November "Twin Trophy" Race Meet 2013

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Qualifying

Qualifying was a successful session for us. Track conditions were fast in the early morning. The air was still cool although an easterly wind reduced straight line speed on the run downhill into Colb. Our suspension setup was changed for the dry conditions, tyre pressures adjusted  and carby tuned for the lower air density and humidity. With the car and the borrowed engine working well, I headed out with the intention to do about 4 flying laps. My best lap was toward the end of the session and it was good enough for pole position by 1 tenth (1:13.8). This put us in a great position for race 1, starting on pole for 1200's with 1600's in front to lead me out.

Race 1

Race 1 was a very intense race. Starting on the right of the grid, a 1600 in front was slow off the line. I dropped into second at Turn1, but quickly recovered in Colb, regaining the lead. The battle continued fiercely until the safety car was deployed, brought out by a car stopped on the racing line in t1. At the restart I was in 2nd, and then the battle at the front continued until another accident with 2 1600's coming together in front of our battle. Dodging the wreck, I moved up into 1st with 2 laps to go. Clearing the track was not going to be easy so the checkered flag came out and a last corner move into t7 gave me 1st place and my first win from pole in Formula Vee.

Race 2

Race 2 was very different to race 1. It was the middle of the day and the sun was out and wind lighter. I began on pole, and had a good start ending lap 1 in the lead after a short dice with the car in 2nd. For the next few laps we were involved in a good dice with the lead changing constantly. However, with the track temperature increasing before the race to 46c, we had made changes to the car to try and manage tyre temperatures throughout the race. Towards the end of the race, I was experiencing changing grip levels and this caused a 'snap oversteer' moment and resulted in me running wide in t4 and losing about 5 seconds while recovering. This was a setback which meant I had a lot to do if i was going to improve on the 3rd place position. In the last 2 laps, I pulled back 4 seconds to gain on 2nd, but the flag came out signalling the end to our 8 laps and a result of 3rd place. A disappointment, but still in close contention for the overall win and we had learnt something about our tyres.

Race 3

Third place from Race 2 meant a start on the 2nd row for the 10 lap final. Another good start and I took the lead going into lap 2. Out came the safety car again with a stalled car on the main straight. It's recovery interrupted racing for 2 laps. After the restart it was a close battle for the lead with changes at the front each lap. On the 2nd to last lap, I suddenly experienced a drop in power and with rattles heard above the engine noise I backed off ready to nurse the car home. Sadly I managed less than a few hundred meters when with a bang I was sliding the car onto the grass on the start/finish straight with rear wheels locked and cloud of smoke obscuring the Last Lap board. A DNF and a seized engine ruined results on what was easily the most successful weekend so far. Many positives also came from the day and one was a stronger desire to get back out as soon as possible.

AIDAN READ