Spa race report
Discussion
Had an interesting weekend racing at Spa in the cup car. Testing on Thursday
was a disaster, we got 9 traffic filled laps of testing in 3 hours thanks to
constant red flags. I have never seen so many major accidents in one day.
All were big but the worst was a BMW which crashed so heavily at the exit of
Pouhon that it's diff and drive shafts were lying 100 yards away from the
main part of the car. It looked like an air crash. Dont know about the
driver. Conditions were difficult but the standard of driving from some
drivers was poor preventing any sensible testing for the majority. So we
qualified without any testing which wasn't ideal but it was dry. I did an
out lap on my qualifiers then a 2.38.8 and a 2.38.4 and the team called me
in. i sat boiling in the car on its air jacks for 20 minutes while the team
watched the monitors to see if the time was bettered. It wasnt and we had
pole in class by 1.5 seconds to Peter Morris and overall P7. I was
relatively happy but was baulked in the first lap and missed a gear in the
second exiting Eu rouge. With a clear track a 2.36 was definately on which
is quick considering we are carrying 50kg of balast which equated to about 2
seconds at Spa. I was very impressed with Henry Firnman's pace around Spa.
He qualified with a strong 2.41 which, believe me is a quick time. My team mates Robin Clark and Colin Ingram did a good job finishing in Class P4 and P7 respectively.
Saturday, 30 min Race
I thought that my prayers had been answered when it pissed down just before
we were called. We fitted wets and I hoped the rain would stay. Most of the
field fitted wets but some banked on a drying track and fitted drys. The
track was wet in some paces but dry in others. I got a good start and pushed
as hard as I could. By lap 3, I was 2nd behind Rupert Lewin's monster GT2R
and 20 seconds ahead of the pack when a 996 cup had a huge off at Eu rouge
and the saftey car was deployed. You cannot believe how frustrating it is
when you have all of your hard work taken away from you in an instant. At
the restart, A slow back marker after the start line forced Rupert to take
the wide line into La source and I thought all of my christamsses had come
at the same time as I outbraked him for the lead when Peter Cook's 993GT2
hit me at speed from the rear quarter so hard it threw me across the circuit
and into Rupert's GTR. Rupert span and was then hit head on by Cooks car
which had carried on at unabated speed. Somehow I kept going but the car was
badly damaged, the front and rear tracking was knocked out and the nearside
wing had been driven into the tyre so the cockpit was full of rubber smoke.
I decided to keep going at 80% race pace, see if anything fell off and
radioed the pit to look for major external damage as I passed the pit lane.
Nothing fell off for the rest of the lap and the engine stats were good so I
pushed as hard as I could again but the car would only turn right if I
lifted as I turned in and the track was almost dry so the wets made things
even worse. I got back up to third but couldn't hold off a 996RSR on slicks
and conceeded to fourth overall on the last lap but one. I won my class by
30 seconds. given the circumstances I was pleased but without the saftey
car, I think i was in with a shout. The race was eventually won by Paul Mclean of GT Classics in his beautiful 993 GT2. He judged his drive on slicks beautifully and thoroughly deserved his win. Henry also took the slicks route but I think had a more frustrating race being held in traffic before he could make effective use of his grip.
I couldn't believe it when i got out of the car in the park feme. Right rear
wing damage, door ripped in two, rear right hub broken, nearside front wing
us, front light and support mounts us, rear wheel rim us. The damage on
Rupert's GT2R was considerably worse. I know that these things happen in
racing and maybe it may well have been a small change accident for Mr Cook
but It was the second major accident that he had caused in the race and I
was dissapointed that he did not have the decency to come and apologise for
the carnage he had caused. I did something similar to Henry at Snett but I apologised straight afterwards and he took it in good grace. It doesn't make it better but it sure as hell helps if someone has the balls to admit that they
ed up.
Race 2. Dry race Started P4, pushed hard from start and broke away with P1
and P2 and after about 5 laps we had a 30 second cushion but I couldnt keep up with the 997 cup and Paul Mclean's beautiful 993 GT2 so I slowed down and
kept my class lead constant. Was overtaken in the closen stages by Lewin's missile that had started from the back of the grid but in the dry that thing is good for 2.22's around Spa so that was that really. Finished P4 overall again and
P1 in class by 30 seconds. Highlight of the race was overtaking a back
marker around the outside of eu rouge. Great buzz unti i got to the top. I'm
not sure that I'd do it again though. Also, it was great watching the dicing amongst the club guys from first hand, if not a little surreal and the track manners of the drivers were very good. It is very difficult to judge whether to attack the track space of dicing cars because the closing speeds are high and a few corners lost can loose you quite a few seconds and compromise your race. On saying that, if you go barrelling into a nose to tail train of cars that are in the thick of a race long dice, you can ruin it for them too. Many thanks to the driver of the 968CS who whilst driving completely sideways through piff paff, politely waved me by with his right hand out of the window as cool as a cucumber. Priceless. If I did spoil anybody's club race in the first few laps, I apologise, it was certainly not intentional. Shame to see Paul and Peter suffering with set up and clutch problems during the race. Without them, i'm sure another win was on.
