Weekend of mixed emotions - Am
I looking forward to Silverstone?
A strange title I know but I couldn’t
wait to get on track again after the disappointment of retirement at Castle Combe, the potential that the car and I showed
and the fact that after all these years of dreaming to drive a racing car I finally was!! The
ambience of it being Silverstone, the self styled home of British motor racing and the home of the legendary BRDC did have
attraction too.
There were some big negatives though,
firstly I knew that none of my immediate family felt ready to come to Silverstone, as it was of course where Dad passed away
and I understood that but for me it was something to confront and hopefully beat. There
was also the added pressure of Sunday’s racing being on father’s day and being in the gaze of the BRDC and some
of Dad’s “chums” would pray on my mind. I also knew the Full
Throttle magazine would be coming to take some more photos and interview me for an upcoming article, so I didn’t want
to wreck the car or me too quickly!!
The Saturday morning started well
(I loaded the car and the Land Rover on Friday night); I met Vince at the workshop and he had Billy with him, good for moral
support and another helper. Denis then met us at the workshop and we did our
final checks and set off for Silverstone with me in a bit of a state of flux I suppose.
We all arrived in good time at
Silverstone, no rushing for a change and unloaded. As this was my first
“official” visit to Silverstone I had to go to the new driver’s briefing when I signed on, which left Vince,
Denis and Billy to take the car through scrutineering, I could get used to these new driver briefings and missing the hard
work first thing!! I also bumped into Ian Titchmarsh who was going to doing the commentry and he promised a good word
for me!!
I got back to the car and all passed
okay, great, always a little worried as you never know if the scruitineer likes your interpenetrations of certain things and
I know we our a little on the loud side but nothing to worry about.
First practice, Classic Group 1,
was dry and sunny, so we set the car up about three quarters as stiff as it would go front and back and see how we get on
with the new race springs we had. I got to the collecting area nice and early
and when we eventually got let out I was second car out, great clear track. I
took it simple into Luffield and tried not to think about anything, put my foot down on the start finish straight and then
tried to work out what the hell I was going to do for Copse, not necessarily a difficult corner to take quickish but I knew
there was real time to be lost or gained here and on the run down to Beckets, so I just kept the car in front of me as a bit
of a sighter and followed them down to Beckets.
When we got to Beckets I could
see the track was damp so I backed off and broke, turned in and whe-hey, round I went and as I was spinning about three cars
behind me all decided to spin too, it was like an ice rink and I subsequently found out from the marshals there that it had
been peeing down with rain and had just stopped and the thought the whole circuit was wet so didn’t bother flagging!! Anyway, no-ones fault and luckily I think out of the seven or eight cars that spun
in the end there was no damage, so off we went again.
I put my brain and my bum back
into gear and just got used to the car, as it felt different on the new springs and learnt the circuit, braking points, turning
in, using the circuit and generally just trying to relax a bit. The circuit certainly
was very tricky as it was bone dry everywhere other than Beckets and it was a real handful there and I knew I need to try
a bit harder, plus I was struggling with Copse, the car was hopping everywhere, so a little too stiff really. I did eight laps, setting a best of 1:21.827, 19th overall, 5th in class and in front
of a couple of Capris and a Rover, so not bad as it definitely is a power circuit.
Back in the paddock I spoke to
Vince and Denis and we decided to soften the car at the rear and keep everything how it was for the next practice session. Graham from Full Throttle arrived and took some photos, plus quite a few people were
coming up to me and wishing me luck and generally chatting, plus Peter and David Howes arrived, so it was nice to have some
more support.
Two hours later, second practice
session, this time for the Post Historic race. I was near the back of the pack
for the start of this one and I could see the other Firenza ahead and thought I’d try and keep close to him and hopefully
catch up a little. The car felt much better through Copse and this time Beckets
was dry, so much better. I did seven laps in total and unfortunately had to come
in early, as I there were a lot of fume sin the car for some reason and I was finding it difficult to see and breathe, so
thought best to come in, check the car and make sure all okay.
This time we ended up with a 1:17.415,
18th overall and 9th in class. I was a little disappointed
as I had really struggled in a straight line, probably no more so then in the previous practice but it showed more in practice
with my usual competitors and having an equivalent car to match my self again and I was 2.8 seconds behind the other Firenza.
I knew I was maybe over-driving a little, there were some sideways moments and
I was a bit concerned about the fumes but at least I had time to think about it before the first race, the first of the Classic
Group 1 races.
After looking at the car we decided
that the fumes were either coming through the new vent and fan installed to stop the screen misting up and also where the
exhaust comes out by the passenger door there is a small gap, possibly letting in fumes, so the faithful tank tape came out
and covered all the gaps!! I also felt that I wasn’t getting Beckets right
and decided it was because of the left/right turn in and I was having to brake quite deep and the rear was getting away so
I wound on some more rear brake bias.
