A Baptism of Fire

[guru_1071]

great write up

my first ever race was at brands hatch in a 1071cc classic mini

I was on a shared grid with the lma super tourers.

in the race I was going down the start straight doing about 70mph when a pair of super tourers doing god knows what speed (140 plus maybe) went either side of me with about a foot to spare.

both my mirrors folded in with the slip stream.......

one thing you need to remember about qualifying (particularly when you are a novice and trying to get the cross of the back) is that you just need to do the three laps to get on the back of the grid, once the three laps are done you can push on a bit, but there is no point trying to keep up with other cars and binning it on the first lap

[Dollyman1850]

Ah…You never forget your first race…Great write up. It is very hard to get over to someone who hasn't done it just how it feels….Surprised it has not been made illegal yet!

Fantastic little write up.

My first race was in July just past..was living off the buzz for at least 2 weeks….



Neil.

[confucuis]

Great read, even I was feeling nervous reading that!
Keep us up dated for the next rounds!

[mcdjl]

Thurbs said:

- Don’t slow too much for yellows, I was way too cautious.

Being a (trainee) marshall I think most of the guys in orange would disagree with that statement. You may have been too cautious compared to the other drivers however, but thats a different thing entirely. Heres hoping you stay away from the likes of me

[Rob175kks]

Great write up mate! You've really sold racing to me!

[littlepaul]

Well done to you , was a great write up. I was there over the weekend as a spectator was a great weekend. Also took many photos can look and see if got any of your car on track , if you wanted some more photos, will have a look .

[Thurbs]

Here is the shunt from "Mr T Bone's" perspective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke-Bd73W_lY

As I thought really, knowhere to go...

[cookracing]

Nice write up and well done for being completely honest! I had the same nervousness and also had a hit (much worse though) after only a few laps of my weekend (see http://cookracing.co.uk/).

Only problem is this stuff is dangerously addictive only much more expensive than a drug habbit!


I'm hoping to be back next year in PBMWC

[Thurbs]

So just finished my second weekend... and it was not quite "out of the frying pan in to the fire" I was expecting. The meeting was a CSCC mega grid with a combined entry of TinTops, New Millennium and Modern Classics at the Silverstone GP circuit. The good news is I had learnt half of it already, with just the north loop to get my head around.

I arrived in plenty of time on the Friday night having been liberated of many £££ by the menders for the previous events incident, they also set the car up and helped me out with tyre pressures and such like. I also picked up a new set of tyres in expectation of a wet days racing, although that turned out not to be the case.

The list of jobs to do before the race was:
- Install the new GoPro.
- Install the new RaceLogic Lap Timer.
- Put the new tyres on the back.
- Put the CSCC numbers on, take the 750MC numbers off.
- Take off the previous owner’s adverts etc off.
- Torque up nuts and set pressures.
- Fuel up.

So after meeting the neighbours we set about the work and got most of it done before it started pissing it down with rain.

Up early again at 5:30 (really need to sleep more the night before a race) we got sorted and finished off the list ready for sign on at about 9. I was feeling more comfortable as qualifying wasn’t until middayish so plenty of time to get sorted. Scrutineering was fine with only a couple of minor points to do. The driver briefing was a bit pointless and a waste of prep time… it could have been summed up by a warning “not to crash” and “we are all here” and because this took 30 minutes it meant a rush back to the paddock and in to the assembly area.

So out on the circuit I set about getting a good lap time over the 30 minutes. It was quite hard to get a clean lap in given the amount of qualifiers on the circuit (59) but there were a few which were pretty good. Unfortunately I forgot to start the GoPro so don’t have any footage.

P40	721	Richard THURBIN
LAP	LAP TIME	DIFF	MPH	TIME OF DAY
1 -	2:54.427	11.803	75.54	11:31:07.271
2 -	2:46.819	4.195	78.99	11:33:54.090
3 -	2:45.782	3.158	79.48	11:36:39.872
4 -	2:44.979	2.355	79.87	11:39:24.851
5 -	2:43.676 (3)	1.052	80.51	11:42:08.527
6 -	2:53.332	10.708	76.02	11:45:01.859
7 -	2:44.322	1.698	80.19	11:47:46.181
8 -	2:46.097	3.473	79.33	11:50:32.278
9 -	2:43.465 (2)	0.841	80.61	11:53:15.743
10 -	2:42.624 (1)		81.03	11:55:58.367
11 -	2:44.772	2.148	79.97	11:58:43.139

Amazingly I ended up qualifying in 40th out of 58 and 6th out of 11 in class. 1s quicker and I would have been 35th so a pretty tight grid.

Lunch, checking levels, swapping tyres and such like took up the 3 hours between qualifying & the race and with much trepidation I set about psyching myself up to the onslaught being in the tick of a 58 car grid. Unfortunately the GoPro isn’t positioned well to get the correct exposure, but here it is anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJNisJlPwss

Any armchair or real experts who want to give me some pointers are most welcome.

I finished a pretty reasonable 41st out of 51 finishers, but 7th out of 7 in class. My fastest lap was 2/10ths quicker than the Fiesta’s I was racing before the pitstop and they finished in a group at around 30th. I think with a much faster pit stop I would have been in the mix. You live and learn.

