DNS for the last RGB race so I got to watch Tim from the hill and didn't get to fight Neil CB for 3rd in class B again

SO I left Anglesey with a much improved reputation, it seemed every body I met commented positively on my improvement  (setting aside the overdriving thing as that is one reputation I will not reinforce)
A second class B podium although sadly no pot.
A race where Tim H didn't lap me in 28 minutes of running, in fact I was only lapped by the top 4
A new set of race tyres
Much higher confidence in the car.  The biggest grin and worst case of Sunburn I've had in ages.

In fact everybody in our corner of the paddock left with something...

If I remember correctly
Colin Chapman   2nd in Class C  Richly deserved after a weekend of intensive spannering :-)
Neil 3rd in Class B (race 2)
Me 3rd in Class B (race 1)
Tim 3rd in All Comers
Paul 2 x 1st in Class B. Obviously!
Derek 2 x 1st in Class A, 2 x Out right wins and Lap Records.... again obviously :-)

Top Top weekend ... roll on Brands :-)

My challenge now is to go to Brands and use my new found speed rather than drive it in the slow safe way that I've taught myself to do previously.  AND  get better at running at high speed in a gaggle of cars.