Glynnsport :: Castle Combe Test



Navigation: Home Gallery News Calendar Sponsorship Contact Us Links	Castle Combe Test - 25th August - Oh Dear!:
	We arrived at Combe, Tim and Terry were already there with the car completely rebuilt and looking amazing.

	What a fantastic job they had done. Whilst rebuilding it they discovered that all the dampers on the car had major problems; the two rear dampers were completely stuck on the hardest setting and so had no rebound at all - we may as well have had planks of wood in the back! The two front dampers were also stuck, but on totally different settings, the inevitable result was that the car had been lifting off the circuit and out of balance, in particular at corners. Anyway, that's history now, and to start with Tim went out and did 4 laps to ensure that the set-up was correct. Having consistently done 1min 11.5secs, there was no doubt that the car was in fantastic shape. So my turn at last, somewhat apprehensive given what had happened last time out and feeling big expectations given that Tim had fairly easily put in some fairly quick times. In my first session, I went around tentatively in order to get used to the feel of the car. It was handling totally differently from before and I was struggling to get used to it, and indeed put the 'demons' out of my mind. As my times were slow, in the second session it was important to try and pick the speed up. Quite what I was thinking about I don't know, it was almost as if I was so focused on what I was doing, I couldn't see the wood for the trees (or in this case tyre barrier). The next thing I knew, I was coming up Avon rise pretty quickly and got completely off line. Realising I was approaching Quarry too fast, I hit the brakes at the worst possible time, right on the brow of the rise. Inevitably, the back end was light and the rear wheels locked straight up causing the back end to spin out in front of me. Here we go again! I could see the tyre wall getting closer and closer, just as I thought I had scrubbed off enough speed, we hit the grass and that was that, front first into the tyre wall. St, st, S**T! The only good news was that the damage was restricted to the front end - but nevertheless, another new bonnet, new radiator and rad frame needed all over again. This was the lowest point in my racing expeditions to date. As far as I was concerned I must be useless and should give up before damaging my wallet, or worse, any more. However, Tim was having none of it and insisted that I went out again in his Tuscan. I couldn't believe that he'd want me to, but he seemed confident that I'd be fine. I finished the test day off somewhat cautiously as no way was I prepared to get even close to damaging his car. Consequently, a disappointing 1min 20secs was the best time I could manage. There was no doubt that the crash at Oulton Park had affected me big time. The support from Tim and Terry was amazing and once again they managed to get the car fixed and ready for the race at Combe just 48 hours later.
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