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23rd October - Snetterton - Final Test and Race of 2005!: |
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Testing: I'd never driven at Snet before, all I knew was that there were some very fast straights punctuated by some tricky corners, hence we decided to test the day before the race. On arrival the circuit was dry, and I was determined to prove to myself that I was fully back up to speed. The first session went pretty well, putting in a respectable 1"17.6secs. We downloaded the Pi System data onto a laptop, which showed that my theoretical best time was 1"16.8secs, so I knew I had more to come. In the next session, I got down to 1"17.1secs when suddenly my gearbox broke with a big 'clunk'. Fortunately, I had a spare with me, and Tim and Terry worked quickly to get the spare in and me out again for the next session. |
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Can you believe it, after just six
laps, that brand new spare gearbox went too! The only option left now was
that Tim kindly offered to lend me his spare box which was set with
completely different ratio's to mine. At least it would enable us to get
back out in time for the final session. Although the gearbox didn't let me
down, I was unable to improve on my time. The Pi data showed that I was
short-shifting, a clear indication of me not being used to the gearbox.
For the race tomorrow I'd really need to concentrate on getting the revs
up high enough before changing gear. Race One: The final race of the season was going to be excellent. 16 TVR's out together and a double header to look forward to. The weather was fine, all I had to do was get the gear changed sorted. My first qualifying session was a little disappointing, with my best time at 1"18.7secs. I was struggling to get used to the gearbox. In the second qualifying session, I improved on the time a little, to 1"18.1secs, but I was still frustrated as I knew that I was a good one second off the pace I achieved when testing with my own gearbox. Still, we're out the and ready for race one. I didn't get a great start and Gerrard Coakley went past me at the first bend. Now I was really cross as I knew all my times had been quicker than his throughout the qualifying sessions, so I set out to overtake him back. |
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On the third lap, coming up Senna
Straight, I was right up his boot, outbraked him into Riches Corner and
took the inside line to go past him. It felt great, and I knew my
confidence was coming back now, two laps later, and the race had to be
stopped as unfortunately one of the Tasmins has come off, and hit the
barrier at Riches. We lined up again to restart a shortened race, and away
we went - well most of us! Unfortunately, Elliot Mason stalled his Tuscan
and Dave Caroline was unable to avoid him. Dave and the Griff behind him
both ended up in the pit wall and Race One had to be abandoned. Luckily
nobody was badly injured. The final signature I needed on my license was
proving to be illusive. Race Two: Race Two had a depleted grid after the events of the previous outing. Once again, I got off to a slow start and yet again Gerrard went past me into turn 1. Two laps later, and I completed the exact same passing manoeuvre as I did in the first race. What a great feeling! I had worked my way up to sixth place now, and there was a big gap ahead of me, and a big gap behind me too. There was little point in pushing it hard anymore as it wasn't going to make a difference to the result now. I decided that the best thing to do was to ensure that I finished well and got my final signature. I finished in 6th place, got my final signature, and we ceremoniously removed my rookie cross. |
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It felt great, and to top it all, the
prize for my perseverance was an unexpected third place overall in the
championship. I'm looking forward to the 2006 season already, but it feels a very long way off... |
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