Time Attack - Cadwell write up - Pics for the boys added
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 5:54 pm
I had decided that it would be best to head down to cadwell and do a track day on the Tuesday before the event. As the circuit is a bit of a car killer, I thought that if I broke it or binned it we would have more of a chance to fix the car before the weekend.
The 1st session Andrew Walsh ‘walshy’ from Carlimits drove a couple of warm up laps to show me the lines etc. A great effort considering he had driven 3 hours to get there despite a couple of fractured shins. We cruised round pretty slowly taking a good look at the circuit. We were getting passed by a stack of caterfields etc and I was warned that this was not going to happen later on! We headed back into the pits and parked the car up. Only for it to refuse to start. Colin ‘fix’ was right on the case and eventually diagnosed it as a wiring fault inside the dash board. It was caused by the Lambda sensor wire touching the manifold. Colin pulled the rest of his hair out while I paced around trying not to get in the road. After colin had taken the wiring loom to bits he managed to get it started and we were off Great effort Colin. Unfortunately it was around half past 2 so time was limited. Walshy and I worked on the circuit and picked up my pace. Everything was going great until the fatal, ‘ last run’. I entered Hall bends way too quick. There was no where near enough grip so I decided to look into by bag of talent……empty! I knew there was no way I was getting round the corner and if I tried it I was going to spin and end up in the barriers. So I decided to just cut straight over the grass and take out the half dozen floppy bollards out. One of them giving the bonnet a good slap and putting a healthy dent in the bonnet. Walshy laughed and said, ‘ What the f**k were you thinking there. You have been going round that corner perfectly all afternoon, so what made you suddenly think you could do it without brakes? I knew you were going to bin it at some point on that banzai lap. (it was a lot of sideways fun)’ I just laughed and said that I now know how fast I can’t do hall bends
We pushed the bonnet dent back into reasonable shape and headed home. Luckily James Nichols had kindly agreed to keep the trailer and car so we did not have to tow it home again.
Race day arrived and I was raring to go. I knew it was a must win race if I was going to win the championship. The weather was dry but looking a bit ominous in the distance. This was going to be a scary circuit in the wet.
Warm up –
I still felt like I needed more time on the circuit so I did a couple of laps to warm the car and myself up and then pushed on for a few more laps to work on braking points etc. This is always difficult to learn on a track day with all the traffic. Back in the paddock I was 2nd fastest over all with a time of 1.41.276 and 2 seconds quicker than anyone else if F/I 4WD. Not that these times mean anything as a lot of people were taking it easy and everyone was looking after their engine.
Practice –
I was really enjoying the circuit by now. Going over the hill at the park straight at 140 mph totally blind was just awesome. You brain is telling you to brake or at least lift off. The quickest way is just to keep it pinned till your well over the crest though. So it was time to engage the new extra large titanium balls! Brass ones would be too heavy and carbon fibre ones would be light but the splinters would be painful in the event of an accident. There were loads of spinners at Hall bends too. I had now learned my lesson and knew that if you entered the 1st corner too quickly. You ruined the next 4 corners. On the way in I was told to go and see the Clark of the course. A marshal had reported me for cutting the corner too much just before the mountain. All 4 wheels off the circuit????? No chance, I had at least 2 on the circuit at all times. We only need 1 according to the rules. There was no point arguing so I said I was a very sorry boy and I would not do it again. If I was reported again my lap time would be discounted. There was not much time to be gained by the cut anyway. In the time sheets I was fastest F/I car and 3rd fastest over all with a 1.40.187. Mattius Batchler was only 1 10th behind me though. I knew there was some more time to be found though.
Qualifying –
After Team Dynamics had made a bolloks of my order for new wheels, I had new tyres but no wheels to put them on. Kev Horsley and Mikee Singh kindly loaned me a set. A bit of arch rolling was required. It worked great, but, oh my god it was brutal to see. I tried not to watch, but like a kid watching a horror movie. I could not help myself. I took the car a run down the paddock and all was well. Right until I put a wee bit of heat on the brakes on the way to the pit lane and there was a big scary rubbing noise from the wheels. The problem was that once you were on the circuit at cadwell, you are not allowed off again. And once your pit crew were in the pits they are not allowed to cross the live circuit to get to the paddock to get spacers etc. So I was sitting there thinking that if I cant drive. I cant qualify, which meant no final and goodbye championship. Colin and Ali had a quick look and it turned out the spokes were just touching the hot calipers. I was told to do a couple of slow laps to let the calipers be milled and they would be fine. The wheels would not be damaged. If they were, they were not being used again and I would just have to buy another set to replace them. After a couple of laps I was given the all clear to put in a flyer. I put all the distractions to the back of my mind and went for it. I ended up behind Daniel Gannon in the lightweight M3 with lots of lovely carbon bits. Our lap times were almost identical and we were quicker at different parts of the circuit. The spacing was just right so we were not getting in each others road. Normally in Time Attack I like to have my own space and have no one around. Those 3 laps were the most fun I have ever had in time attack. I was absolutely flat out and so was Daniel. Its probably not the quickest way to do it though. He pulled over and I put in 1 more flyer which was slightly quicker than my others. More focus probably! The time sheets came in and I was 3 10ths behind Daniel in the M3 but still the quickest in 4wd by nearly a second with a 1.39.804.
