So Pembrey then. It's a very long way, and my record here is not exactly great having broken the Westy in first practice last year. So I was hoping for better things this year with the Phoenix.
The forecast was for rain, and it so it proved for the Saturday, despite the rest of the country being bathed in sunshine (as my wife took delight in pointing out by text at regular intervals!).
Qualy was a bit of a disappointment. It was very wet and I kept dropping back to find some space out of the spray but it wasn't working. I tucked in behind Dan for a bit and was keeping pace with him but never really got a proper strung together lap. Ended up close to the back with a time in the 1:16s when the leading class F cars were in the 1:13s.
The race was very wet. I think it was probably as wet as I've ever experienced it. Certainly comparable to the Birkett. Still, I managed to get ahead of a few cars at the start as Ben turned right 200yards too soon. I then got passed Austen as he missed a gear, and was in the chase to keep up with Lee. I was keeping pace, but the spray was unbelievable (see the video from Austen's car - although even that doesn't show it as bad as it looked for me!). I was effectively blind turning into the right kink which is about 90mph in the wet. The only way I knew where to turn was to follow the rain light of the car in front which was about 50 yards away so not that close! If you get it wrong there, well..I won't dwell on that!
This racing lark is a fine line between sheer exhilaration and sheer terror sometimes. I think I crossed that line a few times in that race.
Anyway, much to my dismay, Austen, who was much closer behind me than I thought, hadn't failed to notice that I was braking about a hundred yards too soon for the first corner which is a slow corner after a long straight. This was because I couldn't see where the road was (not a wholly unreasonable course of action, I thought!). Anyway, after a couple of laps of that, Austen made a brave move up the inside and got past me.
Despite trying to get him straight back, I just wasn't brave enough and settled for the 6th in class. (Austen went on to get past Lee as well for a well deserved 4th in class).
I must say, given the conditions, there were no crashes or damage of any sort to anyone in that race which is testament to everyone's skillful driving and a great relief.
So my best lap time in the race, in wetter conditions than qualifying, was 1:15.0.
I can put that improvement from qualy down to both the change of set up that Tim did (removed the anti-roll bars), my learning the track as I went on, and the fact that I was chasing a faster car. I must say, to blow my own trumpet just a little - not my style I know, but humour me! - Tim Gray, in the Pulsar, which is quite comparable to the Phoenix, and has more power than me, managed a best time just 6 tenths quicker. Mind you, even he only managed 3rd in class with that, and Lee and Austen and I were only 1.5 tenths apart. So it was all very close indeed. They do say the rain is a great leveler - and so it proved. And I was delighted to be up there in the fight.
Sunday's race was a bit of a let down, sadly. Despite the promise of a dry race, I suffered from a slipping clutch after the first lap and was forced to retire. Ironically, the dry race saw far more attrition than the wet race with various retirements including Derek and JC and Lee. I can't help thinking that, had I maintained my relative pace to Lee in the dry that I did in the wet, I could have ended up 3rd in class as Austen admitted that he was struggling with a misfire in the last few laps. Also since Tim was not racing for points, that would have been a 2nd in class. Oh well, life's full of might-have-beens, eh! and it works both ways over a season.
So, the good news was a great race in the wet, the bad a retirement on Sunday, but all in all a pretty good weekend.
I'm off to Cadwell on October 8th/9th for the season finale. My favourite circuit. Hope it's dry.
Austen's video here (I'm no 15 - I appear at about 40s in. Oh and watch out at about 5-6mins - it gets very slidey!!).
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