The loneliness of the long distance club racer
Discussion
That was a jolly good read. And you're a brave man going racing without any help; there's six or seven of us on our team (endurance racing) and even then it's heartbreak more often than not. Well done for not losing the wheel too. I wish I'd been that clued up when it happened to me a few years ago. Lesson learned—never radio back and say "I've got a problem but I'm going to do another lap and see if it goes away"!
Harris_I said:
I shouldn't but..... 
It gets better - there's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VzOYnd6CwsI'd backed off a bit as we're a fair bit quicker than the blue golf up ahead, but still, not my finest hour.
Cobalt Blue returned to active duty at Silverstone's GP circuit this weekend. I’d dealt with most of the dreary logistical stuff the night before so that I wouldn’t be panicking early the following morning. That said, I still find the business of loading and manoeuvring trailers to be a royal PITA, especially on an inclined driveway but hobbit-like children can be surprisingly sturdy little helpers when threatened with loss of electronic privileges.
Once again, my unfamiliarity with a new circuit meant that quali should probably have been best conducted with my Garmin for company (“turn left at the gravel trap”). I finish an embarrassing 37th out of a packed field of 59 on the grid, finding myself staring at the back of a teeny tiny Smart Brabus and alongside various Clio Cups and Fiestas. Never mind: today’s target is successfully completing the full 40 minute race, finishing in one piece, perhaps learning something and going home happy.
The GP circuit is fabulous. Wide and fast, accommodating 59 cars of widely varying pace is doable. It must be amazing to do the Britcar 24 Hour here. We’re racing on the same day as the Lotus Cup, F3 Cup and Mono GP, and it’s the Lotus Cup that proves most entertaining with a large number of cars barrelling into turn 1 at high speed with not all of them emerging out the other side! I must try not to think about the possibility of being swiped when 4-abreast. How I wish Mezger GT3 prices were not quite so sky high (see, I did end up mentioning residual values!)
And so to the formation lap: by the time row 19 of the grid enters Luffield which is two corners before the main straight, the field is already accelerating away. I guess that means it’s lights out on the gantry ahead so bam! Pedal to the metal, hold my breath and squeeze down the middle of the pack. By the braking zone for Copse I’ve picked off a few which is to be expected given the power differential and now I need to find the several seconds a lap I was missing from quali. Adrenaline proves to be surprisingly helpful in this regard. Somehow despite the swarm buzzing around me, no contact is made and I focus on picking off a few cars every lap. The little cars are annoyingly rapid through the tight direction changes of Maggots and Becketts, but strong traction out of longer corners and the long straights more than compensate.
By the time I’ve closed in on the E36 M3s and 944/968s, I seem to have found my groove and my natural competition. The E92 M3 right at the front is in my class but alas the GT4-spec racer seems a world away in terms of outright speed as do the quickest E36 race cars – I’m sure driver differential has much to do with that, but rather than focus on classifications I think the right thing to do is focus on myself: how can I improve myself, what targets can I realistically set from race to race, am I extracting the optimum from myself and from my car? It still feels to me that my skills are a long way from what they could be, and perhaps what they once used to be. Age and family I think has something to do with that: I have no delusions of taking this up professionally so work and family obligations take precedence over seat time. Family members regularly express displeasure at this solo and apparently dangerous activity, and access to a never-ending fountain of cash is but a pleasant fantasy. Plus I think subconsciously I’m holding back more than I used to: with age comes a healthy aversion to risk. Maybe it’s the memories of three racers I knew in Dubai who tragically died racing. In any case perhaps I’m looking to get something different out of racing today than I did several years ago. Maybe now it's more about self improvement and a sense of achievement than adrenaline rush and bragging rights, although those undoubtedly are a pull for any normal male.
