Team PH Race Diary Rounds 3 and 4
Team PH tots up the cost of racing at Cadwell Park
When I speak to racers across all levels of motorsport the one thing that always comes up is the costs involved. As someone wise once said to me: ‘The only way to get rich in motor racing, is start out very rich.’
The major expense in starting racing is cost of getting started: buying a car; sorting out a way of getting to tracks; and license and entry fees. For club racing you probably can do it for less than £5k, for F3 a top team will be looking for £500k. Team PH’s Ginetta racing will cost from 14k to 20k. Not the cheapest way into motor racing, but for a high profile series sharing a billing with F3 and British GT, it’s a snip.
The other major expense is running the car for the whole season. When it comes to racing, my heart seems to control the purse strings and my brain simply ignores it - so for once this year I am going to add up all the costs involved with racing. For any racers who share my Scrooge-like tendencies when doing the weekly shop, but whip out the credit card when the purchase has racing in its name, look away for these bits.
This brings me neatly onto last weekends racing, where the cost-o-meter took a nasty hit, along with the car.
Testing had gone well on the Saturday in ever changing snowy conditions,
re-equating myself with the very tight but exciting Cadwell Park. We even had time to scrub in a set of wets in damp conditions in anticipation of the snow predicted for Sunday. Apart from a bit more wear to the front brake pads we were doing well cost wise.Sunday was not so cheap. Qualifying saw bright sunny conditions and making light of the good position I found myself in on the third revolution I decided to throw in a quick lap. Coming out of Gooseneck I drifted two wheels onto the grass, pulled the car back onto the circuit to brake for Mansfield. Unfortunately the braking was slightly too late, and with the struggle to get the car turned in, the back end lost grip and sent me into a 360 spin.
Unfortunately the driver behind me decided to commit to passing my spinning car on the side of the track I was spinning into and smashed into the rear end. It sounded expensive.
I limped back to the pits and my gathered team for the weekend: Steve (skeggysteve), Ben (20thebear) and Kelly (RacingPete’s better half); inspected the damage. It didn’t look pretty and the car wasn’t driving in a straight line. Car jacked up, wheels off and the full extent of the impact could be seen. The shopping list for new parts were: Rear lower wishbone, rear toe link, rear diffuser, 2x rear lights, fuel tank mounting bracket and a lot of tank tape.
The other damage - apart from my pride - was to my grid position for the race, 22nd for the first and 27th for the second. But that was the least of my worries; we had to get the car fixed.
Showing amazing ability with the tank tape, spanners and ratchets the team got the car back up and running with minutes to spare before the first race. In fact you couldn’t even spot the difference (well not from one side). Massive thanks to Steve, Ben and Kelly for sorting the car while I ran to the spares truck and back.
As I sat on the grid for the first race snow pellets started falling from the sky, perfect I thought for a few cars to leave the track and elevate my position through the pack. I was right. By lap three the safety car came out for a collection of cars stranded at the side of the track and I had got up to 14th place in the two laps. The safety car stayed out for an age and came in with one lap to go. Four more cars passed and the back of the grid charge meant I finished 10th.
The second race had less starters after the first race carnage but still all to do from dead last on the grid. This time a dry track and spring sunshine meant the charge would be slightly trickier. With slow methodical picking off - the highlight three cars in one go down Park Straight - the elevation through the positions saw a rise to 11th overall.
Not the best results from the weekend, but at 11am Sunday morning with a smashed car and qualification in the back rows of the grid I would take it. Maybe next week at Knockhill I will work on not being towards the back and having to battle my way through, though it is good fun.
