Zwartkops 17th March 2007
(Picture - Dave Hastie more on ZOC Website)
Well my first race in anything other than a Locost was quite an experience, which could so easily have ended in disaster !.
Having done quite a bit of racing last year in the SRA Endurance races and the Lotus Challenge the 'bug had bitten', the SRA races are great but not really close racing for us running the Rocam, there's quite a difference between endurance racing and 'sprint' racing, the Lotus road class had been much of a procession for much of last year. So I'd been looking for another way to get 'on track', through one of the many friendships we made last year an opportunity came up to run in the SuperHatch series, the Ford Laser didn't look too much but at least it was a FORD !, as it turned out the car is a real wolf in sheeps clothing.
Practice Wednesday
As the 'arrangement' was only reached the weekend before the race I only had one Wednesday practice to try the car out, my first session in a FWD was quite nerve racking, and being honest I came off the track quite apprehensive, having spent so much time in the Westfield and Locost the Laser felt very uneasy on track, it really made me realise that these cars are so well behaved on track they induce a real safe feeling in the driver, the Laser felt like it had a mind of it's own, which didn't always agree with my thoughts on a particular corner !. I was late out for the first session so only got in 6 laps, after looking at last years lap times I knew I would need to be in the low 1:20s at Zwartkops to avoid being left behind in the race, my best lap of 1:22.04 wasn't too bad for a 'first feel'
Feeling I only needed to find a couple of seconds to avoid looking a total fool gave me a bit of confidence, I had been told that you needed to be a bit more forceful with a FWD, so I went out for the second session feeling less nervous, once I started pushing a little the car felt much better, the session was cut short after someone deposited their entire sump between turns 5 and the pit entrance so we only got 8 laps, despite this I managed a couple of 20's with a best of 1:20.3, more to the point was that I'd really enjoyed it, now I was feeling good, I knew I could do more.
I knew the third session would be my last for the day, the amount of cement dust had turned the top of the hill into a dust storm every time someone went through, even so I was determined to try and get a 19 for the day, I went out planning on pushing quite hard, however there was a lot of traffic, so I never really got a clear lap and following anyone through the clubhouse section resembled the busy sections of the Dakaar with all the dust !, a lot of VW Challenge guys were out and I had my first real taste of the close racing these cars do, it's amazing how big a Golf can look in your rear mirror when they get close, I had a few good dices with a few of the cars which made me feel much more confident and ready for the race, the lap times reflected the traffic with only a best of 1:20.59 but several mid-20s, then after 8 laps I experienced something which I've often heard but never felt in the Locost, at the top of the hill I hit the brakes on my usual mark only to find an extremely 'long' pedal, luckily the tarmac slip road by the gravel trap is there because I would never have made the corner, after collecting my nerves together I continued the session treating the brakes a lot easier, still enjoyable but no chance of a 19.
A quick check over the car revealed the front Dunlop Semi-Slicks were almost totally bald, I was surprised because they looked OK when I first went out, looking at the ATS stamp it was apparent they were a couple of years old, maybe that's why they wore so much, so the list had started, tyres, brakes, oil, Fire Extinguisher (well out of date) and race practice was the day after tomorrow !. The major problem was that I had no axle stands with me and the Lasers wheels aren't the Ford 108 pitch I expected, I envisaged a long Thursday of backwards and forwards to Z to get the wheels off and fitted with new tyres, however a phone call to Craig at 'Tyres on 14th' had me sorted with a new set of alloys for a very reasonable price, still had to get the tyres from ATS though. Thursday morning was spent sorting all the stuff out and off to Zwartkops after lunch to work on the car, got the oil, wheels and fire extinguisher sorted, checked the brakes and the pads were fine but didn't have time to bleed in new fluid.