Hopefully Peter will post his race report along with 'The Goose' and Henry. If ever there was a man who could capitalise on any PR opportunity, it is certainly him. I have the pictures to prove it.....Henry, I salute you Sir!
was a disaster, we got 9 traffic filled laps of testing in 3 hours thanks to
constant red flags. I have never seen so many major accidents in one day.
All were big but the worst was a BMW which crashed so heavily at the exit of
Pouhon that it's diff and drive shafts were lying 100 yards away from the
main part of the car. It looked like an air crash. Dont know about the
driver. Conditions were difficult but the standard of driving from some
drivers was poor preventing any sensible testing for the majority. So we
qualified without any testing which wasn't ideal but it was dry. I did an
out lap on my qualifiers then a 2.38.8 and a 2.38.4 and the team called me
in. i sat boiling in the car on its air jacks for 20 minutes while the team
watched the monitors to see if the time was bettered. It wasnt and we had
pole in class by 1.5 seconds to Peter Morris and overall P7. I was
relatively happy but was baulked in the first lap and missed a gear in the
second exiting Eu rouge. With a clear track a 2.36 was definately on which
is quick considering we are carrying 50kg of balast which equated to about 2
seconds at Spa. I was very impressed with Henry Firnman's pace around Spa.
He qualified with a strong 2.41 which, believe me is a quick time. My team mates Robin Clark and Colin Ingram did a good job finishing in Class P4 and P7 respectively.
Saturday, 30 min Race
I thought that my prayers had been answered when it pissed down just before
we were called. We fitted wets and I hoped the rain would stay. Most of the
field fitted wets but some banked on a drying track and fitted drys. The
track was wet in some paces but dry in others. I got a good start and pushed
as hard as I could. By lap 3, I was 2nd behind Rupert Lewin's monster GT2R
and 20 seconds ahead of the pack when a 996 cup had a huge off at Eu rouge
and the saftey car was deployed. You cannot believe how frustrating it is
when you have all of your hard work taken away from you in an instant. At
the restart, A slow back marker after the start line forced Rupert to take
the wide line into La source and I thought all of my christamsses had come
at the same time as I outbraked him for the lead when Peter Cook's 993GT2
hit me at speed from the rear quarter so hard it threw me across the circuit
and into Rupert's GTR. Rupert span and was then hit head on by Cooks car
which had carried on at unabated speed. Somehow I kept going but the car was
badly damaged, the front and rear tracking was knocked out and the nearside
wing had been driven into the tyre so the cockpit was full of rubber smoke.
I decided to keep going at 80% race pace, see if anything fell off and
radioed the pit to look for major external damage as I passed the pit lane.
Nothing fell off for the rest of the lap and the engine stats were good so I
pushed as hard as I could again but the car would only turn right if I
lifted as I turned in and the track was almost dry so the wets made things
even worse. I got back up to third but couldn't hold off a 996RSR on slicks
and conceeded to fourth overall on the last lap but one. I won my class by
30 seconds. given the circumstances I was pleased but without the saftey
car, I think i was in with a shout. The race was eventually won by Paul Mclean of GT Classics in his beautiful 993 GT2. He judged his drive on slicks beautifully and thoroughly deserved his win. Henry also took the slicks route but I think had a more frustrating race being held in traffic before he could make effective use of his grip.
