Graham Walsh
Sorry for the long post, but here is my experience of my 1st race.
In summary - awesome fun.
Testing
I picked the car up Thursday evening from Steve Williams after if going in for a new engine/gearbox/safety equipment/new seat/harnesses etc. The big end went at Snetterton back in January whilst on my ARDS test. It seemed easier to get a replacement engine rather than trying to repair my 72k engine with 2 HGF. Thanks to Simon Parker for the engine :upLeft Steve’s workshop and the car felt totally different. It actually felt like a race car, couldn’t see anything out the rear view mirror due to the roll cage, it was not the Elise I was use to driving on the road and on trackdays. I had to work on Friday so I was unable to get to the test day at Brands and I also had to get some rear tyres (as I was running R888 and A048). I didn’t want to be queuing up on race day to get them fitted. I drove the car on the road on Friday and did about 150 miles, got my tyres fitted and didn’t get home from work until about 8pm. I got my things together (toolkit, jack etc) and packed the car up. Got to the hotel just after 11pm and headed straight for bed.
Arrived at Brands about 0730 and 1st task was to clean the car so that I could have the sponsor’s stickers applied. Now washing my car was a very difficult thing :) Stickers on and the car was ready. Had enough fuel for qualifying and race one.
Qualifying
Signed on, had the drivers briefing and then it was time to get into the car and drive Brands Hatch Indy for the 1st time in nearly a year. Slowly started getting into the groove of things, looking at my lap timer for the 1st time and thinking what the hell it was doing. I did think that I would be out for a few laps and come in and see how I was going. I thought sod it, stay out there for the duration. I saw Jez come flying up behind me and he got past me just before Paddock. He downshifted and a huge flame out the back, into Paddock and he starts to loose it. I was thinking where is he going, so I stuck to my line and he ended up in the beech. One thing the made me laugh was Jez’s front splitter sitting on the edge of the circuit. On Thursday night he was saying he used large enough bolts so that his splitter would not come off.Qualifying over and it turns out I got 26th. I was pleased that I wasn’t at the back. Car felt more like mine again. At least I would get another qualifying session in for the 3rd race of the day to get some more practise for race one. Oh no, they decided to bring this qualifying session forward by 20 minutes, so myself, Skeggs and Kell missed it. That really pissed me off, but at least we could race in it as we qualified for race one. I checked my fuel level and I turned out that I used 6 litres of fuel in 18 laps. I thought the 17 litres in the car would be plenty for race one.
Race One
Out of the pits and onto the formation lap. I remember them telling us that we would have a green flag lap and then the lights would come on. Green flag dropped and I had a red VX overtake me. I thought that was weird as I didn’t see anyone else overtaking and we reformed in the correct order. On the grid, I checked the fuel gauge and it was showing refill, I was thinking that can’t be right, I must have enough. Anyway lights came on and went out, off we went. However, I was expecting a green light, but were are not racing a chav off the lights here. As you can see from the picture below, I got a slow start.
I was behind Nipper and he asked me before the race to be nice to him :lol I really can’t remember too much of the race, but I know I had Nipper in front of me for a couple of laps and was trying to get past for a couple of laps. I eventually got a good run out of Paddock and up to Druids I managed to sneak up the inside. Away I went, Nipper was behind and I had a clear track. I came out of Graham Hill bend and saw Dave Rowatt in Blown K in front me. Next think I know I was in this massive cloud of smoke, I couldn’t see where he was so came off the racing line and still couldn’t see anything. I kept to the left hand side of the track ready for Surtees and I could see David parked up in the grass :(
My view after David's engine issue:
After a few more laps in, the race seemed to be going on for hours. I was coming onto the start finish straight and I noticed my water temperature up to 110 degrees, compared to the low 80’s that it usually was. Bugger, what do I do, I could see that there were only a few minutes left, all I wanted to do was to get the car to the finish. The petrol issue was just the grid being on an angle. I tried to do my best at letting the faster cars through, especially when they came through in packs. However, as it was my first race, it was very daunting, but that will get easier with experience I am sure. I also suffered brake fade a few times into Paddock, so with the temperature issue, I backed off a little for a few laps.
Race over, Wow, I’ve completed my 1st race. My body temperature was about 500 degrees. Back into the pits, out of the car and some friends were waiting for me. There was steam coming off my body :lol 1st thing was to refill the car with petrol and then to check the brakes. Wheels off and they seemed fine, there was plenty on them to get me through the next two races. Jaye noticed that I had no coolant. Sooty manged to find a bottle of water and funnel :up However, I had a bottle in my toolkit :) There just seemed so much going on with people coming over to say hello etc. Also had Andrew Walsh come over to complain about my use of my mirrors and blue flags. The steward mentioned it to him so he was relaying the message onto me. As previously mentioned, I don’t remember where and when this happened on track. After speaking to others, it turns out that I was in the process of overtaking someone and then the leaders were coming through. Blue flags were being waved at me and the person I was over taking. Very confusing looking back at it now, but hopefully will get more used to racing as time goes on.
Race Two
Car was ready to go, it turns out that I was on the 2nd row of the grid, starting off in the 1st batch of cars. There was no green flag lap, we just went when the steward dropped his flag. Plenty of wheel spin, I eventually found some grip and into Paddock. I saw Steve Williams go in sideways :) and thought I had better take it easy. Nigel was in front me and I looked for ways around him into Druids. Came around Clearways onto the start finish straight to find everyone gone, that was one less thing to worry about. Myself and Nigel were nose to tail for the whole race. His 30bhp more than me meant I couldn’t pass him on the straights, it had to be in the corners. Nigel was making his car as wide as possible. Great driving from him, lap after lap, even with traffic, we were together. There were times when I thought I could nip past with the faster cars coming through the pack, but no luck. I saw that there was 2 minutes left, into Paddock on a different line, tried to get a better run into Druids, but I didn’t take any risks. It was my 1st race and I wanted to make it to the end safely. I finished the race with Nigel just in front. Afterwards, chatting to Nigel, he said he spent more time looking in his mirrors than the track. We were just as confused and the commentators and the spectators as to who had won the race. It was great not knowing who had won. Car ran fine with no brake or temperature issues.As you can see from the picture below, I am following Nigel very close
Race Three
I decided to enter this race to get some more experience. I was having second thoughts. It was getting dark, starting to rain. I though, just get round in one piece. However, there was Radicals, Caterhams, Nobles and BMW race cars. I just went round at my own pace, discovering the grip levels. I managed to finish the race in one piece.
Final Thought Now that the race day is over, I couldn’t believe how knackered I was. I can see why people who race are super fit, it totally drains you driving around the circuit. You cannot compare track days to racing; it is a totally different ball game. Looking back at yesterday, I am glad that I have done it and am now looking forward to Snetterton on the 22nd April. However, one thing I have realised, practice, practice and more practice. Also, some brave pills and talent won’t go a miss :).
Sorry to those I didn’t get to see, thanks for all the text messages wishing me luck etc, sorry I couldn’t reply as my phone died.
Hope to see you all at Snetterton where it might be a little less manic.
Graham