Friday Practice
We left early Friday to get the brakes sorted, wheels off again to bleed the brakes, Ann has had plenty of practice pumping brakes so it didn't take too long but I did miss the first practice session, still plenty of time to double check everything and sort out documentation and scrutineering, first session out was around 11:00 so it was already hot, remembering the new tyres I had decided to do a 6 lap session to scrub them off, which was just as well as a red flag cut the session short, nothing too serious fortunately, anyhow the car felt good, brakes felt much firmer and the tyres felt good, I was please to put in a best of 1:20.01 despite not feeling like I was pushing. The next session of 9 laps felt very good and a best of 1:19.37 made me feel very confident, finally cracking the 20 on two of my laps was a good feeling. Four more 19s with a best of 1:19.040 came in the next session and with 12 laps and no signs of brake fade I was very pleased. The last session of the day was very busy but gave me a good opportunity to 'mix it' with the other SuperHatch and some of the Challenge guys, good experience for the race and 4 more 19s out of 10 laps with traffic was good, I went home Friday night really looking forward to the next day.
Qualifying
8:15 qualifying meant an early start again on Saturday, but weekend traffic is fine to Z, the nerves were building up as I sat in pre-race waiting to go out, I remembered the same feelings from my first outing in the Westfield, I have to say the SuperHatch guys are a great bunch and despite being a 'newcomer' a couple of them came up chatting as we were waiting, this passed those endless minutes by quite quickly, then we were out, I had been trying to psych myself up, I really wanted to do a good qualifier, as I went round turn two for the first time the grip felt very good despite being on cold tyres, as I went round I couldn't believe it the track felt awesome and with the cold weather the car felt to have much more power, everything felt great, with the tyres warm and a lot of confidence, I was pleased to see my first full lap of 1:19.6 come up and with one car to pass I pushed to get past and into the clear track I could see ahead of him, my third lap of a 1:18.36 had me almost jumping up and down in my seat, the feeling was awesome I went on to do 7 laps with three 18s and a worst of 1:19.9, so I was very pleased, it was one of those sessions which happens occasionally where everything felt right, the track, the car and the driver !. When the times came through I was exceptionally pleased to have qualified Pole in class B, and 4th overall.
Some confusion over the weighbridge operators hand writing had me called in as it looked like I was underweight, the SuperHatch classes are determined on a power to weight ratio, I was obviously very concerned and confused as I had checked and double checked the dyno and the weight several times, you can imagine the feeling after taking pole on your first race to think you were going to be bumped to the back of the grid, anyhow the problem was resolved, and later confirmed with two further weighings after each race, I was actually some 80kg overweight, so no problems there.
Race 1
The SuperHatch grids are sorted in class order, and the order of classes determined by the average speed of each class in qualifying, as it turned out the average class N (production class) was quicker than B so the grid order was A-N-B, that put me in position 12 on the grid, a little disconcerting after qualifying 4th overall, and my first grid start in a FWD. Anyhow I'd decided my 'strategy' for the start and we went round to the grid, as the lights went out I lifted the clutch and had the front wheels spinning like crazy, I managed to catch it and dived for the middle of the cars in front, turn one went without incident and we came to the usual bottle neck in turn two, I went down the inside and managed to pull a couple of the N class cars, I'd no idea where the other class B cars were, I was up two places as we crossed the line for the first time, with my concentration firmly on the Toyota of Rinus four cars ahead, Rinus was last years B class and overall champion I was convinced he was a class B guy as he had 1B on his car on Friday, I couldn't work out how he'd got such a start, I found out after race 2 he was class N having changed after Friday practice, on the second lap I got another class N and one of the slower class A cars now there was just a class A Golf between me and Rinus, I got the Golf on the next lap and tucked in behind the Conquest trying to stay as close as possible, as we came out of turn two I was right on his bumper, I was extremely surprised to see him point right obviously telling me to go, he obviously knew we weren't in the same class, so I went down the inside through three convinced I was in the lead of Class B. As I went over the brow of the hill into turn five feeling very pleased with myself I was horrified to see Claudette's Opel coming out of turn six, I knew she was class B, but I didn't know she'd had an off and was actually a lap behind, anyhow I set off pushing hard determined to catch her, by lap 7 I'd caught her up and didn't have too much trouble passing her up the hill, that was probably because she knew we weren't racing !, I could see the class A cars were quite a way ahead with little or no chance of catching them so I settled down for the last couple of laps keeping an eye on my mirrors, the chequered flag came and the feeling was awesome, this was the first time I've took a class first on the track, so it was quite an experience for me. The weighbridge after the race confirmed my legality on weight and I went back to the pits feeling absolutely fantastic, when the results came out I was first in B with a lead of 33 seconds over 2nd place and 6th overall beating a couple of the class A guys, with a fastest lap of 1:18.9 I was only 2 tenths off the class record
