Formula V - Silverstone

Saturday's Formula V race was on the Silverstone National circuit, which meant another new track to learn, although I have done loads of laps on the GP track. So that meant I knew the first and last corners:-)

After a horrendous 6.5 hour drive down on Friday afternoon, I got to the track just after 7 on Saturday morning, and met up with Alan. A quick catch up told me that guest driver Nick Tandy had managed to lap in the 64 second bracket during Friday's testing, which was way under the lap record.

So around 9:30 it was straight in to qualifying and I found a decent rhythm and managed 4 laps in the 66s. I wasn't best pleased but turns out I was only 9/10ths off of pole, set by Sam Olivera with Nick Tandy second and Martin Farmer 3rd. So 6th place was a decent result!

I missed the official entry date and was told that I was on the reserve list (2nd reserve) as they couldn't run a heat and a final at Silverstone. However, a couple of days later, I got a call saying I was in. I didn't really care why, but as there were 39 cars t the track, it's plain that they changed their mind for some reason:-)


So with the top 3 going straight to the final, I lined up 3rd for the heat. I lost a couple of places at the start but managed to stay with the guys in front. I made it back up to 4th when Danny Hands had a sideways moment at Beckets and that's how it finished.


I then had to hang around 'till 17:00 for the final where I lined up 7th. An even worse start saw me entering the first corner, Copse, with Peter Studer on the outside and Steve Ough on the inside. I'm sure Peter and Steve will have their own views but I ended up sandwiched between a sliding Steve and Peter and we all went off. I managed to get going again in last place and in a lap made up 10 places before Ian Foley spun in front of me and managed to hit me on the left rear as I passed him. This broke the rear wheel, deflated the tyre and dumped me in the gravel trap. On closer inspection, the LHS drive shaft was also slightly bent. So that was it for me, Really frustrating, but as they say, that's racing :-( Roll on Oulton Park!

Palmersport

Wednesday saw 20 of us head to Bedford Autodrome for our annual event. First timers were John Harte, David Rooke, John Smythe, Mandy Cunningham, Graydon Malcolm and my 18yo nephew, Graham Joseph.

Given the crap weather we've been having, we were expecting wet tracks, but we were lucky and it stayed dry:-)

For the newcomers, it was a bit of a shock, as we were in at the deep end with the JP1 sports prototype. But the grins said it all:-)
We then had a brief respite in the karts before we were let loose in the Formula Jaguar - 250bhp and some downforce makes for a quick car. We had a few spinners but no real dramas and it was a happy bunch who then headed off to the North circuit to get to grips with the JP3 Porsche and the manic Clio cup car. The Clio constantly amazes folk- for some it's quicker than the Porsche!

It was then over to the off road area which dovetails with the Caterham pursuit - this is a best of 3 head to head autotest started by GP lights. Dave Morgan and I had a really good 2 races , but at 1 each, DM kicked the instructor out of the car and found half a second (wish I'd thought of doing it!), so I lost 2-1.

After a great lunch, it was of to the South circuit and the Jaguar XKR - a fantastic sounding V8 with a supercharger for added impact. A really impressive car, which for me is ruined by an intrusive traction control system. Still, it was better than working even though it was my worst event.

And finally, the Caterham Superlight on the twisty east circuit. 170bhp and 888 tyres makes for awesome fun.

When I'd been down at the Pistonheads event in March (which I won :-)) I'd managed a 47.48 and I thought I'd never beat that time, but in 10 laps I managed 9 under 48 with a best of 47.27 (1.56 seconds quicker than anybody else) - Every time I go to Palmersport, I come away thinking that I want to get a Caterham - They are just soooo good. The car just seems to suit me.

As the organiser, I try to make sure I don't win the Driver of the Day, but Dave Morgan, who won last year, had a couple of 'iffy times, so despite my usual poor off-road and Jag XKR times, I still won. But it worked out OK, as I gave the trophy to my nephew to take back to the USA - He'd won his own battle by beating his dad by a couple of points. I'd taken his dad (my brother) to Bedford in 2001 for his 40th and was asked by his then young sons if I'd take them when they were old enough - Iain joined us 2 years ago and this year was Graham's turn.

Kudos also goes to John Harte and David Rooke who, despite being first timers, took the Caterham and Kart trophies. And Paul Gillen drove the JP1 so hard he made himself sick! He sat out the single seater but then managed to recover and thrash everything else :-)

In all, the only event our team didn't win was the off road :-)


If you ever get the chance to go to the Palmersport event, don't miss it - It may seem expensive, but for the same cost as a day's club racing where you get around 30 mins on circuit, you get at least 3-4 times more seat time, plus the value of instruction from some top class drivers. Even compared to track day - When you factor in tyres, pads, and maybe discs plus the fuel and wear and tear, it's excellent value - and much faster :-)