Qualifying

I had a feeling Croft is a bogey circuit for me because last year here was only my third race. It was cold and bleak. I was nine seconds slower than the number one man and spun twice in qualifying.

This time I got out for qualifying distant from anyone of my speed, so I was on my own for the whole session. So I had no-one to follow round and watch. Then on my third lap I heard a big metallic clang from the rear left of the car in a left hand bend. I sounded like the lower radius arm dropping onto the tarmac! I slowed slightly then got going again. Two laps later I saw Ian Megson gesticulating from the pit wall, clearly a "come in" signal. One more lap to slow down and get to the pit lane. Ian checked the back briefly because he had seen smoke coming from the same corner! But he could not find anything then, nor did we find anything when we had the side pods and wheels off afterwards.

So back out onto the circuit, in time to get the chequered flag! Only seven laps completed. Best time 1'33.29 on my last lap, against 1'35.02 in Ian's car a year ago. But I would be only 16th out of 18 on the grid.

The Race

I changed the set-up, including tyre pressures, after qualifying, and the results were good. But then my own mentality was better, and there were real MEN to follow and to race against. Great starts by everyone around me, and three abreast into the right hander at the end of the start straight. Two abreast through the first little chicane, and then sorted into single file for the second chicane, probably in grid order as far as I can remember. Ian Crombie was already hounding me from behind and Adrian Lester was sniffing at Tony Pouyanne ahead. I then started to put my nose cone under Adrian's bulbous EBX botty, but being as careful as possible not to touch,  as Ian became more persistent left and right at the entry to every corner. We were probably all slowing each other up but having a lovely time. I had a crack at Adrian and got beaten off. Then Ian spun behind me at the entry to the complex, Guy Woodward taking to the grass to avoid him. Relieved of the pressure I was able to concentrate on getting past Adrian. Mission accomplished on about lap 7 by diving to the apex of the hairpin before the pits straight.

The it got busy again. Brian Jordan had spun ahead of us, but he kept ahead of the gaggle at the back as he recovered. Marc Weyer was not so lucky after he spun... I managed to squeeze past him into the complex about a lap after I caught him up. All this completed I had a clear track ahead for a moment, with Jordan and Pouyanne in view but unattainable about a second or two ahead. So my fastest lap was on my last lap, at 1'31.47, not far from 2 seconds faster than my qualifying time. That's the effect of racing. Bags of adrenaline which speeds up the reactions. Use of all the road to avoid the guy in front, which further sharpens the reflexes.

The racing overall had been excellent, with four separate three to four car tussles going on behind Dan Eagling up front. No damage to any car (more than can be said for the Ginettas whose race was red-flagged twice for big collisions... hard luck Colin). No car lapped by the leader and all cars finished! I finished 55 seconds behind Dan over ten laps which is 5.5 seconds per lap slower (although the length of the grid and the slowing effect of the pack in the first laps make that statistic unfavourable to me). My best lap was 3.93 seconds slower than Dan's 1'27.54 (qualified at 1'27.24). I was also quicker in the best lap than two runners ahead of me , so I must just try to get properly wound up for the qualifying in future.

Another interesting lesson of the race, which I think Neil Bevan shared, is the sensation of being able to induce oversteer. All that downforce on the Clubmans Mallocks means that the slow corners are all understeer. The car seems to go straight on endlessly until the speed is slow enough for the front tyres to grip, at which point more power can be applied. No way of getting the back end to step out by applying power because we have about 120 HP at the end engine and much less at the back wheels. But at the entry to Hawthorn it was possible to hitch the rear right onto the curb of of the right hand part of the first chicane. The effect was to push the back round to the left under braking. The rotational momentum was enough to get the car pointing more in the direction of the track (to the right) so it was possible to get back on the power earlier. So there is something to be said for the go-kart style of slow cornering, i.e. stuff it in and do everything possible to push the back round... politely called "inducing oversteer". Further advice on a postcard please!

Statistics: Qualifying
 

Circuit	Croft	Fastest test lap	no testing
Conditions	Dry 24°	Previous personal best	1'35.02 in Ian Megson's Mallock 18BW 22nd April 2001
Fastest qualifying lap	1'33.29 = 81.81 mph	Qualified in position	16 out of 18

Statistics: Race
 

Finishing position	14	Number of cars at start	18
Average speed	80.71 mph	Number of cars finished	18
Conditions	Dry 25°	Fastest race lap	1'31.47
Number of laps behind	same lap		Overtook two cars in open combat

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