Full Race Results:
Race 1
1 | 52 | Spencer | McCarthy | McCarthy Technology Services Ltd | 20:27.617 |
2 | 28 | Kieran | Vernon | Driver | + 0.803 |
3 | 3 | Julian | Barratt | Reflex Racing GB | + 2.449 |
4 | 99 | Phil | Sykes | Speedworks Motorsport | + 3.461 |
5 | 51 | Russel | McCarthy | Driver | + 5.688 |
6 | 9 | Gary | Simms | Optimum Motorsport | + 7.753 |
7 | 4 | Paul | Marsh | Tockwith Motorpsort | + 11.626 |
8 | 6 | Matthew | Flowers | Optimum Motorsport | + 13.030 |
9 | 14 | Paul | Morgan | Driver | + 13.401 |
10 | 74 | Peter | Dignan | Pistonheads | + 14.044 |
11 | 17 | Neil | Merry | Speedworks Motorsport | + 16.860 |
12 | 26 | Jonathan | Hawkins | FNH Racing | + 18.095 |
Race 2
1 | 28 | Kieran | Vernon | Driver | 20:06.730 |
2 | 52 | Spencer | McCarthy | McCarthy Technology Services Ltd | + 1.054 |
3 | 46 | Andrew | Smith | Driver | + 17.626 |
4 | 18 | Paul | Sheard | Speedworks Motorsport | + 18.112 |
5 | 51 | Russel | McCarthy | Driver | + 18.799 |
6 | 3 | Julian | Barratt | Reflex Racing GB | + 19.125 |
7 | 99 | Phil | Sykes | Speedworks Motorsport | + 21.755 |
8 | 16 | Ross | Edwards | Speedworks Motorsport | + 25.275 |
9 | 9 | Gary | Simms | Optimum Motorsport | + 43.975 |
10 | 5 | Steve | Rigby | Reflex Racing GB | + 52.964 |
11 | 74 | Peter | Dignan | Pistonheads | + 58.670 |
12 | 58 | Martin | Jones | Hepworth International | + 1:05.570 |
Team PH are still looking for people to help out at Knockhill this weekend, so if any of the PH Scottish contingent wish to come down drop the team an email at TeamPH@PistonHeads.com
I've always wondered when someone else does something silly that causes you damage at what point is it considered "a racing incident" as opposed to a paddock chat that goes along the lines of "you owe me X you stupid b$stard!"
I've always wondered when someone else does something silly that causes you damage at what point is it considered "a racing incident" as opposed to a paddock chat that goes along the lines of "you owe me X you stupid b$stard!"
The different sessions do take a lot of getting used to, qualifying is especially tough if you have a large grid of cars and want to get some space on track to get a clean run at it all.
Knockhill is going to be interesting..
A jammed throttle going into park on the friday night testing saw me break the tyre wall!!
100 man hours and lots of borrowed spared later, saw one very battle scarred tuscan lining up on the back of the grid on the Sunday.
Only for a oil loine to break after making my way up to second, and have me spinning into the tyres on fire !!!!
I didnt get much change out or 5k for that weekend... which is a lot considering my budget for the previous year was only 6.5k !!!
Im hoping for no snow this weekend as we're out at Cadwell on Sturday for our first race..
cheers
G
I love driving on it; the Gooseneck, Mountain and the fearsome complex (highlight of my racing there: Arriving at the end of the complex in a full sideways slide facing the wrong way, and STILL managing to get it facing the right way for the corner
But it's hurt me badly, that track: I've been t-boned by a Nova, lost a wheel at Chris Curve causing retirement, and at Park one year I tried to out-brake a Davrian (a strange car, about the size of a deck of cards & made out of really thin plastic) in my Capri (about the size of a battleship & made out of depleted uranium). So I left the corner backwards @ high speed, as he only had to brake 3 inches from the corner, wheras I needed 1/2 mile...
Oops
Sorry I didn't get a chance to drop by and say hi. I was having quite a few issues myself! Unfortunately, a DNF whilst battling for 5th place in race one - which also then meant I ended up at the back of the grid for race two from which I managed a respectable 6th place. Not a bad weekend all-in-all and rather glad the snow showers avoided my races!!
Being a fello MG racer in the past I'd very much like to see him up the front keeping the young guns off my a*se, so come on Pete, pull your finger out!
See you at Knockhill ;-)
Good racing over the weekend, by the way - and congrats on the win in race one. How you and Russel didn't hit each other during that 'moment' at the Mountain I'll never know!
If anyone has any photo's of Russell or my Orange Ginetta's it would be good to see them.
And as for the near miss when Russell was broadside into the mountain section, well I'll not say too much but I did see the pound signs rolling in front of my eyes!!
Thanks
However, you will notice that my wet & dry laptimes had been virtually the same but then dropped massively to only being .5 away from Pete in the 2nd race and I had absolutely no one to give me a tow down the straights so that's a genuine time only bought about by realising you can push it soooooo much harder when it's setup better (as opposed to last year when most of my pushing was taking from the back of the recovery truck and onto the trailer....).
I hadn't raced at Cadwell for 3 years and have only been to Knockhill only once (6 years+ ago) so it'll be interesting.
Knockhill here we come..?! Ah - the secret lives of PH'ers!
Michael - #11
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