Race time – we lined up on
the grid, I tried to make a mental note of where I should be and who I could possibly beat of the line and just tried to relax
a little, as I was getting a bit nervous before but looking forward to it. The
warm up lap seemed to take ages and as we got onto the club straight everyone braked and we crawled along, I could see in
the distance Stacy was already on the start/finish straight and I hadn’t even got near the complex (was this a ploy
to psyche Stacy out and possible get him to wait on the grid for ages and over-heat, as his car does seem a bit prone to heat?).
Anyway, we got back on to the grid
and time for the start. After Castle Combe I decided to make a conscientious
effort to give it some more revs and go for it, so I held the engine at 3,000rpm, the lights changed, I released the clutch
and nothing, the car just stayed where it was, the tyres weren’t spinning though and everyone overtook me, doh!! Gerry Johnstone had said the larger Droop Snoot clutch was prone to this, oh well,
after what seemed like a lifetime but probably only a second I got going, last, only Silverstone Sid behind me!!
I managed to calm myself down and
set off after everyone and managed to make up two places into Brooklands and settled down into a good rhythm and made up a
couple more places. I had a good battle with Henry Mann (Alan Mann’s son)
in his Capri for a couple of laps but unfortunately his straight line pace was too much and slowly pulled away so I just tried
to get used to the track and kept an eye on my mirrors for the leaders and on the 9th lap Stacy lapped me and then
on the 11th lap I saw David Howard closing up behind me coming into Beckets, so I took the outside line and as
I pulled onto the club straight I realised the was a Jaguar in my door and had to take avoiding action off the circuit, thanks,
but a good lesson I suppose.
The race ended after 12 laps and
I had really tried my hardest. I finished 18th overall and 5th
in class with a best time of 1:16.441, so getting quicker, which was positive. Back
in the paddock everyone was well pleased and it was time for several hard earned beers for everyone!!
Denis gave me a lift home and I
left Billy and Vince to enjoy the rain and the local hostelries whilst I had a nice relaxing Saturday night, no distractions,
just a bit of time to think about the day and gear myself up for Sunday’s racing. I
arranged for a friend to collect me so I didn’t even have to worry about driving there, nice and relaxed and I won’t
comment on her driving there!!
Luckily Vince and Billy had survived
the evening’s rain and alcohol and the car was ready for the second Group 1 race and my friends Mark and Cassie came
to support, along with Sarah to film.
After my bodged start in the first
race I decided to try 2,000rpm off the line and see if that would be better. Unfortunately
not, the same thing happened again with the clutch just spinning but not quite as bad, oh well, here we go again!!
This time I got stuck behind Al
Weyman in his Camaro and he decided his best form of attack was to smoke heavily and no-one behind could see a thing!! Luckily on the second lap the marshals got the better of Al and black flagged him,
which was a shame for Al but a bit easier for the rest of us!!
I settled into a good rhythm and
had a great battle with Chris Marsh in his Capri, he would out drag me down the straights but I would out brake him into the
corners or go round the outside of him, was a fun battle and really enjoyed it for five/six laps until his extra power mad
him draw away a little bit and I had a pretty quiet race after that and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I finished 19th overall,
5th in class with a best lap of 1:17.754. I was a bit disappointed
with the time but from checking the times from the previous day everyone was about two seconds a lap slower due to track conditions
so for all intents and purposes I had done well.
Right, the Post Historic race,
this was supposed to be the one I was looking forward to the most but I knew that the other Firenza and the Dolomites and
Escorts were out of my reach so it was a good test session to learn the car and track more, try and better my fastest lap
from the second Group 1 race earlier on and to also try and improve my driving, I have to remember there is time to come out
of me too. We made the front a bit stiffer and also the rear and wound on some
more rear brake.
I tried a new start procedure,
this time I just used 1,800 rpm and the bloody thing bogged down, coughed and spluttered and then took off, not sure if better
or worse than before!! I had a great battle with James Christies, Tony Crates
and Simon Kinsey and we all swapped positions in the first few laps it was great fun and I eventually finished 15th
overall, 8th in class with a best lap of 1:16.362.
We loaded the car up and decamped
to the bar for a debrief. All in all it had been a good event, I knew the car
and me a bit more, I felt as though I had learnt to race a bit more and had some made great overtaking manoeuvres. The car handled fantastically under breaking and round the corners but we just didn’t have the straight
line speed but then we are probably 50bhp down from where we should be, fingers crossed Gerry Johnstone will have the race
engine ready for the next race at Snetterton!!
