The Rockingham round (12th July) has now changed to 2x 20 minute races, rather than the single 30 minutes. Opinions vary in the paddock, and I'm sure mine will change over time, but at the moment I'm in favour of 2 shorter races so a good move.
Only downside is if the second race is on the Sunday, as I'm going to be away on business. The timetable hasn't been released yet, so hoping both races are on the Saturday.
Monday, 30 June 2008
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
No Cadwell
The MaX5 gang will be at Cadwell this weekend, but I'm not going to be able to make it. Bit of a shame since this is the first MaX5 year where I've done the first 5 races. I guess that's mainly due to getting a front row grid position in the first race of the season at Silverstone, followed by finishing on the podium.
Cadwell, or the Mini-Nuremburg, is a cracking circuit with good elevation changes. In fact, the changes are so good that I've a mate who's been there skate boarding! Anyway, back to the racing, and according to the latest update from MaX5 there will be some new faces appearing this weekend, so a bit of a shame I'm not going to be there.
This does mean I'll be dropping off the leader board for the championship, but hopefully I'll be back out at Rockingham (local), or Anglesey in August (it's a long way, but expecting a great weekend)
All the best for James, Joachim, & Paul for the race.
Cadwell, or the Mini-Nuremburg, is a cracking circuit with good elevation changes. In fact, the changes are so good that I've a mate who's been there skate boarding! Anyway, back to the racing, and according to the latest update from MaX5 there will be some new faces appearing this weekend, so a bit of a shame I'm not going to be there.
This does mean I'll be dropping off the leader board for the championship, but hopefully I'll be back out at Rockingham (local), or Anglesey in August (it's a long way, but expecting a great weekend)
All the best for James, Joachim, & Paul for the race.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Next time...
After Fridays test session, I still wasn't happy with the car setup, so I had to decide on going with what I had, or taking a gamble on the setup.... I went for the latter!
Qualifying was hard work, the car/track still not working for me, and feeling that I must be well off the pace. Fortunately, the timesheets showed that I wasn't that far off the rest with just 0.448 seconds separating 2nd to 9th places!
First race, and 7th on the grid, so pointing downhill and holding the car on the handbrake. Lights went out, and we were away. Not a bad start, and taking a tighter line at Paddock gave me a good run up to Druids, but not enough to get in front of Richard Breland (Championship leader), forcing me to take the inside line at Druids. I'm not sure what had happened at the apex/exit of Druids, but the inside line seemed to almost stop, and costing me positions.
Richard, Myself, & Mark Pierpoint were in a tight pack until lap 7, where Dean Parker managed to get past Mark and started catching myself. On Lap 9 Nick Wright spun on the exit of Graham Hill bend, and I lifted for a fraction under the yellow flag as he was still spinning. Dean was able to avoid lifting, and had sufficient momentum to get past me before Surtees. I held station until lap 13, where Nick finally managed to get past me, unfortunately pushing me down to 10th place at the end of the race.
Race 2 was the next day, meaning no tracktime before the actual race. 9th on the grid this time as it was based on the second best qualifying times. Still unhappy with the revised suspension settings, I went back to the settings used on the test day.
Poor start due to not releasing the handbrake quick enough (still on the slope), but held position for the first 4 laps, before getting past Richard who had made a mistake at Clearways. Richard was clearly on the pace, and quickly managed to get back in front. On lap 7 Richard managed to get past Dean Parker, and my attempt to follow, led to Andy Burge getting past me at the same time. The rest of the race was excellent, with some great wheel to wheel action with Andy Burge.
Finally finishing 8th, while not a great position, I did cross the finish line just 5.3 seconds after the winner. That's 5.3 seconds after 14 laps, and shows just how close the racing is in the MaX5 series.
Pictures again are courtesy of... Mr Bob Marsh... queue cheers of applause!
Qualifying was hard work, the car/track still not working for me, and feeling that I must be well off the pace. Fortunately, the timesheets showed that I wasn't that far off the rest with just 0.448 seconds separating 2nd to 9th places!First race, and 7th on the grid, so pointing downhill and holding the car on the handbrake. Lights went out, and we were away. Not a bad start, and taking a tighter line at Paddock gave me a good run up to Druids, but not enough to get in front of Richard Breland (Championship leader), forcing me to take the inside line at Druids. I'm not sure what had happened at the apex/exit of Druids, but the inside line seemed to almost stop, and costing me positions.
