Snetterton 17th of June 2001

Circuit guide

For an excellent Snetterton guide from Ten Tenths Motorsport click here.

Race diary:

Right where shall we start? Well, after the tragedy at Mallory had precluded racing we were (for once) left with NOTHING to do on the car in preparation for Snett!! Well, with the exception of replacing the coil as a terminal broke on the Lumenition one. So it was just a case of firing her up on the trailer to make sure everything was OK mechanically/electrically, load up the vans (the entourage gets bigger each meet) and away we go. We travelled up on the Saturday night as it's a fair old journey, in pretty grim weather. Wind and rain didn't bode well for the race and we hoped that the weather would clear as we passed car, after car that had raced at Snett for the Saturday meet. We found out subsequently that three races were cancelled due to huge amounts of standing water on the apexes - something which wasn't to help me later on! We'd booked into the Cross Keys in Wymonden, a pub which does a twin room for 35 quid a night - not bad. So with food and quite a bit of beer inside us, a rather restless night saw us up bright and early, (well, early) ready for the race.

So, overcast and miserable for race day but at least it was dry! We rocked up to the circuit and got set up just outside the paddock on the grass by the Russel Bend chicane which is a great place to watch the action (as well as being right by the loo!). All the usual suspects were there and we were all keen to get out there before the weather could change. 2 grids were planned for the meeting but due to a reduced entry it was decided by the 750MC that ALL the remaining 34 cars would qualify in the same session - gulp!!! That's a LOT of cars and I did question the safety of this in my own mind :( Still, that's what we had to do so we just put-up and shut-up!

Talking of safety, after recent events, safety had launched itself up my agenda of things to sort out. I hadn't had time to sort a full cage and side impact (DOH! DOH! and DOH! with and ARSE! topping as you'll see), but I'd at least ordered a neck brace to try and keep the old noggin in one piece. It's not that comfortable to wear as my high seat back pushed my head forward where the brace foam is, but I'm damn glad I wore it! Scrutineering seemed to take an AGE and was more thorough than normal, but we got there eventually despite a dodgy fog light connection and 10:00 saw us heading to the assembly area for qualifying.

For the first time this year we were noise tested before being let out. The chap in front of me failed so I was a bit worried about passing as my 'zorst isn't as quiet as most. Three quarted maximum revs were required to test so I held it at 4K and hoped for the best. I needn't have worried though as I got through no problem. As usual, the nerves started to kick in, especially with so many cars out. I planned to go out last to get some space but this didn't go to plan and I ended up in the general melee. My only experience of driving Snetterton was on Toca 2 on the PC! So although I knew roughly which way the circuit went, I hadn't a clue about proper braking points or the amount of grip available. A point highlighted the first time into Riches where the back end swung out quite violently. I was a bit wide of the line and it caught me by surprise a little. Still, I was taking it easy so caught the slide and got it together again ready for Sear Corner. I knew that an good exit from Sear was a must in order to carry a lot of speed up Revitt Straight. There's a good deal of run-off after Sears so you could give it 'large' in quite spectacular oversteer fashion without falling off (not good given all the sodden grass around), this allowed me to keep the revs up and get to about 6.5K at the end of the straight - ideal. I had been a bit concerned about my choice of diff. at the start, but a combination of a 3.89 and a 4-speed box seemed perfect. Okay, so out of Revitt and into the Esses, loads of mud on the apex where they'd pumped the standing water out so watch for that, a quick dab of the brakes (working well for a change) and an early turn in towards the bomb hole. For the first time this season I was getting understeer - woohoo! Why the celebration? Well, I was disappointed with my times at Mallory and after chatting with some other racers a few were complaining of understeer round Gerrards. Well, I wasn't getting any so that meant one of two things. a) I had a perfect setup (unlikely) or b) I wasn't trying hard enough! No prizes for guessing which! So, with this in mind and the car running perfectly I was going for it. It didn't take long before the session was red-flagged as Darryl Beckwith had ground to a halt at the Bomb-hole with a broken rotor arm in a position deemed dangerous by the marshalls. We formed up on the grid which gave me a moment to gather my thoughts and get my head straight. Shortly after, we were out again. With only about 5 cars in front I had a much clearer track in which to try and get a flier or two. Well, I passed a few cars and kept in front of some front runners (hope I didn't hold you up too much Brett!) so I hoped for a reasonable time. However, all too quickly the session was over and I rumbled back to the pits. Initial timings from Martin (my lap timer switched itself off as soon as I went out onto the track!) reckoned on a 1:35 - 1:36 which would put me mid-field.

