Qualifying went very well. I gradually worked my way up to some really good times. The first few laps had quite a bit of traffic but I managed to find some space on lap 3 to record my first banker lap in the 1:04’s. A couple of laps to cool things down and find some space and I banged in a 1:03.98 which was almost down to my fastest from the Friday testing session. I was quite happy with those times but guessed I would need something a little lower to be troubling the front of the field. Again a few laps to find some space and a little practice on a later turn into Honda and using more curb over the Esses. On lap 9 and 10 I had some space and recorded a 1:03.63 for the first race and a 1:03.73 for the second race. The question however was how well would Tim, Mike and John do?
So the line up for the two races.
- Well my 1:03.63 fastest lap would place me 3rd on the grid, just 1 hundredth of a second behind Mikes 2nd place time and 12 one hundredths of a second behind John Goodwin’s excellent pole position time!
- My 1:03.73 second fastest lap time would also give me a 3rd place for the second race. This time with Mike in Pole and John in 2nd.
Another interesting point was that there were only 2 class A cars ahead of us, meaning my class C 3rd place grid position was a 5th place start overall. It felt a little strange to have Rob behind me but it might work out well as Tim had to get past him and James’s Busa Fury before getting up to us!
Comparing my practice and qualify fastest times it would seem that was a little smother in the qualify session, which meant I was a touch slower but more consistent. The telemetry image shows I was less erratic but had slower peak and minimum speeds through Dibeni but most of that was compensated for by a better run into and out of the Brooklands Hairpin.
Comparing my 2 fastest qualify laps it would seem that the faster lap comprised of a better run on the straight from the lap before. A better run out of the first corner hairpin, due to less wheel spin and slide. A smoother run through Dibeni. A worse and slower line through the Brooklands hairpin and a slightly higher peak speed before entering Honda. These added together made a 10th of a second difference! Interest that 3 improvements were almost entirely rubbed out by a poor run through the hairpin leading to the main fast back section. The circuit guide was right, that is the more important corner for time.
1 comment:
come on Derek we want to know how you did!
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