Hi everyone,
Last weekend saw my debut in the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup at Castle Combe in a SEAT Leon FR, kindly provided for me by the Dunlop Race Academy and AmD Technik, prepared by the vastly experienced Mardi Gras Motorsport team.
Unfortunately, and despite what some of the other drivers may have thought (yes Abbie… you!) I was not able to test on the Friday, and my first taste of the car, and indeed my first taste of front wheel drive was to be in qualifying on Saturday morning.
Borrowing a majorly overused, yet true racing cliche, Mardi Gras did an excellent job and ensured I was at the front of the queue for qualifying, giving maximum potential track time. This was all very well, and worked perfectly, except I was the victim of nothing short of a deluge of faster Class A cars barrelling past on either side of the circuit heading up to Quarry on the opening lap. Welcome to high end motorsport!
After what seemed like the entire field had got past me on the first lap, I began to settle down and found a consistent pace behind Abbie Eaton in her Corsa. I could see areas where she was quicker, and places I could catch, but felt I could do with a clear lap or two to get my head around the cars capability.
Fortunately midway through the session Abbie pitted and gave me an empty track to play with. Despite one massively lairy moment on the way into Camp corner, the car felt better the harder it was pushed, and my lap times gradually came down, until the team were showing me P1 on the board!
I was very satisfied to be sitting on class pole after my first ever run in the car.
Race One was another learning experience, and although I got a reasonable jump from the line, I was too cautious into Quarry, and allowed a couple of cars that had qualified behind me through, including Abbie?s Corsa. Consoling myself that discretion was the way forward in an unfamiliar grid, I forced myself to take my time and not go charging after her too soon. Qualifying indicated I had the pace to catch her, and to take a class win, but that would count for precisely nothing if I planted the car in the barriers on the opening lap.
As the race grew on things settled down, and I came under pressure from the Fiesta of Mark Weidner. Mark seemed to have greater speed through the chicanes and gave me one or two little encouraging nudges to prove the point. Forunately for me he was unable to pass, and as my confidence grew I gradually increased the gap. At about mid race distance I started to make inroads into Abbie?s lead, and felt confident I knew where I could pass her if the chance came. She seemed to be struggling a little with her front tyres, particularly through Quarry, and I managed to carry more speed on a tidier line, and get a run heading into the Esses. Abbie moved to the middle of the road to defend, and I took to the outside on the brakes, just about stopping the car in time to turn in ahead of her through the chicane.
We stayed in pretty close proximity for the next couple of laps, and just when I thought I may have made a bit of a break, I took too much speed into the same chicane where I had made the pass, and couldn?t keep the car pointing in the right direction. For a moment in the middle I thought I would be able to gather it all up, but then a tyre momentarily dropped onto the grass and this was enough to send me off towards the corn field. I managed to keep everything moving and circumnavigated some marshals who had given up running away in favour of amusing themselves at me, and rejoined. Unfortunately as I rejoined the leaders emerged in my mirrors, and for the first time in something like 3 years I found myself lapped!
I eventually finished 4th in class, with a fastest lap just 2 hundredths off Abbies new class lap record, but as I?m sure you can imagine, this was very little consolation!
Race two on Sunday was held in some seriously wet weather, so the book of new experiences got another new entry; not getting soaked through to the skin, thanks to driving a car with a roof! This was swiftly followed by another, slightly less joyous installment; windscreen misting!
To say visibility on the first lap was poor is a bit like saying the roads in venice are slightly flooded. Racing by braille is the closest description I can offer. Fortunately the driving standards in Sport Maxx are exceptional and everyone gave each other plenty of respect, and just enough racing room. When things started to settle down slightly, I found myself in a class B battle with Mark Weidner in his Fiesta again. Mark seemed to be enjoying the conditions, as he got the Fiesta to some extreme angles through some of the quicker corners, but unfortunately he tried it one too many times, and as the car snapped back the notoriously unforgiving barriers at Tower corner claimed another victim. This left me with a clear track, and the team were showing P2, and +10 seconds to Abbie?s Corsa. However, as a result of Mark?s accident, the Saftey Car was deployed and I was able to close the gap up. All set for a restart and a charge for the win I felt I deserved after Saturday, the pit board suddenly began to show P1 instead…. After a couple of laps my brain started to tick through the permutations of why I was showing as leading, when I could see the back of the Corsa just up the road. Had she been off the circuit and gone a lap down? Had she pitted with a problem? Then as I crossed the start/finish line I noticed the marshals holding out a board with Abbie?s number on, and it twigged that she must have jumped the start and received a 10 second penalty. Through the murk on the inside of the windscreen at the line, I had been able to make out the lights, and the shapes of other cars moving too early, but discerning who was who was beyond me. This meant all I had to do was keep her in sight over the remaining few laps, and I would take my first win in only my second race in the car. Despite Abbie putting in some impressive lap times through the final laps, I was able to cross the line about 6 seconds adrift, meaning I had taken the class win! Some would say it was a win by default, but I was happy to accept, and Abbie was gracious enough to congratulate me afterwards, despite her clearly possessing better pace.
Race three was in similarly wet conditions, and in hindsight I should have made a couple of changes to the car from the earlier race to stabilise it a bit, but this was entirely my call and I decided there was still more time to come from me than the car, so we kept it the same.
Again a tentative start saw me lose places, but after the initial couple of laps everything settled much more quickly in this race than either of the two previous encounters, and I found myself circulating in almost complete solitude. Abbie clearly had a car underneath her that handled exactly the way she liked, and she made the most of it to pull away into an unassailable class lead, picking off a few of the theoretically quicker class A cars in the process. I consolidated a second place finish, making up for the lack of direct competition by experimenting with the handling of a car I was now very comfortable in, and amusing myself with some pretty sideways moments around each lap!
For me, gaining a win and a class second in my first ever drive in the car was better than I could have expected, and if it wasn?t for a momentary, and frankly schoolboy lapse in concentration it could have been two wins.
At present this experience remains a one off, but if there is ever another opportunity to work with Dunlop again, I would not have to give it a moments consideration. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Dunlop and the Race Academy, and AmD Technik for offering me the opportunity in the first place, and despite their modest protestations of “we just prepare the car, its nothing to do with us” the lads from Mardi Gras for giving me the support all weekend, and making the whole experience vastly more relaxed and professional than it would have been if I were left to my own devices.
I?d also like to congratulate Abbie on her season so far, and wish her all the best for the rest of the year.
Next up for me is back to duties in the Locost Championship, and there have been developments in that department too. The organising club have seen fit to impose a weight penalty on our Bio-Ethanol powered car for the reminder of the season. This has increased the minimum weight from 615kg to 645kg. Although I slightly resent the implication that it is just the car that has made the difference this year, (after all it doesn?t drive itself) I am looking forward to the challenge of continuing my four race winning streak at Silverstone in August.
The Silverstone meeting is also the 10th anniversary of the Locost Championship, and should be an excellent weekend. As ever if anyone would like to come along and offer their support I would be extremely pleased to see them.
Matt
