Castle Combe – 27th August 2007
There are now only 3 rounds of the Special GT’s left, we are lying 2nd in the class championship. With the string of good results over the past year confidence was high for a good day. To add to this confidence it looked like summer was finally here.
It is the 25th anniversary of the Special GT’s at Combe and to mark this occasion the organisers have arranged for our race to be focus of the grid walkabout. The downside of this was we were the first race and thus the first out to qualify in the morning. We haven’t done anything to the car since the last race as it was going so well at the last event. This meant all we had to do was a quick spanner check and the car was ready for its 8.40am start!
As usual Combe organisers were on the ball and we were soon out on track. The GT races had been split again like earlier in the year, this meant that there was one race for classes A and B and another race for classes C and D. The downside to this was that all classes qualified at the same time so with 36 cars of various speeds it was a very crowded session. The track seems very slick and the car was under/over steering everywhere. I did however manage to punch in a 1:07.2 lap, which was only a few tenths off my best time. Back in the paddock and the consensus there was a lack of grip on track. I put this down to the track being a bit damp from the early morning dew. Still we were 6th on the grid so it was a good starting point.
The grid walk about allowed the general public to come onto the grid to look around the cars before the start of the race. The start was delayed because one of the drivers was missing from his car, these delays had me watching my engine temperatures start to very close a worrying level. After what seemed an age we finally got the green flag lap underway. I concentrated on getting the brakes up to temp and the tyres somewhere handy. Soon we are back on the grid waiting for the lights. The 5 second board goes up and the lights come on and they shortly after go out. I get a cracking start upto 5th place going into Quarry. The car is under-steering really badly but I get on the power upto the Esses. Again there is a lack of grip and I am struggling to keep Shane Marshal behind me. Sure enough Shane slips through at Tower and powers away. Simon Tilling is on my tale and I try to string some decent laps together.
The understeer isn’t improving with tyre heat and I have to get the back moving to get around the corners. I was also having to brake earlier which was allowing Simon to get up under my rear wing. I manage to hold off Simon for 4 laps then going into Quarry I miss my braking point and have to hit the anchors hard. The net result is a badly flat spotted tyre, which makes the car feel like it was going to shake its-self apart. Just what I needed! Going into Camp I am suddenly aware of a white Radical (Simon) on my inside. He has 3 of his 4 wheels on the grass and is coming past one way or another! I give him a bit of room, well enough for him to get back on track and he passes me on the exit of Camp. I trying to cling onto the back of him but the vibration is really making things hard work.
I can see John Alley in his Radical SR3 bearing down on my so I settle down again to maintain the gap on John. The car is still under-steering and just refusing to turn in correctly, couple that to the constant vibration from the flat spotted tyre this wasn’t doing the confidence a lot of good. That all said I am still punching consistent 1:07’s in. The threat from John subsides after he makes a mistake going into the Esses.
Lap 11 I come across Guy Woodward in his 3.5l Jade coming back on the track after a off at Bobbies. Simon has already passed him so I try to do the same. The Jade has a lot of horsepower and he just pulls away on the straights but I can reel him back in on the brakes and corners. On lap 12 I out brake Guy going into Quarry and them make my Radical as wide as possible to stop him coming buy. The next 3 laps I have one eye on the track and the other on the mirrors trying to keep the powerful Jade behind me. On the final lap Guy takes dive at me going into the Esses. I close the door as much as possible but he still manages to thread his car between the tyre wall and me. He comes past me completely sideways on the brakes and I expect him to over cook it, to my amazement he manages to gather is all up. I do everything I can to get past again but the extra power of the Jade keeps me at bay.
I cross the line just behind him for 7th place over all and 5th in class. Not the best result in the world. The guys in front have raised the bar again and they’ve found another second on me so I’m 2 seconds off them now. So I need to go back to the drawing board now to get the chassis working properly again. I suspect the front tyres have probably given their best so they will be replaced. I’ll then sit down with Neil from Corinium Motorsport and see if we can get some more grip from the car. The last upgrade is me, I need to improve if I am to get back up the sharp end again. We are at Donington Park this Sunday so I’ll use these races to test the car out ready for the last two rounds at Combe.
As usual thanks for my family for their support and my sister for the BBQ. Barry and Justin for the pit support and Simon for use of his awning again.
