Brands Hatch 2012 Race Report
So a long winter break was finally over and we were at the first meeting of the season.
Brands Hatch Indy Circuit had never been kind to us in the past, our best result being 10th last year. We were feeling more comfortable after our recent test and were aiming for a top 10 finish. The day started windy and cold but dry. Some prep work needed to be done on the car during breakfast including Ady from n2grafix doing his thing. The car flew through scruiteneering as normal.
We were the last race of the meeting so it meant a long day for us. Qualifying was at 11:45 and having never done a start at Brands I took the first stint. The tyres took a few laps to come in and they caught me out as I understeered off the track at Clearways and had to Rallycross back on the circuit. Luckily I didn’t get beached.
Coming round to complete my 4th lap there was a Proton buried up to its door mirrors in the same gravel trap and the safety car came out. I’d done my 3 lap minimum so elected to hand over to Tony earlier than planned. The Quali session was shorter than usual at only 20 minutes and it was pointless for me to follow the safety car around when we could be doing a driver swap and tyre check. So it was down to Tony to do a time now the tyres were up to temperature (and a bit dusty) He was quickly into the 57′s and his final 3 laps dipped into the 56′s. His best being a 56.6, the kind of times we were aiming for. That was good enough for 7th place on the grid.
During the lunch break we did the pre race prep and as part of our checks retorqued the wheel nuts. 8 studs were loose and one sheared off. The studs were new and had only been on the car 2 weeks. We had some lunch and a think before attacking it with various pairs of mole grips and got the broken stud out. We switched to standard Renault wheel bolts for the rest of the day. After that drama was over it started to drizzle a little. We went over to watch some other races and it didn’t appear to be making much difference to the times. As it was, it stayed dry for the rest of the day and our new treaded Toyos were not needed. Driver change practice followed as always. It took us a while to get it slick again after such a long break. September was the last time we did it. After that we had a little chat about how the car felt. Id only done 4 laps but felt the same as Tony
about what to do with setup. We made a small change to the front end.
We made our way to the assembly area in plenty of time. The previous race was red flagged so there was a delay. Starts are a particular favorite thing of mine. The last few ive done ive been quite pleased with, so I was looking forward to lights out. Just before we were let out on the grid the marshalls informed us of oil around the circuit ‘in various places’ from the previous race. They didn’t have time to clean it up fully as the day was already running behind schedule. On the dummy grid I did a practice start. The track was flat where we were so I didn’t have to worry about rolling. The car slid to the right as I launched away, very slippy there, mental note made. On the warm up lap I could see there was oil off-line into Druids and Graham Hill Bend. We formed up for the start proper and the lights came on an went out with very little delay. Again the car slid towards the pitwall, I corrected it and the fronts started to grip well. The Fiesta in front was slower away and I had a little lift as I looked for space. There was just enough room on the right so went for it. In 2nd gear the car just took off and I was passed him easily. A big gap ahead of me started to close as the Cassar Proton gave me just enough room but I did just touch the grass as we went into Paddock Hill for the first time. In the dip Simon in the White Civic had a bit of a wobble and got a run on him up the inside to Druids. I was carefull on the brakes, mindful of the oil, he stayed outside that gave him the inside for Graham Hill. So at the end of the first lap I was 5th and keeping pace with the cars around me.
On lap 3 Russ in the MG got a run up the inside into Druids. I tucked in behind him (which im annoyed with myself for) instead of taking the long way around. At Graham Hill Bend I took a bit of inside kerb and the car jumped out of 3rd gear. Mark in the Civic behind had to jink left quickly to avoid me and he was passed. 2 places lost in 2 corners. Id told Tony I wasnt going to do anything heroic but I needed to try to keep places and pace. 2 laps later and I was pushing to keep up, it jumped out of gear again over the kerbs, lost me ground and a lap later at Druids a Fiesta went the long way round and we touched several times as he slipped by. Again it jumped out of gear over the kerbs and I lost another place a lap later, we were now 9th.
Picture courtesy of Nick at Sportstock.co.uk
At around lap 10, Once I had nothing in my mirrors I managed to drop my times into the 56′s and keep the gap to the cars in front. We were about 15 seconds back from the leaders but maintaining the gap as they were in traffic. 15 seconds we could make up with a good pitstop so all was not lost. On lap 14 I came across the aftermath of an incident between Simon in the Civic and Nigel in the Integra. Simon had lost it coming into Druids and hit the back of the Integra. Nigel managed to recover to the pits to have the damaged rear bumper removed but the Civic was beached in the gravel and brought out the safety car.
As I passed the pits next time, Nick held out the board to bring me in. I joined the end of the safety car snake at the start of the next lap and pitted next time by. As we were so close to the safety car when we came in, Tony got back out while the exit was still open and rejoined the queue behind the safety car. The gamble had paid off as we were now 4th on the road with 2 cars ahead still to pit. I was over the moon in the garage. We’ve lost out to safety cars before but this time it worked in our favour. A lap later it was back to green flag racing and Tony went on a mission. He had no idea if we’d lost out or gained through the pitstop/safety car period so just drove the wheels off the car. Lights ablaze, he had plenty of lapped cars to pass but kept his times in the 57′s/high 56′s as he did so. The 2 cars ahead pitted within a few laps and that left us 2nd on the road and heading for a class win.
Mike Jordan was now in the very battered #85 Integra and trying to recover lost ground from the accident. In the garage we were frantically trying to calculate if he could make up the 40 seconds we had on him with 20 mins to go. He was around 2-3 seconds per lap faster so it would be possible he’d catch us near the end. Tony was feeling very comfortable in the car and started to ‘experiment’ pushing harder and harder to see what the car could do. It wouldn’t take Surtees flat though.
By lap 28 Tony was consistently in the 56′s and flying but Mike Jordan was in the 54′s and now less than 20 seconds behind. The inevitable happened on lap 37 and we went down to 3rd place but still 2nd in Class A and on for our best ever result.
Picture courtesy of Nick at Sportstock.co.uk
Tony set our fastest lap with 1 lap to go, a 56.195, despite a scare into Paddock Hill Bend passing 3 wheeled Proton. The final lap was quiet and smooth. 3rd place was ours and a trophy for 2nd in class. a fantastic result to start the season and totally unexpected at Brands. Must have been the mascot.
A huge thanks to everyone involved today. Chris for standing in as photographer, Nick and Mike for great pit work and Ady from n2grafix for his support. Cheers fellas.
