Turbos.
After a successful outing at Zolder, last weekend it was back to the UK and to the penultimate round of Lotus Cup. This time up it was Donington, on the GP circuit which would be a first for me. The race weekend layout was an odd one, half a test day on Thursday, track day on Friday (on the National circuit), nothing on Saturday then everything packed into Sunday!
Thursday was pretty quiet; most people couldn't justify coming so there were only a few of us out. But with Adam Wilcox back in the car (he finished 2nd with me at Brands), it was a chance for him to get used to the car again. We had no times to compare as Lotus had never been to the GP circuit before, but we did look up British GT4 times and were competitive with them (and remember, we're on road tyres, not slicks).
The car was working well, and since the alternator failure at Zolder, we now had a super duper replacement made by McLaren. However, the car couldn't do much about me getting a bit of shape at the Old Hairpin and ditching it in the gravel
After what looked like an uneventful day, the boys had work to do! The engine cover had come off and bent the rear wing's mounts, and naturally there was grass/gravel in every nook and cranny.
With the track day the following day on the National circuit, it was a bit of a waste of time. I don't think myself and Adam did more than a few laps between us, but it was good to keep an eye on the competition. And flick through car mags.
Our JDR team mate was having lots of issues with her 2-Eleven as usual though, and i thought the old K-Series was bad! The supercharged Toyota lump is a horrendous thing!
The next day we were feeling confident knowing not many had a chance to go on the GP circuit previously. I had Free Practice to myself so i gave the chance to warm up gently as everyone was urgently trying to get laps under their belt. I hovered around the middle of the lap time charts before setting the fastest lap by almost a second.
As Adam came away disappointed at Brands, i gave him a chance of showing what he could do in qualifying. This meant by default he would have to start the race too.
He quickly found more time, and promptly put the car in Pole which no one could touch.
The race was longer than usual at 90 minutes, so although we were pleased, in the back of my mind i was still not overly confident the car would do us justice. It would also be interesting driving the second stint as i'd be in the dark by the finish (6:45).
I absolutely HATE watching, i get far more nervous that being in the car myself. It was with baited breath i watched them pile into the first corner, our main rival outdragging Adam but not enough to get in front in time for the braking zone. It was a relief to see the car came round still in the lead after the first lap; The previous race had dumped a load of oil over the track so that didn't help the nerves!
Adam steadily pulled half a second a lap, before starting to pull a full second and giving a comfortable buffer.
Adam demonstrated the difference between pro and amateur when it came to lapping the slower cars. His times didn't drop. In fact, he set his fastest lap and was sometimes pulling a 5 second gap every lap. By the time he came to hand over, we had a 45 second lead. All going well...
I headed out and got down to a decent time straight away. I knew i didn't have to push so it was about not making silly mistakes.
I couldn't resist trying a little though on one clear lap, and got within a sniff of Adam's fastest lap.
But as the dark drew in, i put my sensible hat back on and just focused on staying on the road. I then got the news that our 2nd place was in the pits, and by the time he was back out i was over a lap ahead.
As we entered the last 10 minutes of the race, fatigue had got to some other cars, including some people we needed to do badly! The scariest thing was approaching cars which had no working lights; it was a reminded to keep things steady.
And then that was it it, an almost surreal experience as i passed the flag with everything working and a healthy lead. I had just won the most comfortable race i'd been in!
A bonus was that Liz, in the 2-Eleven, won her class on the final lap thanks to two of her class competitors pulling on in the last few laps. She didn't have a clue so it was nice to see luck go her way for a change!
So pretty much a perfect weekend all round. From seemingly being completely out of it, we go into the last round with me winning the Open class lead and an outside chance of the overall championship. Fingers crossed!
Thursday was pretty quiet; most people couldn't justify coming so there were only a few of us out. But with Adam Wilcox back in the car (he finished 2nd with me at Brands), it was a chance for him to get used to the car again. We had no times to compare as Lotus had never been to the GP circuit before, but we did look up British GT4 times and were competitive with them (and remember, we're on road tyres, not slicks).
The car was working well, and since the alternator failure at Zolder, we now had a super duper replacement made by McLaren. However, the car couldn't do much about me getting a bit of shape at the Old Hairpin and ditching it in the gravel
After what looked like an uneventful day, the boys had work to do! The engine cover had come off and bent the rear wing's mounts, and naturally there was grass/gravel in every nook and cranny.
With the track day the following day on the National circuit, it was a bit of a waste of time. I don't think myself and Adam did more than a few laps between us, but it was good to keep an eye on the competition. And flick through car mags.
Our JDR team mate was having lots of issues with her 2-Eleven as usual though, and i thought the old K-Series was bad! The supercharged Toyota lump is a horrendous thing!
The next day we were feeling confident knowing not many had a chance to go on the GP circuit previously. I had Free Practice to myself so i gave the chance to warm up gently as everyone was urgently trying to get laps under their belt. I hovered around the middle of the lap time charts before setting the fastest lap by almost a second.
As Adam came away disappointed at Brands, i gave him a chance of showing what he could do in qualifying. This meant by default he would have to start the race too.
He quickly found more time, and promptly put the car in Pole which no one could touch.
The race was longer than usual at 90 minutes, so although we were pleased, in the back of my mind i was still not overly confident the car would do us justice. It would also be interesting driving the second stint as i'd be in the dark by the finish (6:45).
I absolutely HATE watching, i get far more nervous that being in the car myself. It was with baited breath i watched them pile into the first corner, our main rival outdragging Adam but not enough to get in front in time for the braking zone. It was a relief to see the car came round still in the lead after the first lap; The previous race had dumped a load of oil over the track so that didn't help the nerves!
Adam steadily pulled half a second a lap, before starting to pull a full second and giving a comfortable buffer.
Adam demonstrated the difference between pro and amateur when it came to lapping the slower cars. His times didn't drop. In fact, he set his fastest lap and was sometimes pulling a 5 second gap every lap. By the time he came to hand over, we had a 45 second lead. All going well...
I headed out and got down to a decent time straight away. I knew i didn't have to push so it was about not making silly mistakes.
I couldn't resist trying a little though on one clear lap, and got within a sniff of Adam's fastest lap.
But as the dark drew in, i put my sensible hat back on and just focused on staying on the road. I then got the news that our 2nd place was in the pits, and by the time he was back out i was over a lap ahead.
As we entered the last 10 minutes of the race, fatigue had got to some other cars, including some people we needed to do badly! The scariest thing was approaching cars which had no working lights; it was a reminded to keep things steady.
And then that was it it, an almost surreal experience as i passed the flag with everything working and a healthy lead. I had just won the most comfortable race i'd been in!
A bonus was that Liz, in the 2-Eleven, won her class on the final lap thanks to two of her class competitors pulling on in the last few laps. She didn't have a clue so it was nice to see luck go her way for a change!
So pretty much a perfect weekend all round. From seemingly being completely out of it, we go into the last round with me winning the Open class lead and an outside chance of the overall championship. Fingers crossed!