So imagine my surprise when I dropped into Darryl's pit to be congratulated by the family Beckwith - eh? Colin thrust a time sheet in my hand and to my absolute shock I'd put in a 1:33.464 putting me in 7th OVERALL!!!! I was gobsmacked. Finally, after all our work, the car and me had put in a result worth talking about. I couldn't believe it, but after talking to James O'Donnel, he'd timed me with the same result (much to Dominic's disgust ;). Elated I legged it off to find the rest of the crew who were scoffing breakfast (no change there ;). Pats on the back all round I couldn't wait for the race. We're finally getting somewhere.

We had a decent interval with nothing to do other than to take the piss, I mean, chat with other racers ;) Oh, and watch a bit of racing for a change. Russels is a great place to watch with plenty of moments which served to show just how slippery it was out there. Some great saves and some not-so-great crashes were par for the course (especially in hot hatch). I was nervous as hell!

So after what seemed an eternity it was time for the race to start. Nothing to do on the car other than a spanner check and re-check the tyre pressures and suspension settings. Back to the assembly area, it made a nice change lining up near the front! I warmed the engine up and then killed it ready to go out on the grid. Once we were all out I just focused on getting a good start and holding position for the race. 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds and the 5 seconds board came out in usual rapid succession as I checked I was in gear and had the handbrake off for about the 57th time! Red light, green light GO! I made a decent start with a tiny bit of wheelspin. As I chirped the tyres into second Tim Gray started to pull past, I got the hammer down and with a bit of a better line I got position in front again. Before I knew it we were at Riches as 7 cars tried to find the same line through, Brett Townsend in car no. 41 got pushed wide of the line and the rear started to squirm, then it let go completely and he started to spin right in front of me. I immediately tried to tighten my line to miss him which put me onto the slippery stuff and the rear came round, we both caught the slide simultaneously and the rear ends flicked the other way. There was no catching it this time. I'd avoided Brett's car but was now facing the wrong way half way across the track with 26 cars hairing round the bend. The impact was inevitable - I just braced myself and hoped for the best :(

Sure enough, Rodney Goldersleeves smacked straight into me. The impact was almost square on the rear wheel, drivers side. The next thing I remember was seeing a car upside down (not mine) as I was flung onto the grass. Mayhem ensued and as the pack got round the corner 4 of use were left stranded.

I was absolutely GUTTED!

Oh, and wet! The impact had forced my extinguisher into the transmission tunnel and set it off so foam was now spraying round the cockpit. It was only a trickle however so it stopped before I became engulfed. Making sure I had the standard number of limbs intact I got out of the car to survey the damage and check myself over. Rodney's car had taken the brunt of the impact on his nosecone with his offside wheel making contact with my side, by my right thigh. I could have been a LOT worse, however, with side impact it could have been a damn sight better - damn, damn and damn. The car was driveable but had a front puncture and a bent steering rack. The ambulanceman asked if I was OK and fortunately I was. The neck brace had undoubtedly saved me from serious sideways whip-lash and I felt fine, if a little winded. One of the course Clerks asked me whether i wanted to make the restart but the puncture precluded this. Later on we found that the fuel tank had snapped off it's mounts and was punctured so I was also leaking fuel. Somewhere along the line my fuel cap had blown off too :(

So there you have it. My best qualifying result and my first big racing accident. We surveyed the damage back in the pits and the car faired pretty well with the strongest part taking the brunt of the impact. So it's off to Procomp to get it straightened out along with a full roll cage (as if I need convincing!). More money, more hassle, no result. I'm taking up course fishing instead!

Qualifying

Race