Bedford Autodrome Race Report, 17th September 2006
Firstly, an apology, about ½ way through the race one of our new TSR-1 drivers took an uncompromising line around the top bend, seemingly ignoring car#34, (Top Cat) that was on his inside. However, he misjudged his line and collided with #34, causing substantial damage to both cars. I was sitting watching this and there was no doubt that it was our drivers fault. On questioning him he claimed that he ‘Did not see it’. Sorry, not good enough, he is off the team for good. TSR-1 has raced since 2002 without a single collision, testing and training 10’s of drivers in that time. It will not be in the final – I hope Top Cat make it to Dunsfold and can qualify.As usual it was a 6 am departure time from Trinity, having loaded up the previous evening with everything we needed. Unfortunately the ‘Highways Agency’ (I use the term loosely) had decided to close the M25 clockwise from J8-10 so we had to take a ½ hour diversion via the A roads, meaning we finally got to Bedford at 09:00. My well-practiced team then went into overdrive and actually got both cars ready for the practice session, although the electronics decided to stop playing at that point so other than a suspect pair of TSR-2 practice laps, which pretty much confirmed our race strategy, we were ‘gadget less’ for the race, except the comms which were 100%. Meanwhile, 3 new drivers were feeling their way around the circuit in TSR-1. Despite our best screening efforts, one decided to do a ‘yuey’ ON THE TRACK and proceeded to drive up the pit lane the wrong way!! This is despite being given an A4 aerial photo of the track, labelled as required. Where has all the talent gone??
So the race started and within minutes our driver in TSR-2 reported that the clutch was slipping on the uphill sections (checked the day before, it was fine….) so after waiting to see if a bit of heat would lock it up (it didn’t) we pitted for a quick adjustment and back out we went in about 8th place. A new car, #3 was clearly the one to beat and what a speedy little thing it was, an excellent take on the ‘bubbles’ and to be honest it looked smaller than any of the current crop of ‘all-enclosed’ cars. It was turning in 1:10’s whilst we were running around the 1:16s. With the race and weather unfolding nicely I took the time to wander up to bend 1 and watch the cornering action as drivers fought cars and each other around what must be the most evil bend in the southern series circuits. Unfortunately our usually reliable G sensor (which had been tested around the school the week before) failed to deliver but you could see our and others drivers hanging on for dear life. Interesting to note that even some of our more experienced drivers were taking less than kind lines and mindful of excess tyre wear they were verbally corrected over the radio, helped by another 5 team members all passing their Foundation license course the day before!
Things did not progress quite as planned, one of our ‘upgrade’ drivers was slotted into TSR-2 and promptly took the worst line I have ever seen! TSR-2 slid in protest but at least the driver held it with a touch of opposite. Then his lap times dropped to pretty much TSR-1’s 1:30, so he got shifted out as soon as his 20 minutes were up. Our other young hopeful who has done so well this year both in F-24 and the Shell Eco-Marathon, felt ‘sick’ after a short time and although delivering crisp laps had to be replaced ahead of schedule. It was left to a couple of stalwarts to fill the register and race the 6 hours. Around the 12:15 mark #3 had blow out on the top bend and that took us up a few laps into second place. Around 4 hours in #3 started to slow and it was clear they were now in ‘dying battery’ mode, (been there and done that, although not recently) and the writing was on the wall. We took first place around the 5 hour mark and then slowly pulled away. In the dying minutes the team manager issued a ‘go for it’ lap which was aimed at the fastest lap, but we could only manage a 1:15 as the batteries were beginning to groan. I missed the chequered flag on video which was a shame as it was one of Barry’s better ones, and our best this year, our first ‘First’.
RGE
