Latest weekend report from Oulton Park then.
It was all about the weather this weekend, the forecast looked horrific for saturday so in advance i swapped my Rainsports on to my OZ wheels that i normally have my dry Dunlops on, i then decided to leave the dunlops at home!
I arrived at the circuit about 4pm, the paddock was pretty quiet although there were some cars out testing.
Got unpacked and setup
@Tony Hunter is now my official shelter erector as its just impossible to do it on my own, cheers mate. Weather all good at this point, dry and bright. Got
@khj100 's 200 unloaded and setup up too while he made the long trip up from brighton.
After
@dinger had turned up and unpacked we went to the pub before a bit of a track recce in the dark with
@Mini182 and his mate. Time for a good nights sleep, weather still dry, not sure what all the fuss was about!
Well about 5am i found out! Sleeping soundly in the Audi one minute, woken to the sound of torrential rain hitting the roof of the car and everything else outside, the next! The wind had picked up and wrecked a few gazebos around the paddock, Dingers included!
Qualifying
The rain had set in and was still coming down at 9am for quali. Getting a clear run in quali is important normally with a grid of 30+ cars but its even more so if its raining as driving around in someones spray is not ideal! Rainsports fitted and car ready to go, i was the 2nd car in the assembly i was a happy bunny. just after cascades i was in front and clear air, no spray and no need for the wiper even. Managed to get 6 laps or so clear to get the hang of the conditions leaving me a couple of fast laps for the end of the session, my fastest lap was lap 7 even though i hit traffic, lap 8 was shaping up to be a fair bit faster but i locked up into hizzys and couldn't stop the car so ran on and had to abandon the lap. Was setting myself up for 1 more quick one when the flag came out!
Looking at the dash and seeing a 2.15 lap in the conditions i was pleased but unsure of our position. It turned out we were the fastest french car by over 3 quarters of a second from kevs clio 200 who was half a second faster than the next car too. The only thing in front was James in his 4wd R32 Skyline. Chuffed to grab the first pole since Rockingham at the start of the year.
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Race 1
After quali it stopped raining and started to dry up with more cars lapping, there was a decision to make with regards tyres for race 1 as it was still damp/wet in places 30mins before the race, we have to be in the assembly area 20 mins before the race. Going with the majority i fitted my R888's which are now well past their best with the tread on or just over the markers, hopefully there'd be no standing water left! In hindsight i should of put the suspension back to dry settings as well as it was a touch soft now it had dried out.
It turned out there wasnt and it was near enough dry everywhere as long as you didnt go off line.
Got a decent start i thought, but seen John Whelans Yellow 306 come screaming by before the first corner.
I couldnt stay with him or james' skyline and had a fairly lonely race with kev getting smaller in the mirror. It finished like that, 2nd in Tricolore Trophy behind the 306 and 3rd overall with James Jannikki's skyline out front winning the Nippon race.
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Race 2
Now fully dry and bright, It started as race 1 finished really with james and john getting away in front, however kevin middleton had launched his impreza up the inside before the first corner. Just what i didnt need as i really wanted to try and chase the 306 this time after some suspension tweaks and tire pressure adjustments between races. It wasnt to be as i couldnt get past the subaru for half the race and when i did my tires had had it, should of brought the Dunlops after all!
Good fun nonetheless, it's nice to have a battle regardless of who/what it is. Finished as race 1, 2nd in Tricolore and 3rd overall.
A special mention goes to Ian Collins
@mitsiman after having a massive shunt in race 1 on lap 2 the car was wrecked but he and a few others managed to bend it back to some kind of clio shaped vehicle and start race 2! Not only did he start, from the back i might add, but he stormed through the pack to 5th overall i think and 3rd in Tricolore! On a mission sums it up perfectly!
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So thats it for this season, im going to give the autumn trophy a miss and concentrate on getting the clio (and the civic) sorted over thewinter for next year, nothing major, just a few tweaks and general manintenance. Its been a year since the clio was first raced and its done 10 races since then without a DNF, yes we've had a few issues we've had to sort due to component failures and one of my goals is to make it as reliable as possible so any issues encountered have been dealt with and improvements made, we've never had a repeat failure. Its also had a Trophy everytime out, i'm my own biggest critic and i'd have liked to have won a race outright this year but looking on the bright side we've had
-x2 Pole positions
-x5 outright fastest laps
-Class 1st's, 2nd's and 3rd's
Thanks to everyone for the comments this year and for all the help at events, hope to see you all next season.
Russ
