Time Attack Anglesey

[gambler]

Several months later and I have finally had a chance to do a quick write up from Anglesey. So, from what I can remember......

After the turbo had gone south at Brands Hatch, we had decided to go slightly larger with an AET Billet GT35. This should put me slightly higher in the power table but still probably well down on the Evo's. The start finish line is always a good indication of power levels as the speed trap on the straights is often where single seaters VMAX and our lardy saloons are on the anchors by then.

Anglesey was to be a double header so reliability was to be as important as absolute speed. I had very little experience of the track, just a few laps when I had been doing the VIP car for Time Attack last year. The circuit was relatively straight forward so it was a better idea just to save the car and pick up the circuit during the day. The night before we took a walk around the circuit to have a good look at the layout and work out grip levels e.t.c. The track seemed to be very abrasive and pretty warm from the hot day so it looked like tyre wear was going to be high and heat build up may be an issue.

Saturday - GP Circuit

Warm up - The idea had been just to go out and learn the circuit, work out grip levels and work on lines. It is a good circuit with a nice mix of high and low speed corners and a chance to test what is between your legs on the way up to rocket. I cruised around and finished with a leisurely 1:43.327, managed not to break the car so all was well.

Practice - This session was just to give us a chance to mess about with pressures and suspension settings. I felt that I had a good idea where the circuit was going, well, as much as I ever do and the plan was just to push a bit harder and make sure that things were ready for a good result in qualifying. The weather outside was pretty damn hot and a few guys in the class had elected not to run in this session. I returned into the pits with a quickest time of 1:38.250 still with a bit of time in the bag. Downloaded the data logs and sent them off to Andy Forest and then wandered off to the toilet, this racing caper is hard work on the bladder. I don't get nervous but my bladder certainly does. The RA guys got to have a look over the car. They noticed that it had pushed a lot of water and Andy F had informed them that the coolant temperatures were getting a bit high. By the time I had returned from the pits the RA guys had already discussed taking the engine out over night and replacing the head gaskets. Lifting the engine out with their teeth if necessary! Much to every ones delight, Andy Napier discovered that the problem was a faulty radiator cap. I headed off to the car park and 'borrowed' one from Paul from Pro R's car/donor vehicle. All was well so we fired up the George Foreman grill and celebrated with a cheese and ham Panini.... which is actually just a stale cheese and ham roll cooked in a GF grill.... That's how we roll.... get it

Qualifying -

It was now time to crank up the boost and go looking for some points. I had decided to try Kumho V700s in a softer compound to see if the softer tyre would work. I knew that they would not give as long a performance envelope as the 48s but thought they may ultimately offer more grip. I had been advised that they should be good for 3-4 laps which would make them a lot better than the 888s that we used to use in Time Attack. I think a mixture of the hot weather and the abrasive surface put too much heat in them. I was a bit more gentle on them on the out lap. 48's take a bit of heating up to make them work and they required a bit of aggressiveness on the out lap to make them work on the 1st hot lap. I had tried to give the Kumho's an easier time on the outlap but by the end of the out lap, I could feel them start to get a bit squirly. It may have been due to the temperature outside and the abrasiveness of the surface. By the end of the 1st hot lap, they felt really hot. I knew that there would be not much time to be found and decided to park the car up with a time of 1:37.824 which was enough for 3rd in class.

Final -

Back out for the final and I headed out for a careful out lap, mindful that the Kumho's would need no temperature to get them working. It was just a matter of getting some heat into the brakes and making sure there was plenty of space. Brands Hatch had been a nightmare with traffic, with the lower numbers and the longer track, Anglesey was infinitely better. Think I was lucky to see one car the entire session. I was beginning to wonder if everyone else had packed up and gone home. I catch up to Steve Peel on a slow down lap, he takes off and leaves me for dead... That car certainly has some go about it. 2 corners later and I catch up to Steve, the car blew out a hell of a lot of smoke and some bits of gearbox at me... Bloody Evo's. Looks like it was the end of the day for poor Steve. He could console himself with 2nd place though. Jamie Wilson was unstoppable in the Exige in 1st place and I had managed to scrape a podium for 3rd place. My time of 1:36.649 was only 0.049 slower than the fastest Impreza of Duncan Graham in Pro Class. Happy days

Time for the podium and we decided to Ghey out and not cover each other in champagne/vinigar/acid foamy horribleness. The crowd were disappointed but it meant like we would not spend all the next day in a red hot car, wearing a race suit that smelt like a tramp had urinated on you.... 3 years ago and it had not been washed since.

Sunday - Costal Circuit

Warm up -

After getting some hero flakes down my neck...and a bacon roll from the trusty George Foreman grill. We put the trusty AO48s back on and It was time to hit the circuit for warm up. We had now moved to the 1.5 mile coastal circuit and the plan was just to get some different lines tried on the corkscrew and then save the car for the rest of the day. Returned to the pits with a 1:16.534.

Practice -

It had started raining my favourite conditions. Having never driven the circuit before I started off cautious and built up speed where there was grip to be found. After a few laps, I headed into the pits to make a couple of tweeks on the suspension. I was informed that we were sitting about 2 seconds quicker than anyone else in the class. I knew exactly where I could pick up some extra time, so we just put the car in the garage and saved it for the remaining sessions.

Qualifying -

The temperature was a lot cooler today and we decided to give the V700s another shot. I just found them the same as the day before, they just did not have the stability of the 48s and heated up very quickly. It just felt like the tyre was pulling itself to bits. Back in the pits, I checked the laptop and I was sitting 2nd with a time of 1:16.387 That would do just nicely

Final -

The old trusty 48s were back on the car, the boost was turned up and we were good to go. Go straight, into traffic at the corkscrew....three times. I could just not get a break and kept meeting traffic at the worst places. I was not loosing a massive amount of time. It was enough though. It felt good to be back on the 48s they were working well and I had more confidence in the stability of them. My 4 quickest lap times were all within 0.2s of each other. Possibly a sign that they are slightly too hard but they do not require you to have a 100 % clear run on your 1st hot lap. I think the best compromise would be somewhere between the 2 tyres. Back into the pits to find out that I had managed 2nd place with a 1:15.390. I had felt all weekend that the car was not quite handling as well as it could have. Possibly the grass tracking at Brands had knocked off the geo settings. It just felt like the front tyres had been doing all the work. I still think Jamie Wilson's time in the Exige of 1:12.693 would have been pretty much impossible to catch. He was only 0.1s slower than the 3rd place car in Pro class running slicks.

Back to the garage and as always, when I get a poduim, everyone gets a sweaty man hug. Whether they want it or not.

All in all, a pretty good weekend for myself and the team at RA motorsport. 2 podiums for myself and the fastest One Hit Wonder and some great times for Jason Ogg, he will be one to watch next year in Club Class. Both cars ran perfectly all weekend.

The Snetterton write up will follow very soon. For those of you who do not know what happens, there is a fair bit of drama and an unhappy ending... Its like East Enders does Time Attack

Again, I would like to give a massive shout out to all my sponsors. Especially RA motorsport who have been putting a huge amount effort into getting the car competitive in a very tough class. The guys are doing an awesome job and really go the extra mile.

Massive thanks to all the people who have sponsored and supported me

RA Motorsport Developments

Andy Forest Performance

Whiteline

A.B.W

J T Innovations

Syvecs

John Stevenson Motorsport

ABC Autoglass

Flat Out Photography

Cosworth

Carlimits.com

[johns]

Great write up as always Scott, and nice photos