P41	721	Richard THURBIN
LAP	LAP TIME	DIFF	MPH	TIME OF DAY
1 -	3:00.531	18.778	72.99	16:32:59.473
2 -	2:49.171	7.418	77.89	16:35:48.644
3 -	2:45.508	3.755	79.62	16:38:34.152
4 -	2:45.926	4.173	79.41	16:41:20.078
5 -	2:44.225	2.472	80.24	16:44:04.303
6 -	2:41.753 (1)		81.46	16:46:46.056
7 -	2:43.185 (2)	1.432	80.75	16:49:29.241
8 -	2:46.356	4.603	79.21	16:52:15.597
9 -	2:49.159 P	7.406	77.90	16:55:04.756
10 -	4:57.096	2:15.343	44.35	17:00:01.852
11 -	2:46.370	4.617	79.20	17:02:48.222
12 -	2:43.970 (3)	2.217	80.36	17:05:32.192
13 -	2:45.004	3.251	79.86	17:08:17.196
14 -	2:46.744	4.991	79.03	17:11:03.940

I am completely hooked on this merry-go-round and have already booked 750mc Roadsports at Donnington in 3 weeks time. They have a 45m race with a pit stop, but you don’t have to get out… result!

Some pictures:

http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSpo...
http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSpo...
http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSpo...
http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSpo...
http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSpo...
http://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSpo...

[Steve H]

I've been running in Roadsports for a couple of seasons Thurbs so feel free to ask any questions or just say hello at Donny, I'll be there in my 106

[Thurbs]

Great, I think we are in the same class?

I was at Donnington on Friday learning the circuit in preperation for the race and managed a 1:57.24 before it rained.



I got quicker each session with:

S1 - 2:10.08
s2 - 2:00.04
s3 - 1:57.70 & 1:57.93
s4 - 1:57.24 & 1:57.38

The VBox tells me my "ideal lap" ie the best of all sectors is a 1:57.17.

No idea if this is fast or not to be honest, but it felt on the limit and I have no idea where the next second is comming from.

Then it pissed it down and that was loads of fun. It meant learning the whole circuit again and pushing things to the limit once more... I managed to do a 2:15.80, before finding a 'more interesting line' through crainer curves.



So do you think will I be at the back again?

[andy97]

Thurbs said:

Great, I think we are in the same class?

I was at Donnington on Friday learning the circuit in preperation for the race and managed a 1:57.24 before it rained.

I got quicker each session with:

S1 - 2:10.08
s2 - 2:00.04
s3 - 1:57.70 & 1:57.93
s4 - 1:57.24 & 1:57.38

The VBox tells me my "ideal lap" ie the best of all sectors is a 1:57.17.

No idea if this is fast or not to be honest, but it felt on the limit and I have no idea where the next second is comming from.

Then it pissed it down and that was loads of fun. It meant learning the whole circuit again and pushing things to the limit once more... I managed to do a 2:15.80, before finding a 'more interesting line' through crainer curves.

So do you think will I be at the back again?

The quickest Clio this last weekend in the msvr all comers race was 1:53 but I have no idea whether that was on slicks or not.

8 cars had fastest race laps slower than your 1:57, and it's a similar mix of cars to that that I would expect in Roadsports.

Edited by andy97 on Tuesday 22 September 12:45

[Thurbs]

andy97 said:

The quickest Clio this last weekend in the msvr all comers race was 1:53 but I have no idea whether that was on slicks or not.

8 cars had fastest race laps slower than your 1:57, and it's a similar mix of cars to that that I would expect in Roadsports.

Edited by andy97 on Tuesday 22 September 12:45

Thanks for that. Just looking at the times now and I can see they were all much faster. Seems like I have much more speed to find .

[Steve H]

This is last years top 20 results for Roadsports on the GP layout -



It was first race of the season, dry but not very warm. Overall the pace has picked up a bit this year but it gives you an idea.

[andy97]

Thurbs said:

hanks for that. Just looking at the times now and I can see they were all much faster. Seems like I have much more speed to find .

You and me both, and I have been doing this a lot longer than you! Doubt I can get near the pace of the other 924S in Steve H's post

[Steve H]

It is a bit of a special 924s . That was the first race for both of us and we had a lot of fun surprising people with a novice cross on the back of what was sometimes the oldest car on the grid last year .

[andy97]

Steve, I'd be interested in hearing more about the spec of the 924S as I race one too. Perhaps by PM if necessary!

My car is a fairly basic spec but it would be good to see what you have done and what's possible.

Will you be in the Donington race on 3 October?

[Steve H]

You have PM Andy, I will be at Donny but I'll be in my 106, the porker belongs to a mate (it's available for hire for racing and trackdays if anyone is interested ).

[andy97]

Steve H said:

You have PM Andy, I will be at Donny but I'll be in my 106, the porker belongs to a mate (it's available for hire for racing and trackdays if anyone is interested ).

No PM received yet. Maybe we will meet up at Donington, I am entered in Roadsports with my 924S.

[Steve H]

Cool, I will be there .

I sent a message via the email system, my copy landed OK. Try sending me a message over and I'll reply to that.