31st May

It’s been barely two weeks since Anglesey and we find ourselves at Silverstone for another MSVR run meeting. This time we are on the national circuit at Silverstone, I’ve driven the GP circuit before but not the national. So what does every racer do these days to learn a circuit? Dig out the circuit guide and get reading – bit 1990’s! Instead I fire up the Xbox and load up Forza Motorsport 2, pick a car similar to the Radical…ok it was a v12 BMW prototype but it was close and get practicing.

Saturday and we are at the track, greeted by a blue skies and sunshine which makes a change given the weather of recent weeks. Simon (Tilling Motorsport) invited use to pitch up with him and I am never one to refuse an invitation.

The format for the day was a 20 minute qualifying session followed by 2 races. The first race would be a standard sprint race over 20 minutes. The second is a 40 minute race with a compulsory pitstop. Due to the length of the second race we are going to have to take on fuel at the pitstop. The fuel filler is hidden under the rear bodywork so I had to modify this to allow the car to be fuelled with out removing the body. As usual Merlin came to the rescue providing everything I needed to do the job. Neil (Corinium Motorsport) provided the raw materials to make the new brackets. Apart from this modification I’ve done nothing else to the car since Anglesey.

Qualifying - we were first out at 9am. I made an educated guess on suspension settings, Silverstone is billiard board smooth compared to good old Combe. The car was to soft at Anglesey so I basically used those settings a benchmark. I’ve got a new pair of rear tyres, because of the compound I run I was a bit concerned that they would last all day so the plan for qualifying was to get a idea of where the track goes and squirt in a reasonable time. The grid was made up of sports racing cars like the Radical, sports cars like Caterhams and a class for the Porsche club. This meant we had a lot of big scary 911’s that were very quick in a straight line and had issues seeing us smaller cars on the corners. In total there were 31 starters.

I get out on track for qualifying and follow Simon around, he’s been there before so guessed he’ll show me the lines. Remarkably the Xbox game wasn’t that far out and I felt reasonably at home within a few laps After about 3 laps I was already catching the slower cars and they were everywhere! Going into Copse at full chat and being greeted with a gaggle of cars doing 30mph slower than you certainly concentrates the mind. I had a bit of a problem getting past on 911 and finally got him on the exit of Luffield. I was a bit PO’d that he had held me up but as it was it meant the next lap was almost car free. I got my head down and put what felt like a decent lap in, the next lap I was back in traffic and at this point I decided to return to the pits to save the tyres.

The one decent lap put me 3^rd on the grid. 2^nd was only a few tenths ahead of me. Pole was held by a Chiron LMP23 which was 2 seconds quicker, but it should be as its in a different league to the rest of the cars on the grid.

Race 1 – I line up on 3^rd spot, there is something special about being on the grid of Silverstone. The Chiron engages his launch control and I think to myself I am going to have my work cut out here. The lights come on and almost straight away go off again. I get a decent start and to my surprise I am making ground on the Chiron. I keep on the power and take the lead at the first corner….to say I am bit surprised would be an understatement! I look in the mirror and I have a small gap already. Keeping my foot in I put in a perfect first lap (for me anyway). I cross the line and I already have a 2.5second lead over the Chiron. By lap 10 I had pulled out over 20 seconds on second place man. Everything was going really well and carving through the traffic kept me entertained. One friendly 911 did try and finish my race early, I managed to get along side him on the run out Becketts but I couldn’t get past him. So I am on the right handside of his car and the next corner, Brooklands, is a left. I just get into the braking zone and the 911 come across on me. I had to go off the track and brake on the dirt to stop the car. I really thought my time was up but somehow I got it all gathered up and with the help of one marshal who was waving his blue flag for England – thanks whoever you are! – he finally saw me and gave me room. The rest of the race was just a case of putting the laps together and avoiding a accident with a slower car. I kept expecting to see the second place man to appear on my tail but he never appeared. I cross the line in first place, leading from flag to flag is something I’ve never done and it was a real buzz. The final winning margin was just over 15 seconds.

Race 2 - Good news is the rear tyres are lasting and should do the second race which is one worry off my mind. However I have another on which is the refueling. Barry and Justin are the nominated fillers, lucky them. The pit stop regs say that you must be stationary for 35 seconds. However when we did a test refuel it took over 1m30. So I knew then a win wasn’t on the cards as the other front runners from race one were not refueling. So I decided there I had a race upto the pitstop and then see what happens after, you never know as the other drivers might have problems etc.

Race 2 grid was made up form Race 1 finishing positions so I was starting on pole, you know I mentioned earlier that it felt special being on the grid at Silverstone…well nothing compared to being sat on pole! The lights go out and I get a rocket ship start, by the time I get to Maggots I have already got a decent gap again. Again I cross the line with a 1.3second gap however I’ve got a small vibration on the car, I assume it’s a wheel that has gone out of balance. By lap 4 the Chiron has caught me and takes the lead from me on lap 5. Whatever his problem was in race one it looks like he had sorted it. I tried to hang on but I think I needed another 100hp! I am soon aware that I have a Speeds, driven by Jay Wheals, breathing down my neck. Excellent I thought, lets race. He gets me on the brakes into Brooklands on lap 7 and I glue myself to his tail, my thinking is I’ll let him lead for a while. The traffic is hard work and we are both gaining/loosing time to each other as we try and get past the porches, he did loose some bodywork more than once. On lap 13 I take advantage of the traffic and nick 2^nd back off him but he gets that back on lap 16. This is great fun, our cars are very even so we are running very close to each other. Lap 21 and Barry puts out the fuel board and I come into the pits. The guys start putting the fuel in which takes longer than expected. Add to that I made mistake in that I should’ve got out of the car while the car was refueled. This wasn’t mentioned in the briefing but in hindsight I should have checked the blue book (never see Hamilton getting out though!). This action upset the clerk of the course a little. I get out on track and I as I come past the pits I see I’ve got a drive through penalty – opps! The vibration in the car was also getting a lot worse and it was starting to concern me. I come into the pits on the next lap and do my drive through. Surprisingly I was still running in 5^th place but now the vibration is getting really bad. I do another lap and I am now having problems seeing from the vibration so I decide to call it a day and return to the pits and retire. Looks like the problem was the left front tyre had overheated and it was falling apart. Bit disappointing but the win from the first race and the fantastic dice for 2^nd in the second race more than made up for it. Great day.

Thanks for Barry and Justin for helping me out today and cheers to Simon for putting me up (or should that be putting up with me). Simon had a great drive in the second race starting in 30^th and finishing 3^rd.