Final –
After being quickest all day at brands, until the final, then coming 3rd. I knew it was far from in the bag. I also had my sights on Daniel and being quickest in club class over all. I went out and pushed as hard as I could and shaved a touch more off my time. Its strange going back into to the paddock as your pit crew are still stuck in the middle of the circuit until it is clear. You arrive back having no one to tell you the results etc. Luckily Daniels father came over with the time sheets showing me fastest over all with a 1.36.654 ¾ of a second faster than anyone else in F/I 4WD and under 1 1/10th quicker than Daniel. I was over the moon. I did feel sorry for poor fee who was in 3rd place until Walter Morris put in a blinder of a time in the B final to put himself in 3rd place.
It was awesome to be back up at the top step of the podium again. I was grinning like a cheshire cat. Right up to when Matt and Walter sprayed me right in the eyes with the wonderfull and not cheap champagne. I took a step back and nearly fell off the podium. That would have been embarassing.
I now have the fortunate position of being 21 points in the lead of my class going into the final round at Snetterton. Unfortunately this is the big power circuit. And I seem to be running probably the lowest power in the top 10. I finally put the car on a dyno at extreme in whitburn and it made 485Hp and 380lb/ft. It was what I had expected. Snetterton is going to be tough with Fee running over 600hp. Warren Kelly 550, Eric Holmes 650 and Walter Morris running big power too as he usually beats me in the speed traps. I’ll just have to do a rain dance!
Here are a couple of videos
Qualifying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrREgZk1g9o
Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyDBYx_bO50
And some pictures
Landing after the mountain. Not too much air as i lifted off when the front wheels left the ground. I thought it was best to keep the gearbox in 1 piece. A few people had other ideas. And broken gearboxes!
Massive thanks as usual to –
Colin Telfer - for building the car
Alistair Colins - for all the work on the car
Andrew Walsh of Carlimits.com - for making me go fast. Even when he has to drive there with legs so battered he car hardly walk.
Andy Forest - for the mapping, support and all the great advice.
Usedcarparts.co.uk for sponsorship
My mum – for making the sandwiches
The 1st session Andrew Walsh ‘walshy’ from Carlimits drove a couple of warm up laps to show me the lines etc. A great effort considering he had driven 3 hours to get there despite a couple of fractured shins. We cruised round pretty slowly taking a good look at the circuit. We were getting passed by a stack of caterfields etc and I was warned that this was not going to happen later on! We headed back into the pits and parked the car up. Only for it to refuse to start. Colin ‘fix’ was right on the case and eventually diagnosed it as a wiring fault inside the dash board. It was caused by the Lambda sensor wire touching the manifold. Colin pulled the rest of his hair out while I paced around trying not to get in the road. After colin had taken the wiring loom to bits he managed to get it started and we were off Great effort Colin. Unfortunately it was around half past 2 so time was limited. Walshy and I worked on the circuit and picked up my pace. Everything was going great until the fatal, ‘ last run’. I entered Hall bends way too quick. There was no where near enough grip so I decided to look into by bag of talent……empty! I knew there was no way I was getting round the corner and if I tried it I was going to spin and end up in the barriers. So I decided to just cut straight over the grass and take out the half dozen floppy bollards out. One of them giving the bonnet a good slap and putting a healthy dent in the bonnet. Walshy laughed and said, ‘ What the f**k were you thinking there. You have been going round that corner perfectly all afternoon, so what made you suddenly think you could do it without brakes? I knew you were going to bin it at some point on that banzai lap. (it was a lot of sideways fun)’ I just laughed and said that I now know how fast I can’t do hall bends
We pushed the bonnet dent back into reasonable shape and headed home. Luckily James Nichols had kindly agreed to keep the trailer and car so we did not have to tow it home again. Race day arrived and I was raring to go. I knew it was a must win race if I was going to win the championship. The weather was dry but looking a bit ominous in the distance. This was going to be a scary circuit in the wet.
Warm up –
I still felt like I needed more time on the circuit so I did a couple of laps to warm the car and myself up and then pushed on for a few more laps to work on braking points etc. This is always difficult to learn on a track day with all the traffic. Back in the paddock I was 2nd fastest over all with a time of 1.41.276 and 2 seconds quicker than anyone else if F/I 4WD. Not that these times mean anything as a lot of people were taking it easy and everyone was looking after their engine.
