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Pembrey July 28/29th 2007
Drivers perspective report from: Andrew Smith. Andrew Smiths version
heavily biased to Class B but with Guest appearances by selected Class A Guys !! Pembrey proved to be a weekend of ups and downs for Team
Smith. This is probably my least
favourite circuit as it has a hairpin that seems to be designed to cause stupid
minor accidents and only one really exciting corner – Honda, the 4th
gear right-hander leading to the pit lane..
Being overtaken by Dave Lowe’s van on the M4 near Qualifying 1 and 2 I struggled for pace in both sessions, the car seemed to be sliding a lot with more oversteer than usual. An unusual type of traffic problem was in evidence – a couple of fast moving class A cars coming by only to either spin or go off immediately in front of me afterwards !! In session 1 having avoided one of these cars I noticed Dave Lowe’s’ Lotus 69 in the mirrors. I had not believed the note in the Croft report about him “losing his touch as he approached three score years and ten” etc etc and I was right not to as He was looking fast and smooth. For the second qualifying I took some rear roll stiffness off the car to try and make the back end grip more and stiffened the dampers as the car had felt “squidgy” I also took some very helpful advice from Paul Walton relating to the line through Dibeni and Paddock. The second session seemed generally slower for the cars at the front of the field and I only managed to roughly equal my 1st session time despite the fact that I felt I was driving better. Dave Lowe had the upper hand for sure – He was 7/10ths of a second up on me in session 1 and 8/10ths up in session 2... luckily the small entry meant I would still be near to him on the Grid. From a Class B perspective I should mention that the
improving Peter StBarbe also out qualified me in session 1 which I though was
impressive as He had not driven at Pembrey in a Formula Ford before. Right at
the start of the second session my car was struck hard from behind by Peters
Jamun as he had unfortunately missed his braking point. I escaped with some very
minor suspension damage which slightly affected the handling of the car (i.e.
very sideways through Honda a couple of times until I adjusted to the enforced new
settings !!) and a bent exhaust bracket.
Everyone makes mistakes on track so I was not bothered by the incident.
Fortunately Peter would make the race despite having flown off in the direction
of the Parachute Club (!) but he have to contend with a leaky radiator for the
rest of the weekend I finished the day concerned that I was trying very hard and yet was still off the Class B pace. Overnight my Dad John had a Brainwave “ we should go back to the settings we used at Snetterton and Silverstone” and this seemed to work well the next day – for a short while at least !! Race 1 The circuit was drying quickly but still quite damp. Remembering lessons from Croft I opted for a dry setup for this race despite the damp. I was told by my Dad in the collecting area that he thought Dave Lowe was probably using a wet setup as His Lotus seems to dislike the damp, this situation would lead to an “interesting last few laps” as the track got drier…. I managed to pass Dave and Alan Williamson in the RF81 at the start and for once we all seemed to clear Hatchetts hairpin without problem. I felt I could go slightly quicker than Alan and Dave initially but then an old problem occurred – i.e. watching the opposition (in this case Alan and Dave) too much in the mirrors and driving over cautiously and “tightening up” in the cockpit. This kept allowing them to close in, then I would have to drive a couple of quick corners to try and get away again only to then freeze up, get over cautious and let them close back in again…. This situation persisted until about lap 8/9 of 12 when I managed an idiotic spin at the 1st Gear Hatchetts Hairpin. As I sat in the car facing backwards (repeating a word that rhymes with Anchor several times in my Helmet !!) I watched Alan and Dave and Stephen Hagan (who appeared to be recovering from a spin of his own) slip past. A U-turn through a huge puddle revealed that the three of them were well ahead, however having done my best to throw away a class win I relaxed and chased after them as hard as possible, ignoring the damp patches and finding that in fact the car had more grip and speed than I had thought.. The watching Pit Crew (Dad and Jackie my Fiancée) had given up the thought that I could still beat Dave but there were two factors that I think helped me. My spin had allowed Dave Alan and Stephen to close up and I could see them dicing especially through the two hairpins which was slowing them all up and secondly as the track was now drying the setup on the Lotus would possibly work less well ???? Anyway on the last lap I caught Dave approaching Brooklands Hairpin with only Honda to go after that before the flag… There was contact at Brooklands Hairpin as I fought for position with Dave – No excuses here - it was all my fault – I was clumsy manoeuvring on the damp track and hit his back wheel with my front wheel and we both went sideways… We came out of the Hairpin nose to tail and accelerated towards Honda for the last time – I “felt” rather than saw Dave braking for the corner on the left hand side of the track taking the usual line and I decided to brake later, make a determined dive for the apex still touching the brakes. The plan was that my momentum would carry me past Dave safely even if I went wide and slow on the exit – the risk being that I might have to let the car run right across the grass and away from the track if the move failed… I did manage to take the Class win by a second. However for me the pleasure at winning the class on the last corner was tempered by the realisation that I had come close to damaging that fabulous Lotus 69 and depositing it in a remote welsh swamp…. I made very sure to immediately apologise to Dave when I got out of the car and resolved to drive a very clean race later that day… Hmmm!!!! Race 2 The second race was held in dry conditions. Making an
average start I slotted in behind Alan Williamson and Dave Lowe. I felt I could keep with them reasonably
easily and decided to try and gradually work my way right up towards them. However running close behind other cars has its risks as we all know. At the exit of Paddock bend a leading class A car spun spectacularly. This caused a chain reaction of cars braking and swerving and to cut a long story short I ran into the back of Alan’s RF81 at quite a speed… This incident damaged my nosecone and front RH suspension (I checked afterwards and believe there was no real damage to the RF81 Alan?) and I had to drive across the grass and park up. Luckily I found a spot that was protected so there was no need to stop the race… So as you can see – an eventful weekend – see you all at Brands Hatch hopefully…
Cobra Driver of the Day - .. | |