David from CSCC very kindly assists me at the mandatory pitstop otherwise I might have been fumbling blindly for the harness forever, and I’m back out to complete the second half. 10 minutes from the end, my engine stutters through a tight corner and I am reminded of the time I ran out of fuel on the last lap of a race many years ago. The gauge is showing half full (I make sure never to repeat the same mistake!) but the stutter gets worse as the laps count down. Just where the engine should be zinging at 6000 revs, it cuts power and holds up the M3s and Porsches harrying me from behind. Crap. I lose a few hard won places and in my desperation manage to lock up the rear wheels with a clumsy heel and toe and head inexorably to the scene of my impending doom... the gravel trap. Thankfully, I regain control inches before. The lovely chaps driving a gorgeous Porsche 928 aren't quite so lucky and end up beached like a whale at the same corner. I am extremely grateful for the chequered flag a couple of laps later.
As I kill the ignition in the paddock, I can afford myself a quiet moment of reflection. I am drenched in sweat and pong like a dead animal. My fingers are slightly shaking. That was frickin’ amazing. I’ve just completed the full 40 minutes, Cobalt felt beautifully set up, and I’m more than satisfied with how far I’ve progressed today. Sure, I could find more time - I'm still on the brakes too early and for too long and I'm still too conservative in the faster corners.
When the results sheet materialises I’m somewhat surprised to note I’m placed 45th out of 51 finishers. That doesn’t make much sense to me. My best laptime places me firmly in the top 20 cars and I think had been fairly consistent throughout, barring the last 10 minutes of temporary fuel starvation in some corners. I had estimated making up around 10 places in total accounting for the few places I lost at the end, and my pitstop had been a pretty good one I would say. So I can only think of two possible reasons for the lowly result: either somehow the receiver has failed to pick up one lap from my transponder (the results show me 2 laps down on the leader, although I recall being passed only once), or I am cognitively biased only to remember the overtakes and not the occasions I am overtaken.
Oh well, best not dwell on this and instead remind myself that I had a great day as evidenced by the sticky ball of shredded Cup 2s dug out from inside my wheel arches:
The competitors have been brilliant: friendly and helpful in the paddock, they drove hard and avoided contact despite stampeding into corners 3 or 4 at a time. It’s nice also that a number of them approach me afterwards to acknowledge the many dogfights we had. A couple of them even express how refreshing it is to see a ‘road’ car with number plates, carpets and A/C out there on the GP circuit. Makes you feel all glowy inside...
Next up is Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 31st October. The PM facility didn’t work last time so I’m not sure if Dan (geeks) got my mail. Thanks to Ade (keepitlit) for his pre-race encouragement – hope you can make it to Brands. Anyone else most welcome to turn up and chew the breeze!
Once again, my unfamiliarity with a new circuit meant that quali should probably have been best conducted with my Garmin for company (“turn left at the gravel trap”). I finish an embarrassing 37th out of a packed field of 59 on the grid, finding myself staring at the back of a teeny tiny Smart Brabus and alongside various Clio Cups and Fiestas. Never mind: today’s target is successfully completing the full 40 minute race, finishing in one piece, perhaps learning something and going home happy.
The GP circuit is fabulous. Wide and fast, accommodating 59 cars of widely varying pace is doable. It must be amazing to do the Britcar 24 Hour here. We’re racing on the same day as the Lotus Cup, F3 Cup and Mono GP, and it’s the Lotus Cup that proves most entertaining with a large number of cars barrelling into turn 1 at high speed with not all of them emerging out the other side! I must try not to think about the possibility of being swiped when 4-abreast. How I wish Mezger GT3 prices were not quite so sky high (see, I did end up mentioning residual values!)
And so to the formation lap: by the time row 19 of the grid enters Luffield which is two corners before the main straight, the field is already accelerating away. I guess that means it’s lights out on the gantry ahead so bam! Pedal to the metal, hold my breath and squeeze down the middle of the pack. By the braking zone for Copse I’ve picked off a few which is to be expected given the power differential and now I need to find the several seconds a lap I was missing from quali. Adrenaline proves to be surprisingly helpful in this regard. Somehow despite the swarm buzzing around me, no contact is made and I focus on picking off a few cars every lap. The little cars are annoyingly rapid through the tight direction changes of Maggots and Becketts, but strong traction out of longer corners and the long straights more than compensate.
