Tuesday 1st July 2008

Team PH - Race Diary Rounds 11 and 12

Sun and spins at Thruxton

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Fog lights needed

It would be fair to say that last weekend was not one of my best in a race car. I had never raced at Thruxton before, but I was confident. I like fast corners, I like fast tracks, this should be a good weekend.

Starting my qualification lap, I powered the Ginetta’s 1.8 Zetec to 4th gear and turned through Allard flat out at around 100mph, clipping the kerb on the inside which unsettles the car but allows it to drift out across the track. A sweeping left hander concentrates the mind as you pick a braking point for the complex while still turning and slowing the car for the right, left and right into Seagrave.

Seagrave has a nasty crest just before the apex which spits the car out wider but nothing but full power is needed here to get the speed for the rest of the track. The back section is incredibly bumpy and the car moves around as each undulation unsettles it, though still flat out through the left hander of Noble and into the trickiest corner on the track, Goodwood.

Bumping across the back section

Goodwood is one of those corners that you always feel you should go faster through. A dab on the brakes before turn in - just to settle the car - and then it is full power through the apex. On the exit you feel you are going to run out of road but Village immediately after seems to curve at the exact radius you need.

From now on the accelerator is jammed down and through Church a lift would lose valuable tenths so I turn-in early and pray. Hard braking into Club chicane from 115mph and then across the line for a 1:28.323 lap time and 5^th on the grid.

The only problem with a fast bumpy track is it rattles the car to bits, and post qualification inspection reveals two broken alternator brackets, a cracked manifold and - after a fuel sample – a bust fuel line. A busy afternoon repairing the car, but at least it will be worth it for the high starting position the next day.

First corner fun

Sunday morning saw a criminally early 8:55am race. This would be the earliest I have ever raced! I know my ambition is to race at Le Mans but I swear only 24 hour racers have been on the track competitively at that time. My eyes were hardly awake, let alone my brain.

The lights went on then off and the neurons fired and my body reacted, unfortunately not as quickly as most of the drivers around and the fifth place qualifying advantage was rapidly lost. With a pack of 25 plus Ginettas behind, one mistake at the start and cars will be constantly passing you till the first braking zone and I dropped to 9th place.

The massive slip streaming affect of a pack of Ginettas means not one car can escape and the first seven cars were nose to tail, the task was to catch the lead pack up. Three laps in and I was the third fastest car on the track and had moved to 8^th - I was on the tail of the lead pack. Lap four though would be my downfall.

Which way is the circuit?

The abrasive Thruxton circuit was shredding my rear left tyre and coming out of Seagrave for the fourth time the tyre lost grip and sent me spinning and I dropped to 17^th. Thinking it was my fault for over driving the car I pressed on to try and gain a decent finish but the tyre snapped the back end out again and a finish of 20^th is all I could manage.

Luckily all Ginetta meetings have two races so there was a chance to make amends on the next race and get some good championship points. Racing in the middle of a pack of cars approaching the complex your eyes fixate on the cars around you. This makes it very difficult to see the roadside furniture pointing the next turn on the track. So with locked brakes and bustling in the first couple of corners, you tend to be offline while trying to filter onto the racing line. It is like queuing at a European train station - but at 100mph.

The filtering had nearly finished and I was up to 5^th but still one car on the inside for Noble. No worries, power around the outside and have the inside for Goodwood. Unfortunately the back end stepped out and with a quick dab of oppo I had got it back, though now I had run out of track and the grass loomed.

An escape to the grass meant I watched the field pass and now faced another chase from the back. With not many braking points and flat out for quite a lot of the circuit it’s not the easiest place to chase down cars and 16^th place is all I managed to rise to. I have to say that after racing around it, Thruxton is one of the great tracks in the UK, I am just disappointed I didn’t do it any justice. Roll on two weeks to what I class as the best racing track in the world - Brands Hatch GP - I can’t wait!

Race 1 Result

1	28	Kieran	Vernon	Driver	21:16.308
2	52	Spencer	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	+ 0.416
3	3	Julian	Barratt	Reflex Racing GB	+ 0.887
4	46	Andrew	Smith	Driver	+ 2.698
5	51	Russel	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	+ 5.690
6	99	Phil	Sykes	Speedworks Motorsport	+ 12.957
7	21	Richard	Sykes	Speedworks Motorsport	+ 13.527
8	9	Gary	Simms	Optimum Motorsport	+ 13.852
9	20	Edd	Straw	Speedworks Motorsport	+ 17.162
10	35	Tom	Jones	Jones Motorhomes	+ 17.332
20	74	Peter	Dignan	PitsonHeads	+ 1:15.002

Race 2 Result

1	88	Mark	Wania	Academy Motorsport	17:54.504
2	28	Kieran	Vernon	Driver	+ 0.383
3	52	Spencer	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	+ 0.476
4	51	Russel	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	+ 2.558
5	46	Andrew	Smith	Driver	+ 4.149
6	99	Phil	Sykes	Speedworks Motorsport	+ 4.395
7	21	Richard	Sykes	Speedworks Motorsport	+ 4.991
8	9	Gary	Simms	Optimum Motorsport	+ 6.182
9	3	Julian	Barratt	Reflex Racing GB	+ 10.805
10	4	Paul	Marsh	Tockwith Motorpsort	+ 11.643
16	74	Peter	Dignan	PistonHeads	+ 33.276

[No52]

Hey RP, did I do an extra round than everyone else or have you put a typo in the title of the article "Rounds 10 and 11"!

Update - Title Updated

Edited by No52 on Tuesday 1st July 17:20

[RacingPete]

You must be counting all the rounds you finish...

[No52]

Sorry to hear about your grass-tracking. Thruxton is very hard on tyres, I learnt that last year when I nearly ran out of rubber. A great circuit though. Have you heard about the Brands Hatch Timetable yet? No free practice!!

[RacingPete]

Really. That isn't very good, though I bet they still put us on at 9 am. I swear SRO don't like us ginetta lot.

[Marc W]

I got some nice shots of the PH car on Saturday, I'll get them uploaded soon.

[NiallOswald]

'Dab of oppo' indeed Been taking lessons from Troy Queef?

[Marc W]

Photos as Promised;

http://tinyurl.com/6n6q9s