Tuesday 19th August 2008

Team PH - Race Diary Rounds 15 and 16

Which works better: A broken man - or a broken car?

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What did that say again?

There was a lot of controversy when Lewis Hamilton didn’t want to do a triathlon against Jenson Button before the Silverstone Grand Prix, uproar in Ferrari when Kimi Raikenen decided to race on skidoos under a pseudonym before the start of last season, and a ban on Michael Schumacher doing certain sports. I now know at first hand why.

If you play other sports you can get hurt and this can ruin a championship challenge. My mistake while playing soft ball the other week was to think the whole of my thumb can stop a fast moving ball all by itself. It can’t. As the thumb bent back to let the ball pass the tendon held onto the bone and pulled it apart to allow for the extra bend. The result – one fractured thumb and possible ligament damage.

Not how it should look

As my thumb was referred up through the ranks of doctors at Kingston Hospital I sat pondering what this meant to the race in two week's time at Silverstone. Motorbike racers ride with worse injuries and I am sure there was a rally driver who used to race with one arm, so it should be fine. As the doctor announced my hand would need plaster to keep it all together I let him know my racing predicament. No problem responded the doctor and as the cast went on they found a steering wheel like object and moulded the cast so it fitted perfectly. Job done - let's race.

I was still slightly worried that someone might stop me racing when they saw the blue cast on my hand, but scruitineers and race control alike just chatted about any broken bones they had suffered and into the car I jumped for the rest of the meeting. Now the only challenge to the thumb would be the taking on and off of a glove to cover it.

Flat out through bridge

I have driven in the past with many injuries, colds (read 'life threatening flu') and other aches and pains, but as soon as your foot hits the floor any pain or annoyances seem to disappear – it is a magical cure.

As I set out for qualifying I knew this was going to be a tight one and I tried hard to nail two perfect laps to put the car high up the grid for both races. As the electronic boards flickered with the results at the end of the race it showed the top 15 being separated by only 1.5 seconds. It was close and unfortunately Team PH showed up in 13^th place.

Team PH in style

Analysing the split times it showed I was losing a second through the complex of Priory, Brooklands and Luffield. Camped on the outside of the complex for the early races I was determined to get this section correct and watched the leaders styles through the section. A little tweak to my lines was needed and I was ready for race one.

The bright red lights extinguished for the first race and the car accelerated towards Copse. Through the psck I could see a red car spinning in the centre of the track and I swerved inside to avoid. Unfortunately two other cars weren’t so lucky and the resultant debris released the safety car to escort the pack for the clean-up operation.

Ginetta close racing

The restart from the safety laps saw less carnage on the first corner but an enthusiastic lunge up the inside at Abbey Hairpin from one of the top runners nudged two of the front runners wide and I nipped up to 7^th place. The next lap saw another dive with locked up brakes into Abbey – but this time due to brake failure – and two more challengers fell by the wayside. I passed the pit board and it announced my 5^th place with three minutes to go – only two more laps.

Coming into the complex for the penultimate time I braked into Brooklands and shifted down into second. But second didn’t want to play and as I concentrated on trying to find the gear the backend stepped out and with a little nudge from 6^th place I slid off the side of the track. My thumb may have survived while broken but the gearbox wasn’t so good while bust.

Is this the missing bit?

The rally boys can probably change a gearbox in fifteen minutes but Team PH, with a massive help from fellow competitor Paul Morgan, managed a respectable three hours. We were all ready with plenty of time for race 2. The first corner carnage from race one had left three cars unavailable for the race and the grid position became 10^th.

With fewer cars the first corner was negotiated without incident and the pack streamed through the outfield. Coming into priory and a slight tap on Gary Simms sent him spinning in the middle of the track but this time no one collected the stranded car and the field flanked either side.

Last of the late brakers

Unfortunately I chose the outside and dropped a position taking the longer route. The incident had left a little gap to the leaders and so I tried to battle back up the field to a respectable finish. Helped by the massive slipstreaming effect of the Ginetta cars I moved up to 7^th by the finish and after a technical infringement to one of the front runners I was declared as 6^th place.

I wouldn’t recommend breaking a thumb to improve your racing, but for me it seemed to work for this race meeting. I am now working out what I need to injure to make the top three.

Race 1

1	52	Spencer	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	20:25.632
2	51	Russel	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	+ 1.493
3	28	Kieran	Vernon	Driver	+ 1.790
4	9	Gary	Simms	Optimum Motorsport	+ 4.046
5	3	Julian	Barratt	Reflex Racing GB	+ 5.522
6	99	Phil	Sykes	Speedworks Motorsport	+ 13.902
7	14	Paul	Morgan	Driver	+ 14.178
8	56	Henry	Fletcher	Rob Austin Racing	+ 19.479
9	6	Matthew	Flowers	Optimum Motorsport	+ 22.022
10	5	Steve	Rigby	Reflex Racing GB	+ 24.011
DNF	74	Peter	Dignan	PistonHeads	DNF

Race 2

1	52	Spencer	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	20:07.962
2	28	Kieran	Vernon	Driver	+ 0.030
3	3	Julian	Barratt	Reflex Racing GB	+ 0.686
4	46	Andrew	Smith	Driver	+ 1.547
5	51	Russel	McCarthy	McCarthy Motorsport	+ 16.671
6	74	Peter	Dignan	Pistonheads	+ 22.391
7	5	Steve	Rigby	Reflex Racing GB	+ 29.190
8	58	Martin	Jones	Hepworth International	+ 42.551
9	9	Gary	Simms	Optimum Motorsport	+ 42.979
10	56	Henry	Fletcher	Rob Austin Racing	+ 43.290

[J16GY]

WHAT CHEEKY SOD TOOK OUT TEAM PISTONHEADS COMING OUT OF PRIORY!? Saw the nudge and he clearly saw you were in trouble and rear ended you out of the race... am assuming the car would only select reverse after judging by the way you drove off the track - backwards!?