By the time I’ve closed in on the E36 M3s and 944/968s, I seem to have found my groove and my natural competition. The E92 M3 right at the front is in my class but alas the GT4-spec racer seems a world away in terms of outright speed as do the quickest E36 race cars – I’m sure driver differential has much to do with that, but rather than focus on classifications I think the right thing to do is focus on myself: how can I improve myself, what targets can I realistically set from race to race, am I extracting the optimum from myself and from my car? It still feels to me that my skills are a long way from what they could be, and perhaps what they once used to be. Age and family I think has something to do with that: I have no delusions of taking this up professionally so work and family obligations take precedence over seat time. Family members regularly express displeasure at this solo and apparently dangerous activity, and access to a never-ending fountain of cash is but a pleasant fantasy. Plus I think subconsciously I’m holding back more than I used to: with age comes a healthy aversion to risk. Maybe it’s the memories of three racers I knew in Dubai who tragically died racing. In any case perhaps I’m looking to get something different out of racing today than I did several years ago. Maybe now it's more about self improvement and a sense of achievement than adrenaline rush and bragging rights, although those undoubtedly are a pull for any normal male.
David from CSCC very kindly assists me at the mandatory pitstop otherwise I might have been fumbling blindly for the harness forever, and I’m back out to complete the second half. 10 minutes from the end, my engine stutters through a tight corner and I am reminded of the time I ran out of fuel on the last lap of a race many years ago. The gauge is showing half full (I make sure never to repeat the same mistake!) but the stutter gets worse as the laps count down. Just where the engine should be zinging at 6000 revs, it cuts power and holds up the M3s and Porsches harrying me from behind. Crap. I lose a few hard won places and in my desperation manage to lock up the rear wheels with a clumsy heel and toe and head inexorably to the scene of my impending doom... the gravel trap. Thankfully, I regain control inches before. The lovely chaps driving a gorgeous Porsche 928 aren't quite so lucky and end up beached like a whale at the same corner. I am extremely grateful for the chequered flag a couple of laps later.
As I kill the ignition in the paddock, I can afford myself a quiet moment of reflection. I am drenched in sweat and pong like a dead animal. My fingers are slightly shaking. That was frickin’ amazing. I’ve just completed the full 40 minutes, Cobalt felt beautifully set up, and I’m more than satisfied with how far I’ve progressed today. Sure, I could find more time - I'm still on the brakes too early and for too long and I'm still too conservative in the faster corners.
When the results sheet materialises I’m somewhat surprised to note I’m placed 45th out of 51 finishers. That doesn’t make much sense to me. My best laptime places me firmly in the top 20 cars and I think had been fairly consistent throughout, barring the last 10 minutes of temporary fuel starvation in some corners. I had estimated making up around 10 places in total accounting for the few places I lost at the end, and my pitstop had been a pretty good one I would say. So I can only think of two possible reasons for the lowly result: either somehow the receiver has failed to pick up one lap from my transponder (the results show me 2 laps down on the leader, although I recall being passed only once), or I am cognitively biased only to remember the overtakes and not the occasions I am overtaken.
Oh well, best not dwell on this and instead remind myself that I had a great day as evidenced by the sticky ball of shredded Cup 2s dug out from inside my wheel arches:
The competitors have been brilliant: friendly and helpful in the paddock, they drove hard and avoided contact despite stampeding into corners 3 or 4 at a time. It’s nice also that a number of them approach me afterwards to acknowledge the many dogfights we had. A couple of them even express how refreshing it is to see a ‘road’ car with number plates, carpets and A/C out there on the GP circuit. Makes you feel all glowy inside...
Next up is Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 31st October. The PM facility didn’t work last time so I’m not sure if Dan (geeks) got my mail. Thanks to Ade (keepitlit) for his pre-race encouragement – hope you can make it to Brands. Anyone else most welcome to turn up and chew the breeze!
Asterix said:
Nice one mate - great to hear that you did the whole race and you're obviously approaching the whole caper in a fun yet mature way.
Strange about the fuel issue - what tank have you got?
Standard road tank. I've had this problem twice before: once with a faulty lambda sensor (although I recently replaced these), and once when I ran low on fuel. First port of call is to check the fuel gauge.Strange about the fuel issue - what tank have you got?