Richard, Myself, & Mark Pierpoint were in a tight pack until lap 7, where Dean Parker managed to get past Mark and started catching myself. On Lap 9 Nick Wright spun on the exit of Graham Hill bend, and I lifted for a fraction under the yellow flag as he was still spinning. Dean was able to avoid lifting, and had sufficient momentum to get past me before Surtees. I held station until lap 13, where Nick finally managed to get past me, unfortunately pushing me down to 10th place at the end of the race.
Race 2 was the next day, meaning no tracktime before the actual race. 9th on the grid this time as it was based on the second best qualifying times. Still unhappy with the revised suspension settings, I went back to the settings used on the test day.Poor start due to not releasing the handbrake quick enough (still on the slope), but held position for the first 4 laps, before getting past Richard who had made a mistake at Clearways. Richard was clearly on the pace, and quickly managed to get back in front. On lap 7 Richard managed to get past Dean Parker, and my attempt to follow, led to Andy Burge getting past me at the same time. The rest of the race was excellent, with some great wheel to wheel action with Andy Burge.
Finally finishing 8th, while not a great position, I did cross the finish line just 5.3 seconds after the winner. That's 5.3 seconds after 14 laps, and shows just how close the racing is in the MaX5 series.
Pictures again are courtesy of... Mr Bob Marsh... queue cheers of applause!
Friday, 6 June 2008
... but it's only 6 corners
Early start needed to get over the Dartford Bridge before the main Friday traffic arrived, so ended up being at the Circuit by 07:30. So off for a 'breakfast bap' & coffee to make up for it.
At sign-on, I enquired about getting an afternoon session, and turned out they did have a place available. Paid up there and then, so I now had a full test day (4x 25 minute sessions).
First session went well, and while my times were not as quick as last years pace, I didn't feel I was too far away at 1:01.83 (lap record 0:59.12) being my first visit to the circuit.
Next session I went to work on the suspension settings by doing a few laps, dropping into the pits for changes, then straight back out to see how the car behaves. Brands is definitely a challenging circuit to get it right, making it possible to get a get setup for Druids, but then suffering at the entry to McLaren, or vice versa.
Still unhappy with the setup, I went to continue experimenting for the first afternoon session, but unfortunately 2 red flags stopped any real timing data to backup the handling feel. Best lap still being over a minute at 1:00.66.
Final session soon appeared, but so do did the rain! Surprising how much grip was still available on the wet circuit, but needless to say, not much use for a dry suspension setup.
At sign-on, I enquired about getting an afternoon session, and turned out they did have a place available. Paid up there and then, so I now had a full test day (4x 25 minute sessions).
First session went well, and while my times were not as quick as last years pace, I didn't feel I was too far away at 1:01.83 (lap record 0:59.12) being my first visit to the circuit.
Next session I went to work on the suspension settings by doing a few laps, dropping into the pits for changes, then straight back out to see how the car behaves. Brands is definitely a challenging circuit to get it right, making it possible to get a get setup for Druids, but then suffering at the entry to McLaren, or vice versa.
Still unhappy with the setup, I went to continue experimenting for the first afternoon session, but unfortunately 2 red flags stopped any real timing data to backup the handling feel. Best lap still being over a minute at 1:00.66.
Final session soon appeared, but so do did the rain! Surprising how much grip was still available on the wet circuit, but needless to say, not much use for a dry suspension setup.
Thursday, 5 June 2008
50 minutes
Phoned Brands Hatch to find out what time testing starts tomorrow, and turns out they are running 4x classes (CaterhamA, CaterhamB, Single Seaters, & Others), each of 25 minutes. That means my morning testing will be just 2x sessions of 25 minutes (assuming no stoppages/red flags).
On the plus side, not many corners to worry about. Time to search YouTube for some help.
On the plus side, not many corners to worry about. Time to search YouTube for some help.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Brands is go, go, go!
Managed to get a half day testing at Brands Hatch for this Friday morning, so I can now enter the race. Never done a trackday or race there before, so going to be another learning experience as per Castle Combe.
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