I couldn't believe it when i got out of the car in the park feme. Right rear
wing damage, door ripped in two, rear right hub broken, nearside front wing
us, front light and support mounts us, rear wheel rim us. The damage on
Rupert's GT2R was considerably worse. I know that these things happen in
racing and maybe it may well have been a small change accident for Mr Cook
but It was the second major accident that he had caused in the race and I
was dissapointed that he did not have the decency to come and apologise for
the carnage he had caused. I did something similar to Henry at Snett but I apologised straight afterwards and he took it in good grace. It doesn't make it better but it sure as hell helps if someone has the balls to admit that they
ed up. Race 2. Dry race Started P4, pushed hard from start and broke away with P1
and P2 and after about 5 laps we had a 30 second cushion but I couldnt keep up with the 997 cup and Paul Mclean's beautiful 993 GT2 so I slowed down and
kept my class lead constant. Was overtaken in the closen stages by Lewin's missile that had started from the back of the grid but in the dry that thing is good for 2.22's around Spa so that was that really. Finished P4 overall again and
P1 in class by 30 seconds. Highlight of the race was overtaking a back
marker around the outside of eu rouge. Great buzz unti i got to the top. I'm
not sure that I'd do it again though. Also, it was great watching the dicing amongst the club guys from first hand, if not a little surreal and the track manners of the drivers were very good. It is very difficult to judge whether to attack the track space of dicing cars because the closing speeds are high and a few corners lost can loose you quite a few seconds and compromise your race. On saying that, if you go barrelling into a nose to tail train of cars that are in the thick of a race long dice, you can ruin it for them too. Many thanks to the driver of the 968CS who whilst driving completely sideways through piff paff, politely waved me by with his right hand out of the window as cool as a cucumber. Priceless. If I did spoil anybody's club race in the first few laps, I apologise, it was certainly not intentional. Shame to see Paul and Peter suffering with set up and clutch problems during the race. Without them, i'm sure another win was on.
Hopefully Peter will post his race report along with 'The Goose' and Henry. If ever there was a man who could capitalise on any PR opportunity, it is certainly him. I have the pictures to prove it.....Henry, I salute you Sir!
timmo said:
Steve,
Hats off to you and Robin
Your 1st season racing in a 996 Cup Car - shows how good you are !!!
It would be great to see how you fare against the Carrera Cup boys
in similar conditions with some testing
tim
I'd need a lot of testing Tim. The 997 is a different car entirely. We still havn't decided what we are doing next year but I may well be in a 997Hats off to you and Robin
Your 1st season racing in a 996 Cup Car - shows how good you are !!!
It would be great to see how you fare against the Carrera Cup boys
in similar conditions with some testing
tim
Steve
Whats the feeling on the difference in dry times between this year and last year with the changes to Spa?
Racing there later in the season and would love to know what I should be working to as a target... (as a guide, 4 cylinder 2 litre = 2m33.6 last year...)
Also I hear rumours that the start is now the GP start not the enduro so everyone piling into La Source and also that they are thinking of changing Eau Rouge next???
Cheers
Rick
Racing there later in the season and would love to know what I should be working to as a target... (as a guide, 4 cylinder 2 litre = 2m33.6 last year...)
Also I hear rumours that the start is now the GP start not the enduro so everyone piling into La Source and also that they are thinking of changing Eau Rouge next???
Cheers
Rick
Well done Steve , Mike Donovan had a good idea of the 997 carrying balast to race with the 996 which would be good for more competition as ,Mike , Hogarth, Stavely etc can all drive very well hence more fun and compeition for you.
Anyway all in all a good weekend with a bit too much mayhem in race 1 at La source but a better sort of mayhem around "bad boy" Firmans car at the end of the day.
The Gt 2 R was a bit difficult all weekend due the clutch sticking which led to some alarming situations at the end of the Kemmel straight and then a wildly oversteering (more lurching) car in race 2 after some unwise adjustments but all in all a 1st and a 3rd was a good result in the circumstances , but mainly "NO DAMAGE" and some great driving by Paul on slicks in the wet in race 1.
Anyway all in all a good weekend with a bit too much mayhem in race 1 at La source but a better sort of mayhem around "bad boy" Firmans car at the end of the day.
The Gt 2 R was a bit difficult all weekend due the clutch sticking which led to some alarming situations at the end of the Kemmel straight and then a wildly oversteering (more lurching) car in race 2 after some unwise adjustments but all in all a 1st and a 3rd was a good result in the circumstances , but mainly "NO DAMAGE" and some great driving by Paul on slicks in the wet in race 1.
pofg said:
Whats the feeling on the difference in dry times between this year and last year with the changes to Spa?
Racing there later in the season and would love to know what I should be working to as a target... (as a guide, 4 cylinder 2 litre = 2m33.6 last year...)
Also I hear rumours that the start is now the GP start not the enduro so everyone piling into La Source and also that they are thinking of changing Eau Rouge next???
Cheers
Rick
I presume that this is a single seater? I don't have a benchmark as it is the first year there in a cup car. On talking to different teams, the concensus was that it was the same all but a few tenths Racing there later in the season and would love to know what I should be working to as a target... (as a guide, 4 cylinder 2 litre = 2m33.6 last year...)
Also I hear rumours that the start is now the GP start not the enduro so everyone piling into La Source and also that they are thinking of changing Eau Rouge next???