Practice –
I was really enjoying the circuit by now. Going over the hill at the park straight at 140 mph totally blind was just awesome. You brain is telling you to brake or at least lift off. The quickest way is just to keep it pinned till your well over the crest though. So it was time to engage the new extra large titanium balls! Brass ones would be too heavy and carbon fibre ones would be light but the splinters would be painful in the event of an accident. There were loads of spinners at Hall bends too. I had now learned my lesson and knew that if you entered the 1st corner too quickly. You ruined the next 4 corners. On the way in I was told to go and see the Clark of the course. A marshal had reported me for cutting the corner too much just before the mountain. All 4 wheels off the circuit????? No chance, I had at least 2 on the circuit at all times. We only need 1 according to the rules. There was no point arguing so I said I was a very sorry boy and I would not do it again. If I was reported again my lap time would be discounted. There was not much time to be gained by the cut anyway. In the time sheets I was fastest F/I car and 3rd fastest over all with a 1.40.187. Mattius Batchler was only 1 10th behind me though. I knew there was some more time to be found though.
Qualifying –
After Team Dynamics had made a bolloks of my order for new wheels, I had new tyres but no wheels to put them on. Kev Horsley and Mikee Singh kindly loaned me a set. A bit of arch rolling was required. It worked great, but, oh my god it was brutal to see. I tried not to watch, but like a kid watching a horror movie. I could not help myself. I took the car a run down the paddock and all was well. Right until I put a wee bit of heat on the brakes on the way to the pit lane and there was a big scary rubbing noise from the wheels. The problem was that once you were on the circuit at cadwell, you are not allowed off again. And once your pit crew were in the pits they are not allowed to cross the live circuit to get to the paddock to get spacers etc. So I was sitting there thinking that if I cant drive. I cant qualify, which meant no final and goodbye championship. Colin and Ali had a quick look and it turned out the spokes were just touching the hot calipers. I was told to do a couple of slow laps to let the calipers be milled and they would be fine. The wheels would not be damaged. If they were, they were not being used again and I would just have to buy another set to replace them. After a couple of laps I was given the all clear to put in a flyer. I put all the distractions to the back of my mind and went for it. I ended up behind Daniel Gannon in the lightweight M3 with lots of lovely carbon bits. Our lap times were almost identical and we were quicker at different parts of the circuit. The spacing was just right so we were not getting in each others road. Normally in Time Attack I like to have my own space and have no one around. Those 3 laps were the most fun I have ever had in time attack. I was absolutely flat out and so was Daniel. Its probably not the quickest way to do it though. He pulled over and I put in 1 more flyer which was slightly quicker than my others. More focus probably! The time sheets came in and I was 3 10ths behind Daniel in the M3 but still the quickest in 4wd by nearly a second with a 1.39.804.
Final –
After being quickest all day at brands, until the final, then coming 3rd. I knew it was far from in the bag. I also had my sights on Daniel and being quickest in club class over all. I went out and pushed as hard as I could and shaved a touch more off my time. Its strange going back into to the paddock as your pit crew are still stuck in the middle of the circuit until it is clear. You arrive back having no one to tell you the results etc. Luckily Daniels father came over with the time sheets showing me fastest over all with a 1.36.654 ¾ of a second faster than anyone else in F/I 4WD and under 1 1/10th quicker than Daniel. I was over the moon. I did feel sorry for poor fee who was in 3rd place until Walter Morris put in a blinder of a time in the B final to put himself in 3rd place.
It was awesome to be back up at the top step of the podium again. I was grinning like a cheshire cat. Right up to when Matt and Walter sprayed me right in the eyes with the wonderfull and not cheap champagne. I took a step back and nearly fell off the podium. That would have been embarassing.
I now have the fortunate position of being 21 points in the lead of my class going into the final round at Snetterton. Unfortunately this is the big power circuit. And I seem to be running probably the lowest power in the top 10. I finally put the car on a dyno at extreme in whitburn and it made 485Hp and 380lb/ft. It was what I had expected. Snetterton is going to be tough with Fee running over 600hp. Warren Kelly 550, Eric Holmes 650 and Walter Morris running big power too as he usually beats me in the speed traps. I’ll just have to do a rain dance!
Here are a couple of videos
Qualifying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrREgZk1g9o
Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyDBYx_bO50
And some pictures
Landing after the mountain. Not too much air as i lifted off when the front wheels left the ground. I thought it was best to keep the gearbox in 1 piece. A few people had other ideas. And broken gearboxes!
Massive thanks as usual to –
Colin Telfer - for building the car
Alistair Colins - for all the work on the car
Andrew Walsh of Carlimits.com - for making me go fast. Even when he has to drive there with legs so battered he car hardly walk.
Andy Forest - for the mapping, support and all the great advice.
Usedcarparts.co.uk for sponsorship
My mum – for making the sandwiches
It must be given to you at the gate at a race meeting. Along with a Tag and a pair of okleys