Andrew Kell

After a disappointing weekend at Castle Combe in July (poor qualifying followed by even worse starts in both races) I was very much looking forward to round 7 of the Elise Trophy at Donington Park. Dony is one my favourite circuits, as it has plenty of gradient, and is a very rewarding circuit to drive.

My weekend got off to a bad start, I'd been planning on a leisurely drive up the M1 on Thursday evening. Unfortunately 5:30pm found me still at the garage, where they were trying to work out why Mr Whippy wouldn't start! In the end they botched the ignition so I could start MW with a screwdriver, although sadly they couldn't work out what was making him backfire!

Friday 31st August - track day

So 4am found me trying desperately not to wake the neighbours as I left for Donington. But Mr Whippy had other ideas, as I spluttered, coughed and banged my way up the drive it became obvious that I wasn't likely to be winning any popularity awards in Shamley Green this weekend!

2 miles down the road it was clear that things were going from bad to worse and I started to fear that I might have to abandon MW and head North in the Elise. However as we got on the A3, Mr Whippy girded his loins and we eventually got up to 50mph. The various hills on the M1 (yes there are plenty of hills when you're towing with a 26yr old VW camper!) were a bit of a challenge but I discovered that, if I took a run up, and found a decent sized lorry to slipstream, I was ok!

4 hours later we rocked up at Donington, and I set up camp outside garage 38, my allocated spot for the race weekend.

Frankly the track day (organised by Circuit Days) was a bit of a shambles, they'd clearly taken too many bookings and we had to queue for 20+mins to get out on track. In the end I only did 4 sessions, and the Elise didn't feel great all day, with a vibration that got progressively worse during the day. Initially I thought it was flat-spotted tyres (it has been known!) but by the last session it was clear that something was vey wrong indeed :(

Once again the Elise Trophy support network kicked into action and I'm grateful to all those who mucked in to help try and diagnose the problem (Walshy, McApe, Yvo, Wayne & Mark from Sinclaires, Andrew - Skeggsy's brother, Doug's mechanics) to name a few. After a few tests we were were pretty sure it was a drive shaft issue, I called Geary at EliseParts, who said he could bring some replacements in the morning, top man!

Saturday 1st September - qualifying

After a restless night, not helped by the planes from East Midland airport which started taking off at 4:15am, I was up bright and early (well early anyway), pacing up and down waiting for those drive shafts. At about 11:30am they turned up, Andrew (Skeggsy's brother) leapt into action and by 1pm they were fitted. Fingers crossed we had fixed the problem. Heart-in-mouth I went for a road test...eureka! The vibration was gone! Foolish grin fully restored I headed back to the paddock for scrutineering.

With 36 cars on the 2 mile National circuit it was always going to be tough to make some space in qualifying and so it turned out. Although I went out pretty early, by the time my tyres had warmed up there seemed to be traffic everywhere, and with a never ending succession of yellow flags I did wonder whether I'd find myself in the midfield, or worse. However as I came back in to the garage, I predicted that I'd be 8th, and so it turned out, alongside Chris Pearson, behind Steve Williams and just in front of McApe. Business as usual then. One day I'll qualify well, that should surprise a few people!

In the end I gave the karting a miss and ended up spending 6hours in the circuit bar, perfect preparation! Guinness is the racing driver's drink of choice after all...

Sunday 2nd September

Race day dawned bright and dry, although rain was forecast for mid-afternoon, pretty much spot on for the handicap race. As a light drizzle started to fall at lunchtime, McApe was starting to do a passable impression of a Cheshire cat. However, in the end my "dry prance" proved more powerful than his rain dance and it stayed dry.