Incidentally James, I met a chap called Johnny in the paddock who said he used to see this car racing in Dubai - worked for Jon Simmonds at MSW! Small world...
Harris_I said:
Standard road tank. I've had this problem twice before: once with a faulty lambda sensor (although I recently replaced these), and once when I ran low on fuel. First port of call is to check the fuel gauge.
Incidentally James, I met a chap called Johnny in the paddock who said he used to see this car racing in Dubai - worked for Jon Simmonds at MSW! Small world...
Haha Awesome - it's funny how that happens.Incidentally James, I met a chap called Johnny in the paddock who said he used to see this car racing in Dubai - worked for Jon Simmonds at MSW! Small world...
Btw - we're moving back to the UK in January and I'm going to make sure I get plenty of motorsport watching in - I'll make sure we hook up again.
Car looked lovely on Saturday.
The GP circuit is fantastic and should suit the GT3.
I'm into my 3rd year of racing and made this school boy error on my first corner of qualifying ..... Not embarrassing one little bit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L76cfyULqYw
Looks like I was right in front of you.
(Not doing Brands but will back next year - will say hello)
Rick
The GP circuit is fantastic and should suit the GT3.
I'm into my 3rd year of racing and made this school boy error on my first corner of qualifying ..... Not embarrassing one little bit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L76cfyULqYw
Looks like I was right in front of you.
(Not doing Brands but will back next year - will say hello)
Rick
Great read and lovely to meet you in person, and also glad the jump leads worked 
I think Silverstone had a problem with the lap timing - even though I beached the car into the gravel trap - ran out of tyres..... (and talent) we still "lost" a lap - the time sheet shows us in the pits for 7 minutes which is absolute b
ks. Had we finished I would have raised it, but as we did not, there was no point...
As to Brands Hatch - I did a track day in my road-registered K400 in October last year while Tom Houlbrook was testing the orange E36 M3 - we bot got black flagged for noise and being glued to each other for 25mins. Tom was better into Paddock, but the 996 showed him a clean pair of heels on the exits of GH and Clearways in particular. If you were to find the time to do a couple of track days between now and then, I am sure massive progress will be achieved.
I think Silverstone had a problem with the lap timing - even though I beached the car into the gravel trap - ran out of tyres..... (and talent) we still "lost" a lap - the time sheet shows us in the pits for 7 minutes which is absolute b
ks. Had we finished I would have raised it, but as we did not, there was no point...As to Brands Hatch - I did a track day in my road-registered K400 in October last year while Tom Houlbrook was testing the orange E36 M3 - we bot got black flagged for noise and being glued to each other for 25mins. Tom was better into Paddock, but the 996 showed him a clean pair of heels on the exits of GH and Clearways in particular. If you were to find the time to do a couple of track days between now and then, I am sure massive progress will be achieved.
Ah, the penny finally drops. Great to put a name and a face to a PH name! Really appreciated your help early in the day.
Interesting to hear you had issues with the timer. Where can I find the full set of laptimes to check if I have the same issue? I can't find the results on the tsl website.
Interesting to hear you had issues with the timer. Where can I find the full set of laptimes to check if I have the same issue? I can't find the results on the tsl website.
Harris_I said:
Ah, the penny finally drops. Great to put a name and a face to a PH name! Really appreciated your help early in the day.
Interesting to hear you had issues with the timer. Where can I find the full set of laptimes to check if I have the same issue? I can't find the results on the tsl website.
Our results are on TSL, but for this particular meeting you need to look them up under MSV Racing, as the meeting was organized by them and CSCC just tagged along for a one-off race...Interesting to hear you had issues with the timer. Where can I find the full set of laptimes to check if I have the same issue? I can't find the results on the tsl website.
Harris_I said:
David from CSCC very kindly assists me at the mandatory pitstop otherwise I might have been fumbling blindly for the harness forever, and I’m back out to complete the second half.
