Race report - Silverstone 28/09/05
We arrived on Saturday evening and parked up next to Cheshire racing. After unloading it was off to the pub for some technical talk on racing lines! Silverstone is run on the short circuit so there are only 5 corners to worry about.
On the Sunday we unloaded the car and all the equipment, it hadn’t been off the trailor since Mallory but I was reasonable happy with the performance then. Second lap of qualifying I spun at Copse and when I got back on track I had a bad vibration and the steering wheel was out. Another trip for tracking as soon as the weekend was over! Qualified fastest of the Mk1’s and took my place on the grid for the race. As the red lights went out I got up the inside of the Mk2 and a Porshe. Around Beckets and the red flags are out, race stopped. A 5 car pile up just behind me bought everybody back on the start line and the wait for the re-start.
Red lights out and another good start saw me inside the Mk2. racing up to Maggots and I pass the 944 and a Ginetta. I’m well in the lead over the start line and heading to Copse. As I aim for the apex the Ginetta T- bones me forcing me off the track. As I turn around to get back on the track I’m overtaken by an MGF sliding on it’s roof. Red flags out again but it’s no good - my car has damaged suspension and I drive straight into the pits.
The rear track control arm is damaged but the rest of the roadsports class come in as the race is abandoned. We’re all summoned to race control and the post mortem begins. The Ginetta driver claims he was pushed into me by another MR2 which begins a witch hunt. Even the 944 driver and the MGF pilot claim it was all caused by an MR2. Fortunately Silverstone has a state of the art video suite with every corner filmed from two angles. Myself, the Ginetta and Porsche driver all go to watch the replay. As was suspected the Ginetta driver caused the accident all on his own. As we approached Copse he was on the inside line and simply failed to brake for the corner. He then ran into me causing both of us to slide off the track. As he drove back on he hit the MGF so hard it flipped onto it’s roof and was totalled. Calls for our own stand alone races were the upshot of all the discussions.
The race: We managed to take the track control arm off and banged it straight. My vibration problems were caused by a flat spotted tyre - probably caused by the spin so that was changed. It seemed to drive straight but we had to get on the track. There were a few gaps and fortunately the idiot in the Ginetta had to retire. Red lights out and another good start. The secret is to start with low revs and feed in the power. I jumped the Mk2 again and also beat the 944 - a car with more than twice the power. I held the Mk2 off for 4 laps but Patrick was finding his lines and coming out of Maggots he passed me on the straight. I didn’t bother defending for 2 reasons. I didn’t want another accident and the Mk2 isn’t eligible for any victories. Lap 6 and I notice Duncan is hunting me down. He gets within half a car of me then drops off the back of me. Next up is Tony Gilham. My car is handling like a pig and he closes me down on lap eight. I know we’re only having a 10 lap race due to all the stoppages so I start driving defensively. Last lap and coming out of Maggots I run a little wide. Tony gets the power down on the straight and gets past me whilst the next left hander comes up. Tony’s a car length in front but I’m on the inside. It’s a battle of wills as we leave our braking as late as possible. Hard on the middle pedal and I start turning in whilst still trying to scrub off speed. Tony runs a little wide and tucks in behind. Over the line and we’re side by side as the chequered flag comes down.
Back in the pits and it’s confirmed, I win by just two tenths of a second. Five wins in a row is fantastic especially as we’ve got a double header at Cadwell Park as our next fixture. My favourite track especially so when wet. See you all then.
George