Sorry if it rambles on a bit chaps.
Brands Hatch 21st � 23rd March
For the first race of the season the crew of hardy spanner monkeys, brewers, marketing guru�s and Racing Gods decided that it would be financially prudent and good fun, to camp out on the Brands circuit. What a great idea.
The Racing God arrived by Bentley on Friday night and promptly booked in to the Brands Thistle with a comely blonde wench and a smile. First order of business was to attend the LoT end of season bash and eat exquisite food whilst picking up an award � �Best use of recovery services� � from the lovely TV commentator Gemma. Things were looking great for a cheery weekend of banter, racing and singsongs around the barbeque whilst sipping beer and wine responsibly.
Wench seen off on Saturday lunch and wait for the trusty crew to turn up with the tent and car; this was around the time that the weekend started to turn a distinct shade of white and bad thoughts of hotels stirred. Whilst loitering in the nice warm foyer of the Brands Thistle we were offered a spare room for the night and whilst the thought of four hairy blokes in a double room was not highest on our �fantasy situations� list, it certainly beat putting up a tent at night in snow and high winds.
We duly emerged the next day and were bloody glad we did not take the brave pills � the Lotus Celebration car park was full of lovely white cars, when visible at all from the back of the pits across the Cooper Straight. Thankfully the trucks (you have got to see them �live� before you die) cleared away the snow and just left a nice film of diesel mixed with meltwater. At this stage some Elise drivers fell by the wayside as the potential for disaster triggered off a survival instinct and we were in the class A race as well as the B&C � wohooo! (We were running our hire car � class A Elise S2 � this weekend due to my inability to arrange for the Orange Beastie to be ready). We were bound to be thrashed in the latter but had a chance of at least a dice or two in class A.
In qualy one the car felt down on power but in the conditions that was no bad thing and eighth on the grid was fine � the problem was sourced to a VVC wiring fault and soon remedied. Qualy two was a little harder as cars that were 5 seconds a lap quicker flashed by and we wound up in the teens somewhere on the grid. The good news was that over the two days we would have two qualies and four races � the bad news is that the driver is totally unfit, overweight and had hardly been on track since last season.
On the Saturday we had both qualifying sessions and two races so this meant a long day and the perceived reliability of the class A cars meant that the pit crew thought they had plenty of time to sort the racer � just check the oil and tyres � but as usual things did not go quite to plan. We are not known as Last Minute dot com for nothing.
The lights went out on class A and a gaggle of 32 cars headed for the fast, off camber, downhill and by now very slippery Paddock Hill Bend. I think we made a couple of places and by a miracle eight cars in a pack were scrapping it out for the first eight spots for a couple of laps with us now sat in fifth. To make up time at Brands you can cut the high kerbs at Surtees as the track flicks left then right into Clearways but the trouble is that it clatters the suspension quite heavily. This was born out when, on lap seven and with all four tyres on the kerb, there was a funny clunk and instantaneous loss of direction. The car and passenger speared off towards the tyre wall on the exit of Surtees with all four wheels locked and time slowed down as I managed to calculate the cost of the impending impact before we miraculously came to a gentle halt against the tyres. A love tap! New number plate mounting at worst it seemed and I just could not believe that we reversed away and drove off as if nothing had happened albeit with the car crabbing slightly. Mindful of being in the next race in around ten minutes and with the pit entry handily placed around the corner we drove in for the now fully awake spanner boys waiting to jump on the car (and driver!). After describing the symptoms they diagnosed a battered suspension bolt as the culprit, allowing the rear to �steer� the car and this was duly fixed just in time to join the tail end of the next races� formation lap.
Race 2 was a much more sedate affair knowing we were racing against around six other class A cars who had snuck into this one the same as us. Just as I lined up on the grid I noticed a knocking noise as I touched the brakes. Oops � whilst concentrating on fixing the suspension I had failed to notice that the other side had a similar driver induced problem and felt sure that it would break at any time. This probably helped as I drove the smoothest race ever, hardly touching the brakes, and finished second in class A, albeit 18th in the race, but in front of three class B cars.
Pondering the second day we retired happily to the hotel (again!) with a disappeared bolt due to be fixed in plenty of time for the next morning. Team VVR had a great time at a local B&B just up the road and bumped into a couple of the other drivers so tall tales were told over three or four bottles of the local mineral water.
The next day had had good weather forecast and we thanked the met office for their accuracy as snow began to fall heavier than yesterday. Racing later in the day allowed us to relax once the other bolt was fixed and we enjoyed watching the trucks tail slide their way around the Brands Indy circuit � I would not have believed it possible until I saw it but it is great racing and they lap as fast as the class C Lotuses!
The snow actually subsided for race one and we had a virtually dry track which meant an improvement in lap times of around five seconds and spirits were up. Until the end of the first lap. The bloody VVC was not working again and the biggest battle was to keep cars behind and not lose too many places as we struggled with around 120 bhp instead of the usual 145. Fortunately Brands is good for this and as long as you get a good run out of Clearways and defend the slow corners it is fairly easy to do. Losing only two places from eighth and finishing in tenth felt like winning and only being a second off the pace was satisfying.
The last race was a no � hoper as far as an overall result was concerned but again we were in the battle for class honours. A very dry track saw lap times drop yet again and with full power, steering and brakes a great race was had, again dicing with class A whilst letting the much faster C boys through. The car felt absolutely spot on and now only � of a second off the fastest man we are looking forward to Donington on the 12th and 13th of April. Over the weekend we learnt a few tricks off the Class A runners regarding tweaks to the engine and, even if the driver is not, the car should be capable of running at the front.
Many thanks are due as usual both to the helpers:�
Steve E, Hazel, James Stripe, Big Dave (Lancs. division), Wide Lenz, Tony E., and
with a few regulars missing this time we hope to see everyone at Donington.
And sponsors:-
Lambogenie, JCT600, Lotuspower, SmarTrack, NYLOC, NORLOG, LDC.
Big thanks are due to the team at Lotus on Track for organising what promises to be yet another great year.