Cheers
Rick
DoctorPepper said:
Steve Rance said:
Many thanks to the driver of the 968CS who whilst driving completely sideways through piff paff, politely waved me by with his right hand out of the window as cool as a cucumber. Priceless.
What colour was it? sounds like the kinda driving someone I know doesI agree with Tim , Steve is posibly optimising the performance of his car the most in the Open and puts in a lot of effort to get the results he is getting , well done Steve.
Is the end of day photo going to sneak out onto PH?
The new pits building is great for viewing but the new Bus stop is a bit too over done..
Is the end of day photo going to sneak out onto PH?
The new pits building is great for viewing but the new Bus stop is a bit too over done..
No, not a single seater, just a saloon car... I was trying quite hard though on slicks...
There is an onboard with me taking the guy around from Dutch TV, but a warning for sensitive eyes it is a non-Porsche though as I can't afford to race my first love!
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-9547021...
Those new 997 Cup cars are dang quick though... having a few problems with them this year where we had no issues with the 996 versions last year.
There is an onboard with me taking the guy around from Dutch TV, but a warning for sensitive eyes it is a non-Porsche though as I can't afford to race my first love!
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-9547021...
Those new 997 Cup cars are dang quick though... having a few problems with them this year where we had no issues with the 996 versions last year.
pofg said:
No, not a single seater, just a saloon car... I was trying quite hard though on slicks...
There is an onboard with me taking the guy around from Dutch TV, but a warning for sensitive eyes it is a non-Porsche though as I can't afford to race my first love!
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-9547021...
Those new 997 Cup cars are dang quick though... having a few problems with them this year where we had no issues with the 996 versions last year.
Nice footage. Yep, Thats a fast car. I know that before the circuit change a 996 cup could do those kind of times but only in qualifying trim. The 997 is very quick by comparison though.There is an onboard with me taking the guy around from Dutch TV, but a warning for sensitive eyes it is a non-Porsche though as I can't afford to race my first love!
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-9547021...
Those new 997 Cup cars are dang quick though... having a few problems with them this year where we had no issues with the 996 versions last year.
hunter 66 said:
I agree with Tim , Steve is posibly optimising the performance of his car the most in the Open and puts in a lot of effort to get the results he is getting , well done Steve.
Is the end of day photo going to sneak out onto PH?
The new pits building is great for viewing but the new Bus stop is a bit too over done..
Ha ha.... Well, I didn't see anything officer, we were all looking the other way at the time... Is the end of day photo going to sneak out onto PH?
The new pits building is great for viewing but the new Bus stop is a bit too over done..
Steve Rance said:
DoctorPepper said:
Steve Rance said:
Many thanks to the driver of the 968CS who whilst driving completely sideways through piff paff, politely waved me by with his right hand out of the window as cool as a cucumber. Priceless.
What colour was it? sounds like the kinda driving someone I know doesAnd good manners to boot!!
Steve
Good to see you holding the end up for the Parr drivers, but a good result for all the guys. I had to sit this one out with a dodgy back, but hope to be back for Brands. That will be better for the 993; you chaps rather blow me away on a track like Spa. I think you are right with the 2.53 - a few of us clock around those times, albeit before the car was in racing trim but I'm sure it's v close. Very good to see you at top of pack even with high power chaps.
James
Good to see you holding the end up for the Parr drivers, but a good result for all the guys. I had to sit this one out with a dodgy back, but hope to be back for Brands. That will be better for the 993; you chaps rather blow me away on a track like Spa. I think you are right with the 2.53 - a few of us clock around those times, albeit before the car was in racing trim but I'm sure it's v close. Very good to see you at top of pack even with high power chaps.
James
jimmyslr said:
Steve
Good to see you holding the end up for the Parr drivers, but a good result for all the guys. I had to sit this one out with a dodgy back, but hope to be back for Brands. That will be better for the 993; you chaps rather blow me away on a track like Spa. I think you are right with the 2.53 - a few of us clock around those times, albeit before the car was in racing trim but I'm sure it's v close. Very good to see you at top of pack even with high power chaps.
James
It is motivating trying to mix it with the class 1 cars. I instructed at Brands for a while and - like you - am looking forward to that one. Hopefully it will be wet as well!Good to see you holding the end up for the Parr drivers, but a good result for all the guys. I had to sit this one out with a dodgy back, but hope to be back for Brands. That will be better for the 993; you chaps rather blow me away on a track like Spa. I think you are right with the 2.53 - a few of us clock around those times, albeit before the car was in racing trim but I'm sure it's v close. Very good to see you at top of pack even with high power chaps.
James
See you there.
Steve
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