Off the Pace
Paul arranged entry to this event a then charitably disappeared when a better offer. Well, can't really blame him as it was a trip to Silverstone by helicopter with full-on corporate hospitality and a paddock pass. Thanks HP and Jaguar - 3 tickets would be nice next time though.....
So, Toby, Luke, John, Tim and Belinda bombed down to Dorchester for a nght out in the South Wests hottest nightspot. Well, hopefully not but a fun night all in all.
The next day the race and practice started after the mist cleared enough to see the other side of the track. Wet qualifying, and unfamiliar track and general rustiness saw us qualify rather nearer the back of the grid than intended. In the first 3 hour race the team tried to learn the circuit which is, in the dry, almost flat out all the way round with some exciting corners. A notable performance from John who started and managed to hold it all together in the wet whilst better teams span off meant that we moved up to 20th. However, the rot soon set in and a combination of inexperience, a kart which seemed slight down on power, and over enthusiastic driving led to us dropping back down the order. Only mechnical problems for the Nat West team saved out blushes. 31st out of 34.
In the second 3hr race, with a reversed starting order, John claimed a moment of glory. A first lap coming together for the three teams in front meant that he came out of the first lap in front. The speed of the other karts soon swamped him and we moved steadily down the order still unable to get into the 41 second lap times.
30 mins into the race an unfortunate accident with a driver pulling his kart back onto the circuit and being collected by another who had missed the yellow flags caused a read flag and a break of 45 minutes while the paramedics arrived in a helicopter. No news on his condition but hopefully it was more minor than the number of people attending to him suggested,
Eventually with Luke pulled a storming lap out of the bag to claim the teams best lap of the day of 41.77 however with other teams lapping consistently 1.5secs faster there was no point in holding them up and we settled for running our own race. The chequered flag saw us finish 31st again.
All in a fun weekend however on reflection, trying a different kart in practice may have helped but maybe not as much as some serious testing at the circuit and remembering not to turn up with serious hangovers....
The Challenge Clay Pigeon 6hr 100cc Endurance, 07 July 2002