Laser #36 making a move in turn two (Pic - Dave Hastie)
Race 2
A long wait to the 2nd race at three passed pretty quickly as I was on a real high for at least an hour after race one, I was feeling very confident, we checked the car and everything seemed right, I'd been hoping for cloud to cool things down for the second race hoping to have a chance of the record but this never came, so it was even hotter for race two, SuperHatch reverse the class grids for the second race but two of the class B guys had come out underweight after the first race so I started on 13, maybe this was a sign of things to come. The start was better this time, less wheel spin and I thought I'd got a good one, however as we came out of turn two I saw Rinus ahead of the two N cars in front of me, I was still thinking he was class B so I set of with vengeance, as we went into turn one on the second lap I went inside the first N class and got through coming out of turn two right on the rear bumper of the second class N car who was right on the bumper of Rinus, they both went down the middle of turn three so I pulled inside to try and get past the car pulled inside closing my gap, anyway as we exited three I moved to the outside and buried my foot in the floor, I was just coming up on the car when it moved back to the outside right in front of me, to avoid a collision I lifted and pulled inside, this seriously upset the car and with a lot of squealing the back end tried to pass me down the outside, opposite lock didn't help and I headed across the tarmac completely sideways heading for the infield at a hell of a pace, I was convinced I would roll as soon as the wheels hit the infield but amazingly it didn't, just continued bunny hopping sideways across the grass in a hug cloud of dust, heading straight towards the tyre wall on the infield between turns eight and four, I don't know how but the car missed the tyres by probably about a metre and we came to a halt still sideways closer to turn eight than four, the engine was still running and I gingerly set off back towards the tarmac totally expecting a wheel to fall off or some other damage, but the car felt OK, the whole field had gone past and I pulled out onto the tarmac, opening the window to clear the dust from inside the car, I went round turn four very cautiously, two reasons for that, I was convinced something would be damaged and secondly I couldn't see a thing with all the dust I'd kicked up, going up the hill the dust cleared and I weaved the car a little to 'feel' things out, all seemed well so I continued on, I caught and passed one of the class C cars after a couple laps and then set my sights on Matt and Claudette who I knew were class B although they were quite a way ahead, on lap 6 I finally got passed Matt, and started chasing down Claudette, unfortunately we didn't have enough laps left I ended less than a second behind her, another lap and I might have got through. A fastest lap of 1:19.229 was the best I could manage, the heat taking it's toll, and possibly the nerves after the off :-). On the cool down lap I was very annoyed with myself but then the reality of how I'd come off and how lucky I'd been not to end up rolling or hitting something hit home. As I came into the weighbridge the looks on peoples faces told a story, no one could believe that the car hadn't rolled or at least hit the tyres, luckily Ann was on the stands between turns seven and eight so didn't see the incident, she just heard the commentators shouts, and could see the car where it had stopped and saw me continue.
I was disappointed not to have had a clean sweep for the day, but I had enjoyed it thoroughly and had certainly not made a fool of myself, apart from the ‘off’ :-), then the results came out and because of my big lead in the first race I had still taken first place in class B for the day, that picked my spirits up and I got a 1st place trophy !.
A lot of guys have asked me do I prefer racing the Locost or the SuperHatch, it's hard to say, the 'buzz' of racing is much the same whichever car, in the Locost you seem to be more vulnerable and I think you tend to keep a little distance, whereas the SuperHatch seems to be physically much closer, maybe that’s just me, but they are both huge Fun !
The race two 'off' is undoubtedly the biggest scare I've had racing so far, but despite that I had a fantastic day, the SuperHatch guys are a great bunch, very friendly and helpful, a big thanks goes to Mel and Gerhard, who without them I wouldn't have got the drive, and to Braam, Mark, Marius and the Zwartkops guys for helping me get the car sorted and ready, and of course to the car owner a huge thanks, I must now try and organise the rest of the SuperHatch series.
Unfortunately Anns camera packed up so if any guys have pictures from Saturday won't you please let me have some for the site.
Brad
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