I had a bad feeling about this weekend. For the week leading to the Ginetta Festival I had a knot in my stomach thinking that 25 Ginetta G20s and a tight Mallory Park might not work too well. It got so bad that for the first time in 10 years of racing I decided to invest in some race insurance. The weather forecast wasn’t helping my anxiety either as the rest of the country seemed to be underwater too.
The Ginetta Festival was set over two days with the Saturday dedicated to some much needed practice. Wet weather gear was adorned as I attempted to learn the track. Just as we are fitting the rudder and some oars for the afternoon sessions the testing is abandoned with the hope the next day would bring better conditions.
Qualification hasn’t been my strongest discipline in a race weekend and yet again I found myself on the wrong end of the stopwatch. There always appears to be fractions in it and if I had driven the lap eight hundredths quicker I would have been 7
on the grid, but instead found myself 10
. In all but four of the previous sixteen races I had improved on my grid position so this was another opportunity to battle through the field.
Mallory Park isn’t the widest of circuits on the UK calendar and sitting on the grid peering through the 2x2 formation of the 8 cars in front I pondered how to start the race. Sometimes when you look at the qualification result on a piece of paper you pre-plan your route to the front, but in reality you can never predict it. Talking to drivers on the grid there seems to be a variance of favouritism for which side of the first corner they like to be. I always prefer the inside.
It isn't really that uphill!
The red lights go out and it is time to battle to the inside for the first corner. The clutch disengages and the car surges forward perfectly, placing itself in between the row in front. As I accelerate up through the gears I find myself in a mobile road block with two cars either side and one in front. The cars had sandwiched me in, but I needed to get out of it and so into the first corner braked a little early to get to the inside and suddenly two more cars found their way around me. Not the ideal start.
During the race I find myself constantly thinking - not sure if I am actually breathing - but definitely working out where I am quicker or slower than those around. In particular I'm trying to figure out where I can make the next pass. I have the run on all those around me through Gerrards but was struggling when slowing the car for the hairpin.
Umbrella for the sun and not rain
Creating the widest car possible through the tight section I could hold off the challenges and constantly dived up the inside into the faster corners. By lap 8 this tactic has managed to get me to 5
place and I pull out a lead on the chasing pack. For the next eight laps I spend my time looking in the mirror more than out the front, trying to predict the next attack from the waiting gaggle of cars. The front cars then start falling by the wayside and in the same lap one ran out of fuel and another was stuck in third gear and I elevated myself to 3
overall – a podium position.
As I rotate around the circuit the pit board seems to have malfunctioned, time appears to have stopped. This is going to be my best finish if only the seven minutes left in the race could actually tick by. The challengers for my podium swapped lap by lap behind as they fought to take the position away from me.
RacingPete, Atom120 and No52 (PH Members Only Please)
I am not saying PistonHeads can make you win races by just being a member, but race at Mallory and you may find yourself on the podium. PHer Andy Smith (Atom120) took the victory by hundredths from fellow PHer Spencer McCarthy and championship leader (No52). Then as I finally round the last corner the chequered flag is there and I have my first podium and a full PH member one at that.
The second race of the day is a three lap affair. Learning from the good start I had in the first race I manage to avoid any car cul-de-sac and got an inside line for the first corner. Unfortunately Richard Sykes finds himself on the outside for the first corner and as the car squirms on the marbles it slips onto the wet grass and slides effortlessly into the barriers. Time for the safety car.
The never ending time pit board
The safety car eventually goes back in and racing resumes. I hold off any attacks through the quick sections, but the tight hairpin approaches next and a traffic jam appears as everyone jostles for position. I choose the inside lane for the procession around the tight right hander and like any traffic jam I seem to be in, it was the wrong lane. I watch with envy as the guys on the outside get round quicker and the place I had made in the first corner incident disappears and back to 9
Unfortunately the next lap highlights the dangers of motor sport and coming into the Esses the red flags were waving furiously as Andrew Long and Neil Merry meet at the end of the fast back straight and take a very short trip into the barriers. The race was instantly stopped and luckily both drivers escaped serious injury despite roll cages needed to be dismantled to get the drivers out. Andrew was soon out of his car & in his motorhome and a quick check up at hospital for Neil gave him the all clear and is looking to hire a car for Donington Park...
At the start of the meeting I did ponder if buying race insurance would make me faster but in truth it made no difference to how I drove in the race. I only thought about the insurance once in the whole weekend, and that was mid-spin in stormy rain during free practice. Shame there are only two races left this season as I think I may have started to get this Ginetta Racing.
| 1 |
46 |
Andrew |
Smith |
Driver |
20:33.887 |
| 2 |
52 |
Spencer |
McCarthy |
McCarthy Motorsport |
+ 0.076 |
| 3 |
74 |
Peter |
Dignan |
Pistonheads |
+ 15.887 |
| 4 |
28 |
Kieran |
Vernon |
Driver |
+ 16.530 |
| 5 |
42 |
Alex |
Dziurzynski |
West End Precision Ltd |
+ 16.639 |
| 6 |
35 |
Tom |
Jones |
Jones Motorhomes |
+ 18.154 |
| 7 |
3 |
Julian |
Barratt |
Reflex Racing GB |
+ 19.400 |
| 8 |
6 |
Matthew |
Flowers |
Optimum Motorsport |
+ 21.867 |
| 9 |
9 |
Gary |
Simms |
Optimum Motorsport |
+ 27.104 |
| 10 |
99 |
Phil |
Sykes |
Speedworks Motorsport |
+ 30.456 |
| 1 |
28 |
Kieran |
Vernon |
Driver |
12:16.618 |
| 2 |
52 |
Spencer |
McCarthy |
McCarthy Motorsport |
+ 0.412 |
| 3 |
46 |
Andrew |
Smith |
Driver |
+ 0.938 |
| 4 |
99 |
Phil |
Sykes |
Speedworks Motorsport |
+ 1.139 |
| 5 |
51 |
Russel |
McCarthy |
McCarthy Motorsport |
+ 3.021 |
| 6 |
42 |
Alex |
Dziurzynski |
West End Precision Ltd |
+ 3.110 |
| 7 |
14 |
Paul |
Morgan |
Driver |
+ 3.659 |
| 8 |
3 |
Julian |
Barratt |
Reflex Racing GB |
+ 3.812 |
| 9 |
74 |
Peter |
Dignan |
Pistonheads |
+ 4.054 |
| 10 |
5 |
Steve |
Rigby |
Reflex Racing GB |
+ 5.437 |
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