Happy to help Harris, preferred doing this rather than being the one to notice the wobbly wheel at the Rockingham pit stop!I've just looked at TSL Timing (MSVR meeting) and can see what has gone wrong (as mentioned above
): http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=MSVR/2015/153752...P45 6 Harris IRFAN
LAP LAP TIME DIFF MPH TIME OF DAY
1 - 2:54.666 18.983 75.44 16:32:53.608
2 - 2:40.990 5.307 81.85 16:35:34.598
3 - 2:38.893 3.210 82.93 16:38:13.491
4 - 2:36.675 0.992 84.10 16:40:50.166
5 - 2:36.608 (3) 0.925 84.14 16:43:26.774
6 - 2:38.207 2.524 83.29 16:46:04.981
7 - 6:38.966 4:03.283 33.02 16:52:43.947
8 - 2:39.771 4.088 82.47 16:55:23.718
9 - 2:36.330 (2) 0.647 84.29 16:58:00.048
10 - 2:35.683 (1) 84.64 17:00:35.731
11 - 2:39.946 4.263 82.38 17:03:15.677
12 - 2:39.213 3.530 82.76 17:05:54.890
13 - 2:39.218 3.535 82.76 17:08:34.108
14 - 2:39.650 3.967 82.54 17:11:13.758
Look at lap 7, I think you lost a lap there for some reason? I can only assume the transponder was missed, either through the pit stop or the following lap? If you look at your rivals times the pit stop costs them a minute or so with the pit in/pit out at 60kph and the stop itself. I think your true result should have been 25th overall, an excellent result given the competition and that your car still retains its road 'comforts'.
Fwiw, if ever you look at the results in future and think they are wildly wrong it's always worth approaching the timekeepers immediately, they are a friendly bunch and we make sure we have the same chief (Lisa) at each CSCC event. They probably could have amended this on the day.
Hope to see you soon Harris, cheers, Dave
Hi to my old friend Steve Rance too
Great, thanks Dave. Good to know it's not a cognitive bias then! To be honest, I hadn't thought to check the results immediately afterwards as I kind of felt I had achieved what I'd set out to do for this particular race and the placing would not have been particularly impressive anyway.
Great read!
We were in the scutineering bay the same time as you at Brands and I must say I really felt for you there, the look on your face was beyond frustrated disappointment
we were doing our first race that weekend in Tintops in my friends EP3...
Glad you finally managed to give the car a good outing and hopefully the fuelling issue was just a bit of starvation. It's great seeing one of my favourite cars out there racing with number plates intact! I'm currently working towards doing the same with my 951; it's a 'fast road' car first, race car second. I'm planning on doing a few Future Classics races in it purely for fun; I can't afford to be competitive! But there seem to be enough like-minded people in CSCC to keep the risks managable. The fast boys are very quick though!
We're entered for Oulton next week in the Civic so we're really looking forward to giving it a go this time, as opposed to just finishing at Brands... Good luck at your next event!
We were in the scutineering bay the same time as you at Brands and I must say I really felt for you there, the look on your face was beyond frustrated disappointment
we were doing our first race that weekend in Tintops in my friends EP3...Glad you finally managed to give the car a good outing and hopefully the fuelling issue was just a bit of starvation. It's great seeing one of my favourite cars out there racing with number plates intact! I'm currently working towards doing the same with my 951; it's a 'fast road' car first, race car second. I'm planning on doing a few Future Classics races in it purely for fun; I can't afford to be competitive! But there seem to be enough like-minded people in CSCC to keep the risks managable. The fast boys are very quick though!
We're entered for Oulton next week in the Civic so we're really looking forward to giving it a go this time, as opposed to just finishing at Brands... Good luck at your next event!
Richair said:
Great read!
I'm currently working towards doing the same with my 951; it's a 'fast road' car first, race car second. I'm planning on doing a few Future Classics races in it purely for fun; I can't afford to be competitive! But there seem to be enough like-minded people in CSCC to keep the risks managable. The fast boys are very quick though!
Isn't that the truth! I had never realised how good the E36 M3 was (obviously in the right hands). Must sample one of those one day...I'm currently working towards doing the same with my 951; it's a 'fast road' car first, race car second. I'm planning on doing a few Future Classics races in it purely for fun; I can't afford to be competitive! But there seem to be enough like-minded people in CSCC to keep the risks managable. The fast boys are very quick though!
Looking forward to seeing that 951.
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