Rockingham - Race Day 30/05/2010
 PART 2 In to the car for qualifying...leaving the pit lane last as advised to avoid fast traffic. After letting them go, I quickly noticed the car felt great. Fro the small adjustments after testing.. It stopped quickly, predictable, gripped and turned in well. It did exactly what I wanted it to..HAPPY DAYS :-) It was not long after my first warm up lap before I was on the tail end of the drivers that set out before me. I found the rain did not worry me too much after feeling reassured by the car - in fact I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of riding 1000cc bikes in the rain - if you're going to try to go fast, you need to know exactly what's going on. It's inevitable we all get it wrong sometimes. It was not very dramatic, but I gently spun the car once in qualifying compared to, in my younger years on motorbikes I broke a few bones finding out. Hence jumping off a bike and into a car. Qualifying Time wise, I beat 7 drivers in qualifying. I'm informed I started on the grid for my first race behind the previous events lap record holder - I'm sure he must have been having car trouble or something. I found the race pace was quicker than qualifying which soon brought me back down to earth. Fortunately my first race nerves were swapped for a good feeling words cannot describe. WHAT A CAR Race 1 Unfortunately the 1st race was interrupted with yellow flags due to the wet conditions and people leaving the tarmac. Added by the fact my engines tacho was reading beyond the rev limit? yet the shift light and limiter was not coming on at these revs. I did not want to over rev the rebuilt engine so I found my self shifting - what later turned out to be to early. Race 2 It was not until the second race I started to settle down and enjoy myself - The Factory said I should have tested the day before which was obviously a valid point but unfortunately I was unable to. Prior to the 2nd race we checked that the rev limiter worked, and how far out of calibration at top revs the tacho was reading. For the 2nd race I went out with a more settled mind, trying to go fast rather than just taking part and actually working at my driving. I found 2 secs a lap and was gaining on 15th overall a couple of times. Overall I was extremely happy with the result for my first couple of races although compared to the fast guys I still have lots to do. We understand a good day in racing is to finish all the races. After finishing with no damage..results, points and prizes follow. Which make a good day one to remember. We have a couple areas to work on that will make a difference. 1) Both races I lost positions at the start through trying to prevent wheel spin in the rain. In fact the first race I almost ended up at the back of the grid from getting away, partly because I remember some stalled in front of me but I still finished one position ahead of where I started on the grid. If I can get away quicker I'm sure it will effect the end result. 2) I also want to look at the ratio of front down force to rear for the very fast corners, as the front end felt a bit light to me. 3) We need to sort the tacho and shift light set up, to enable gear shifts at the optimum rpm. We have to commend Rob Sayell for a great drive in Club Class - finishing first in the class and in one race, 3rd overall. Beating a group of very good drivers in the more powerful Championship spec car. Well Done Rob and team. Thanks for the support and help everyone xxx CommentsMarsgirl 06/09/2011 3:03am
Good Luck guys - you are AWESOME!! Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Leave a Reply | Click for Comments Above Topics!Please
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