Scratch race

Chris didn't get off the start line on the green flag lap from 7th on the grid, so I had a gap to my right as I lined up for the race start. Red lights on, red lights off, GO! I had a reasonable start, keeping McApe & David Harvey behind me into Redgate. Steve (no really I'm a poor starter) Williams had a flier from 6th on the grid and IIRC was up to 2nd behind Walshy by the 1st bend. I got alongside Malcolm into Redgate round the outside but was compromised on the exit and he got through ahead. As I headed down through Craner Curves, I was horrified to see McApe fly past me into the Old Hairpin. I tucked in behind him through Mcleans & Coppice and then let the trusty supercharger take the strain, getting back past him along the main straight. Poor Russ retired (yet again) at the end of lap 1 and I focussed on closing in on Malcolm.

Halfway through lap 2 it was clear Skeggsy (who'd most excellently qualified 2nd on the grid) had problems and I was able to get past him on the entry to the Esses. Two laps later I managed to get past Malcolm in the same spot. Malcolm gave me a pretty hard time for a few laps, he was carrying better speed into the Old Hairpin and McLeans than me but I was able to hold him off.

Looking ahead I could see Walshy & Steve a few seconds ahead, blimey I was third! On lap 8 as I lapped Graham Walsh coming out of the Esses, I spotted the SC boards and yellow flag. Not sure whether I'd passed Graham under yellows I backed off and hoped for the best. In hindsight I should have let Graham back past, would have saved me a bollocking later! For 3 laps we trooped round behind the safety car, I could see Walshy and Steve ahead but there were a couple of back markers between us. I was hoping for a decent restart so I could try and give Steve a hard time for the last couple of laps. Unfortunately when the safety car went in and Walshy floored it coming out of the Esses, I couldn't overtake Elgan until we'd crossed the start line. By the time I got to Redgate I was stuck behind Ian, and by the time I got past him Walshy & Steve were away.

I kept it clean for the last couple of laps and brought it home 3rd overall (2nd in class), equalling my best result so far at Oulton Park :)

Luckily I survived my bollocking without points, a fine or a disqualification and the result stood.

Handicap race

3 hours later it was time to grid up again for the handicap race. I was in drop 3, with Sean, Chris & McApe, 30secs behind drop 1.

Tick tock tick tock, there's the flag and we're off. The 4 of us headed into Redgate pretty much together and the race was on!

I was kind enough to give McApe a tow up the hill from the Old Hairpin on lap 2 and as we approached McLeans spotted his yellow peril looming large in my o/s mirror. I'm not having that, I thought, and closed the door. Unfortunately he was carrying quite a lot more speed than me and was forced to take evasive action, into the gravel! I was actually quite disappointed as I had been looking forward to a battle with my Scottish chum!

3 corners later Chris took advantage of my poor entry into Redgate and moved ahead. Annoyed with myself I set about getting my own back. We started to catch and pass the slower class A and B cars and on lap 9, Chris exhanged some fibreglass with Anthony at Coppice. I pounced and outdragged him down to the Esses.

One of the features of the handicap race is that you tend not to have any idea where you are in the order. However by lap 11 Chris & I found ourselves with a lot of clear track in front of us, and it was obvious that we were either towards the front, or the back!

On lap 13 I spotted a familiar black S1 Elise ahead. It was Golding's class A car, being driven at the Donington Park races by ex Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly! I had a feeling he might be in the lead and hoped there were enough laps left to catch him. Meanwhile I had spotted another black S1 closing in from behind, Walshy was clearly on a charge!

For 2 laps we closed in relentlessly, then on lap 15 I spotted a plume of blue smoke from the back of Martin's car, thinking there might be oil on the track I braked early and tentatively for the Esses, Chris had a peek up the inside but I was just too far ahead. As we exited the Esses I spotted Martin's hand out the window, was he retiring? Then I spotted the chequered flag, doh!

What an excellent race, and I was dead chuffed with the result, 2nd overall and the first non-ex GP driver to cross the line!

All in all another most excellent weekend's racing with the Elise Trophy. Good banter in the paddock, outstanding support, and great racing.

Next we're off to my favourite circuit, Spa Francorchamps, and I for one can't wait to race there!

And finally thanks once again to those who saved my bacon (not literally) at the weekend and enabled me to race at all, most especially Andrew for his sterling efforts and expertise.

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