AIDAN READ

Latest Race Weekend 23-25/8/13

Friday 

Friday practice was a strange day of unexpected events. I was heading into the day confident for a dry race meeting on Sunday. All throughout the day  our pace was good. I was on par with my best practice times from the start. Setup changes had our car working like a dream and my confidence was boosted for strong results going into the Sunday race meeting. Things were looking good until late in the afternoon, when on one of my last runs, I noticed a rattle in the engine that we couldn't replicate in the pits, another run a few minutes later and the rattle continued, seeming stronger, so I terminated the run after 1 cautious lap. After further inspection back in the garage, copper shavings were noticed in the oil under the rocker covers. Situation terminal! I was set to be out the race on Sunday with suspected damage to the "bottom end" of the engine.

Saturday

Saturday was a fortunate day for us. After the engine failure seemingly putting us out of the weekend, a fellow competitor's spare engine was offered to put us on track for Sunday. 5 hours later and with the help of fellow Formula Vee members, we had the donor engine in and were back and able to contend at Sunday's meeting. It took time to get the engine running cleanly, but it enabled me to race, and I was very grateful for the opportunity.

Sunday

Sunday was a mix of treacherous conditions and perfect conditions. Qualifying was a difficult session in terms of running with the new engine/carburettor combination. We were not at optimal performance, but engine worked fine and I managed a time that put me 4th in class for race 1. 

Race 1 was a wet race, mixing things up from a dry qualifying, our best bet was to adjust the car's setup according to our judgment, this payed off greatly and saw me catch and battle with 2nd place in 1200s. After conditions worsened during the race, I was involved in an un-avoidable collision from behind due to treacherous conditions which put me into the turn 7 sand-trap and out of the race. No damage, but I was to now start at the rear of the field for race 2 (p14).

Race 2 turned out to be bone dry, and so suspension settings were altered back to our original dry settings. Rear of field due to the previous race DNF was a major disadvantage and left me with plenty of work to do. In the first lap I managed to make up 5 places to take 6th, and took a further 2 places in lap 2 . A great start had me back again with main competitors and finished the race 4th after the 8 lap event. That set me up well for the 10 lap final. 

the track conditions for our final race were easily the most treacherous conditions I had driven in to date. With heavy, persistent rain and a slippery track, conditions were not ideal for anything with wheels (better for white-water rafting). I started in 4th place and held this position for a few laps, in a close battle with 3rd and 5th. I held 4th until the last lap where I made a move for 3rd place on the back straight. Heading to the last corner side by side with 3rd place until the exit, where unfortunately too much speed and curb meant sideways action was inevitable. I recovered to finish 5th place.

All around this weekend was a mixture of ups and downs. Many thanks to those who put loads of effort in to get the engine swapped and ready for Sunday. After our engine gets the needed overhaul, I will be back for the next FVee race round on November 2nd, with hopefully dry conditions and sights set on a podium finish.

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