Bank holiday weekend

After missing Mallory Park, I'm really looking forward to the Anglesey race weekend. Testing is this Friday, so planning to drive up there on the Thursday afternoon, pitch a tent, grab some food, and hopefully get some sleep before testing starts!

Weather forecast doesn't look promising, with both wind and rain over the whole weekend... but guess that's to be expected given it's a bank holiday weekend.

On the plus side, I did drive the new Anglesey circuit back in Jun '07, so I'll be able to focus on finding faster lines rather than learning the circuit.

Paul Sheard and Mahinder Caswani have now invested in the Race Technology DL1 & DASH2, making very easy for us to compare our on track performances. It's common practice to change the engine sensors to allow accurate readings on the DL1, but as per my conversion earlier in the year, we're planning to use a small 'box of tricks' to unable us to use the standard MX5 sensors for Oil pressure, Water temperature, & Fuel level.

Rich Videos

I've just been pointed at the Vimeo website which has onboard footage of Richard Breland racing at Rockingham from the weekend. Check out:

http://www.vimeo.com/1349615

...to see the MaX5 Championship race, and #25 in action!

It's lonely out there

2nd race of the day was non-championship, and given the cracking fun of race 1 I was really looking forward to a second shot at improving my finishing position. Start was good, but after a few laps the grip seemed to disappear, leaving me working hard to keep Jon Halliwell behind.

The tyres were the ones I'd used for qualifying & both races at Brands Hatch, plus all of the Rockingham testday, so I guess they had lost their edge. inevitably, Jon got past me on lap 5, leaving me is the massive gap between 6th and 8th.

Rocking Race

I was happy with 4th on the grid, and from the test day I was confident that I wasn't too far off pole sitter Charles Plumley for pace. We'd also changed the damaged front tyre 'just in case', so all ready for the off.

The grid got away cleanly, and in the 'bundle' for turn 2 I was near the front of the pack. At this point, it was clear that 4th place being on the outside of the track was not the best position, as it forces you the long way around turn 2, and I inevitably lost several places. At the end of the first lap I was down in 7th place!

I managed to make up a place, and then become locked in a battle with Richard Breland for some 8 laps. Great fun, clean driving, and I was really enjoying the race. Some places I was cleary faster than Richard, putting him under pressure and making a move, followed by parts where he some how had the edge and could get past.

Turn 1 was excellent, and the first time I've really noticed the massive performance increase of getting a good tow from the car in front. I was apexing turn 1 at the speed I'd usually be at before braking for turn 2.

In view of the our close proximity, and that Richard was a little slower than I wanted at the chicane, I elected to use 2nd gear (rather than 3rd) to see if that gave any advantage on the exit. This turned out to be a bad move, as when I went for 3rd... the gear lever said no! I tried to select 2nd, but it also bulked. Clutch up, and down, sorted the gear selection, but I had now dropped a long way back from Richard.

Fortunatley we had pulled away from the following group being lead by Matt Robinson, so the big question was could I get enough speed up to avoid Matt just driving around me at turn 1. Somehow I kept the lead, but I was now locked into a battle with Matt, swapping places at least once, before I eventually finished just ahead of Matt in 6th place, and behind Charles; who had been overtaken by Richard on the lap where I missed 3rd.

It was frustrating to have not kept with Richard, but two great battles in once race can't be bad.

Qualifying Rock

Way too much going on first thing, and problems with getting the cars through scruitineering means that all 4 of our MaX5 cars were still in the paddock when the others had started their qualifying!

Luckly, only one of the cars needs any fixing... but that car was #25! Nothing too serious to fix, just the plastic handle for isolating the electrical circuits in the car breaking free of the wire when it was tested. Oli & H worked on getting it sorted and re-checked, so I was able to get out for half of the qualifying session (you need to complete 3 laps to qualify for the race). I also noticed that there was a long cut in the front off-side tyre, but if all looked safe.

Interesting how the delay focuses the mind, and on leaving the pits I really felt on a mission. Expect there was actually more speed available with a smoother style, but as it turned out I managed to equal my best 'test day' time, and ended up 4th on the grid.

Testing the Rock

Sign-on was after 09:00, so coupled with a local circuit, no need for an early start today :) Along with all the other 'interesting' cars on the test day, Paul has his Pontiac Grand Prix, and Joachim his new Genetta G50.

Weather was dry, but the car was struggling for grip. Good turn-in, but no grip at the rear of the car. Fun to drive, but not fast! The laptimer said I was in at 1:45.08, but looking at the Nippon Challenge earlier in the year, target time needed to be around 1:43.

Some suspension changes made for the 2nd session, and the car was still light at the back, but getting nearer to a good drift. Car felt that it could be a little soft, so I wanted to stiffen the suspension, but the session ended up being stopped due to Joachim finding a gravel trap with his G50 :o

The harder setup didn't feel as good as the softer settings, and the laptimes confirmed it. In the 4th session I managed to get down to just over 1:43, before it started to rain... increasing the time laptime up to 1:50. Last session was as wet as a wet thing on a wet day, so no chance of improving on the previous laptime.

Testing sorted

Tickets have arrived, and testing now sorted for the Friday.

Last years race was very wet, and unbelievable on how slippy Rockingham gets. Every turn needed to be so smooth, and with minimal steering input you'd still end up in a monster slide through the corner.

Forecast suggests the same for this year :)