Silverstone not Classic!
A trip out on the Grand Prix circuit in its historic format as well and an airing on live TV was to make this round one of the season's highlights. With recent good showing we had progressed to second in class 2 in the championship and so went into the weekend with all to play for.
Qualifying
With a combined grid formed from both series, space was at a premium during the qualifying session. It proved difficult to find a clear lap in which to post a decent lap time and when we did manage to hook up a lap, a school boy error saw us spin and waste our efforts. The chequered flag seemed to come out before we had really got going. Having not managed any particularly hot laps, we feared the worst. A qualifying time that placed us eighth in class was disappointing but not surprising, but looking on the bright side, it meant the race was never going to be dull!
Race 1
With both the Open Series and the Club Championship competing in the same race, the grid was split so that the Open runners started first on the lights and the Club grid was started after a short delay on the drop of the national flag. This seemed to catch some of the guys unaware as we were able to pass several cars on the run down to Copse for the first time. We were able to settle down into a rhythm and managed to catch and pass several runners in both our Class and in Class 1. By the last lap, we had managed to reach fourth in class and were bearing down on third place when a slight mistake led to a spin exiting Club corner. The car was quickly gathered up but part of our hard work was undone as we ended up dropping back to fifth.
Race 2
The start turned at to be a bit of a farce with yellow flags waving as one of the Open runners failed to get away cleanly. This was quickly replaced by a marshal vigorously waving a green flag, prompting several of the club championship competitors to go. They were promptly stopped in their tracks before the rest of the pack decided to go. So it was a rather ramshackle field that headed down to the first corner. We had been very much caught up in the mess and had lost several places at the start. The first lap was therefore spent trying to regain places before an error of judgement put paid to any further efforts. On exiting the Abbey Chicane, a little bit too much kerb and coupled with too much throttle on cold tyres saw the car pitch into a spin collecting the wall and ending our race!
Reflection
We came away from the weekend deeply disappointed. It really hadn't gone at all to plan but then racing is nothing if not unpredictable. The guys at EMC Motorsport have got a job and a half on their hands to get the card ready for the next round at Brands Hatch! Fingers crossed!
Qualifying
With a combined grid formed from both series, space was at a premium during the qualifying session. It proved difficult to find a clear lap in which to post a decent lap time and when we did manage to hook up a lap, a school boy error saw us spin and waste our efforts. The chequered flag seemed to come out before we had really got going. Having not managed any particularly hot laps, we feared the worst. A qualifying time that placed us eighth in class was disappointing but not surprising, but looking on the bright side, it meant the race was never going to be dull!
Race 1
With both the Open Series and the Club Championship competing in the same race, the grid was split so that the Open runners started first on the lights and the Club grid was started after a short delay on the drop of the national flag. This seemed to catch some of the guys unaware as we were able to pass several cars on the run down to Copse for the first time. We were able to settle down into a rhythm and managed to catch and pass several runners in both our Class and in Class 1. By the last lap, we had managed to reach fourth in class and were bearing down on third place when a slight mistake led to a spin exiting Club corner. The car was quickly gathered up but part of our hard work was undone as we ended up dropping back to fifth.
Race 2
The start turned at to be a bit of a farce with yellow flags waving as one of the Open runners failed to get away cleanly. This was quickly replaced by a marshal vigorously waving a green flag, prompting several of the club championship competitors to go. They were promptly stopped in their tracks before the rest of the pack decided to go. So it was a rather ramshackle field that headed down to the first corner. We had been very much caught up in the mess and had lost several places at the start. The first lap was therefore spent trying to regain places before an error of judgement put paid to any further efforts. On exiting the Abbey Chicane, a little bit too much kerb and coupled with too much throttle on cold tyres saw the car pitch into a spin collecting the wall and ending our race!
Reflection
We came away from the weekend deeply disappointed. It really hadn't gone at all to plan but then racing is nothing if not unpredictable. The guys at EMC Motorsport have got a job and a half on their hands to get the card ready for the next round at Brands Hatch! Fingers crossed!
