Season Finale : Snetterton Qualify

A home race for the last of the season. A track that I know very well although every time I go there I come away thinking I need to improve through Russells and this would be no exception. Last time out I managed pole in class for both races, a 5th after a spin trying to get the lead and in the second race a win which was to be disallowed after the reverse gearbox failed to work. My aid for this race, well that’s simple, repeat of the last time (well qualify and 2nd race anyway!) without being disqualified. My racing has definitely improved since we were at Snetterton last, which amazing to think back now was only my 2nd and 3rd ever race. Unfortunately I have not had a successful test at Snetterton since then, with a couple of aborted ones due to mechanical issues or work commitments. In addition to that the rest of the top drivers have improved and the car at Donington was definitely not on the pace of the others. I think I had sorted out the top end with the refitting of the airbox seals but with no opportunity to test it, all would become evident in qualifying.

We turned up to Snetterton with an OK’ish forecast (you can see the sky in the phot at the top of this post) and a few missing from the normal front group. Mike would not be running due to the rather large accident with Paul Haynes at Donington and Tim would sit out the race as he tried to sell his car which was sporting a very shiny new skin of purple. A welcome return however would be Chris Seaman, back from his model jet flying, and ready to put us under pressure if last years end to the season would show us.

I decided to run the normal set of fronts just in case the race turned wet, kept the suspension as per normal (have not changed this since Pembrey last I think!) and headed out right behind Paul. As per my normal style, straight on it and passed a few on the first lap. A couple of laps later and I had some clear space and worked on refreshing my mind on the lines and understanding the current grip levels, oh and tweaking the brake bias to suite the heavy breaking into the Essess. I like that corner! Balance felt good, as long as I got the drain for the bombhole and I was able to run a nice tight line, full throttle in 5th through Corum. The first couple of laps focused my attention a little through there as the exit strip appeared a little quicker than I remembered but after a while you learn to focus on the entrance to Russells and no the edge of the track. In the race this is even easier as you just focus through the corner and to the inside of any other cars, that way hiding the left edge of the circuit completely. Self preservation comes in many themes, denial being one of them! Oh and some added pressure in the form of my parents watching. No big accidents today please Derek.
As I said, the car was feeling good and although it was much much better than Donington, it was still not pulling the top end of 6th cleanly and I was a fail few mph down on my previous. Anyway I put in some very low 1:20’s which was at least somewhere near the front but then I always do my fast laps right at the end so I was not too worried. Then a very interesting and nice surprise happened when Paul caught me up and power past. Excellent I thought so I grabbed into the tow and off we went, Pauls lines improved a little as the laps went on, or more like as his confidence grew and the times came down. Paul was obviously quicker down the straight and I was a little quicker through the corners so the gap grew down the straight, although I kept most the slipstreaming effect and then I reduced the gap through the corners. I have to say at this point that I was very impressed and loved every minute of running nose to tail with Paul. He is the main reason why I went race this year, well maybe not reason but more the main reason why I did not say to myself this is a stupid, expensive idea that I will not be any good at. He won’t like me saying this in public I am sure but he has a very smooth style just lacks that lunatic side I have for running over the limit all the time! With some new found confidence in the car balance after running stiffer spring he is now making big strides in performance. Excellent fun as I said. Penultimate lap of qualifying, 1:19.44 and the last, well a 1:18.56 to take pole in class and 6th overall.

In between the qualify session and the race, which was to be a 18min and thankfully we remembered to add some fuel to the normal amounts, I swapped over to an ECU specific to the RRV I now have installed. It would seem that there was a chance between the RRV and the RRW that I was running before and Andy prediction was that this might have a different top end map to better the suite the changes that Mr Honda made in the different models. We would see.