ANGLESEY - 27/28th September 2009 - Rounds 11 & 12

ANGLESEY ROUND

   This has been a difficult track for me in the pass due to lack of time and knowledge of the track.
I went out on old tyres and started with a basic bench mark to work from and after analysing data and checking to see where I was losing time I set about reducing my time in different sections.
I was also concerned about the mileage used on the engine as it was getting very near the limit and it was getting risky and could have started causing damage.
I was discussing with Mark Bailey about missing the last session until my Dad thought it best to do the last one and focus on turn 3 where I was losing the most time.
I went out and really pushed as hard as possible on the tyres that were way past there best and managed to go 1 and a half seconds quicker than I did last year which gave me loads of confidence for qualifying.

Qualifying

I went out on new tyres and was slowly getting up to pace. The tyres were starting to get some heat into them and with only 15 minutes left I was trying to remember what I had learnt from the previous day.
The time goes so quickly especially as the lap around Anglesey is quite long, it very difficult to get the perfect lap especially with slower cars on the track.
My final position for qualifying was 5th for both races and another 1 and a half second quicker than I have ever done.

Race 1

After Qualifying I was now prepared for a good race and focusing on the who and how I was going to make some places up.
On the warm up lap I was getting the brakes and tyres up to temperature and got the car into position on the grid.
With the green lights on and my foot on the clutch I was unaware of clutch fluid squirting on the clutch plate.
When the lights went out I made a great start but after about 50 metres I could feel something was wrong. The engine was revving really high and the car was not accelerating.
It wasn’t until half a lap later and I had dropped back to 7th place that the clutch had started to grip and I was able to start making some ground on the cars in front.
I caught and passed Phil Austin for 6th and then set about catching Chris Willie.
After another 2 laps I was right behind him and managed to get a tow from him coming out of turn 3. I went to his right trying to pass him on the outside but as I was doing so he also moved over to the right making me brake and move away before we collided.
I tried again the following lap and outbraked him going up the inside this time to get up to 5th place.
With the gap to Mark Harrison at 19 seconds and too great for me to close and so I finished 5th.

Race 2

After race 1 the car was immediately looked at for the clutch slipping problem. The fluid had dropped down and it appeared to be a leak inside the gearbox.
The MBR Team started taking the gearbox and rear suspension off to investigate the problem and later found a perished oil seal to be the cause.
With the clutch repaired I was back on the grid again for race 2.
Lights off I made another good start and found myself in between Mark Harrison and Steve Clegg but had to back off as they were getting close to me either side of the car.
I spent the next 15 laps trying to find a way past Mark but no matter what I tried I could not find a way.
Mark was doing just enough to make his car very wide and I was hoping he would make a mistake.
We went over the line 0.2 seconds difference between us which was basically side by side.
After the race we had to go to Parc Ferme for our cars and drivers to be weighed.
We were surprisingly 6 kilos over the limit which could equate to slowing me down by 0.3 seconds a lap. Whilst we were being weighed there were mutterings going around that the guest winner Lars Viljoen was under weight.
It was confirmed and I was promoted to 4th.
”I wonder if he was under weight in the first race as wel”

Brands Hatch October 17th and 18th.

Count down to my favourite circuit.