ANGLESEY RACE REPORT 2012
How do you
describe Anglesey Circuit? Well, its bit
like Cadwell Park, it has something for everyone. Fast straights, slow technical, long sweeping
bends, hilly and not to forget a lot of hairpins. In my view it has to be up there with the
best of them in terms of pure entertainment value.
When we
arrived at the circuit it was late at night.
It’s a long old haul up to Anglesey from Milton Keynes area, but I am
not complaining, but by the fact all (most) other fellow RGBers were already
there I did think maybe I should have taken Friday off work to try get up there
in a decent time. (Note to self: arrive
earlier next time).
So, Saturday
arrives and there is no time wasted, but to get the car ready and get it down
to scrutineering. Scrutineering is I am
sure everyone who may read this can appreciate is there for your own safety. It ensures cars are up to standard in terms
of build construction and safety and also to ensure that no one has decided to
modify their cars unfairly, outside of the regs, to give an unfair
advantage. From that perspective, I full
heartedly support its intentions. What
really cheeses me off is the amount of time it takes to get through the whole
process. We were queuing for over an
hour to go through scrutineering this time round. Long enough for a couple of the drivers to
return back to their motorhomes cook breakfast and come back with piping hot
flasks of coffee. It crazy how long
things take, but let’s look on bright side.
At least the weather was nice ;-)
I guess what made the whole waiting experience more painful was the fact
I had literally just done my back in lifting and carry a generator about 50
yards earlier on. What with having an incredibly
weak back anyway due to past rugby injuries and operations, lifting the genny
sent my back into excruciating back spasms , and whilst I hunched over the roll
cage waiting for the queue to move I was considering pulling out the race.
Finally, got
through scrutineering. So proceeded to
hobble back to the paddock area. To which
I decided to lie down and try to relax my back.
What happened between lying down and the race, well I have no way of
knowing as I was fast asleep, so not much to report.
Race #1
Qualified 23rd
out of 27th with a 1:18.67.
Not blisteringly quick compared to the likes of John Cutmore in the
Spire GT3 having done a 1:11.10, but not too shabby considering the performance
differential between cars.
Start of the
race and I was a bit surprised to see Tim Gray in his Spire GT3 lining up
behind me on the grid. For those who
know, Tim has won every race this season leading from the front, so to find him
behind me was very surprising. I learnt
later on he didn’t get a qualification time and therefore started from the
back.
Lights out
and away we go. A much smoother start
than the usual jerky affair. Applied the
power heading off down the main straight.
Before I had even gone 50 yards, Tim had already passed me. How is that possible!? The guy is a machine!
Approaching
the first corner it was time to slam the anchors on. An almighty pile up was unfolding in front of
me. Not sure who or what caused the
incident, but it managed to gather up 5-6 cars.
As I swerved to avoid it, I managed
to over take Tim but before I even got to the 2nd corner he had
repassed me…..’Bugger!’. But to be fair
if it wasnt that corner it would have been the next one.
The race
unfolded to be quite a good competitive race for me and the car. Managed to keep with the Class F pack. Loosing them through the corners, but gaining
lots on the straights. Church going up
into Rocket saw the car reel them. Few
more laps and a bigger pair of balls I think I would have been there but to be
fair I was just ecstatic to have been up there with them as the cars setup has
never really had any scientific input/setup to this point. It was all what we had learnt from other
drivers and making changes after my feedback, but I think its fair to say, most
of set up was guess work at this point, but at least we were heading in the
right direction.
Race #1
Results
Finished 18th
out of 27 starters….not bad!
Best lap
time, 1:17.92….quicker than qually.
6th
in Class…but we shall ignore the fact that a number of cars were taken out on
the first corner.
Race #2
Again
starting at back of grid, with Tim Gray behind me, this time I was determined
to keep him behind me. LOL LOL…not a
chance. Lights out….I blinked and Tim
was off in the distance….FFS!
Race 2 was
very short lived. Just starting lap 2
and disaster. Engine revs went off the
chart. ‘What the?!’ Thought I had selected neutral momentarily so
went through the gears, but I had lost drive in every gear. I cruised round the circuit and park up next
to the marshals hut, got out and proceeded to watch the rest of the race.
Watching
from the side-lines isn’t ideal, but is quite entertaining esp when you have
the marshals radio giving updates to what is happening elsewhere on track. The rest of the race, it seemed as though everyone
had taken leave of their senses. Carnage
was ensuing on every part of the circuit.
Cars catching fire (Austen Greenway), diffs blowing up (Matt Higginson),
bodywork flying off, Dave Masters being shunted off the track and required
medical attention (was fine I might add), Arthur Rogerson struggling to keep
his Class A Spire in straight line and me to name but a few of the incidents.
Eventually a
recovery truck came over to tow me back to the paddock.
Tris waiting
with bated breath. ‘What happened?’ ‘Diff
is knackered’ I said. This was followed by a longish pause and
reply of….’well, it wasn’t a case of if it blew up, but more a question of when
it blew it’.
Thankfully,
Tris wasn’t too concerned about the whole thing and we proceeded to push the
car back to the van.
Realisation
started to set in on the way home………what with a knackered diff, is this going
to put a halt on the rest of the season.
I hope not. We have only just got
started. Tris then laid out 3 options.
1.
Get the Muffet diff repaired for a 2nd
time this season for £300 ish
2.
Or, get a £50 Freelander Diff in the car, job
done, but would require a lot of chassis mods to get it in.
4.
Or…call it day
Not happy
calling it a day and balancing out what is the longevity of the car. I decided against getting the Muffet repaired
and opted for Freelander Diff route.
Whilst the diff was only £50, the Quaiffe LSD was £700. Ouch!
Realisation then set in we would need bespoke drive shafts for all this
so a trip to Bailey Morris saw another £330 spent. Which seems a lot of money, but if in the
grand scheme of things if it provided reliability and a quicker car due to
better gearing from the diff….money well spent I feel.
Getting the
parts organised seemed like an eternity, but we got there in the end with an
end result of a mad panic rush before the 2nd round at Donington
looming ahead in front of us.
1 comment:
Nice report, look foreward to the next
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