Brands Hatch

August 26th / 27th 2007

“Yer man – he’s making it look easy”

Reporter: Anthony Wills 

The talk before qualifying was mainly about the weather and the cost of motor racing. The weather was certainly a surprise, a little cloudy but no hint of rain. As was commented on by the Farrell connections, the female ones that is, the only bad thing about the weather was the sight of some of the ghastly male legs on display. Harsh but, unfortunately all too true. As for the costs this was a double header at one of the world’s most famous racing circuits, or at least some of it, with two very demanding corners. Paddock Hill gets a mention because of its impact on the spectators during qualifying and the race, and simply because it is a daunting corner, difficult to get right (or even the same) every lap. Surtees through McLaren and onto Clearways also challenges and unless you drive this immaculately and the driver in front of you doesn’t, overtaking at Brands is awfully difficult unless you are a Barging, sorry Touring Car. So is £350 expensive for two races when one at Snetterton or Mallory costs £185?

Probably, yes, but unless someone can come up with a plan that either subsidises entry fees or a dedicated workaholic starts their own championship and book races during other meetings it is probably best to work out whether Surtees is flat or not and stop counting the shekels.

Qualifying 1

There were some dramas from testing the day before (and that is another expensive business). Rory Farrell had destroyed his camshaft in his Crossle 45F so was in his spare 30F. He had managed a 52.5 during testing which became the benchmark. Oliver Robinson, who has yet to officially join the club, buzzed his engine and had to replace two valves overnight whilst Matt Taylerson in the Hawke DL11 had a wheel come loose causing some interest at the tiller.

The tale of qualifying was much as we have come to expect with Rory fastest and the next 5 cars within 0.5 of a second. To be frank Rory looked very smooth whereas Simon Davey tended to the more ostentatious, particularly at Paddock. His speed through this bend and his car control were both impressive and if sheer will had any effect on the timekeepers he would have dragged his FR81 on to pole position. As it was he was 0.17 behind Rory. A slight buzz of the engine (7500 revs) caused him to check his compression after the session but no damage had been caused. Ollie Robinson was next, always looking quick with Stuart Kestenbaum next up.

Then came the Walton’s show. I am not sure this is true for drivers, but qualifying for spectators can be a little tedious and difficult to follow but Joe Walton put on a display which gladdened the heart. His varying lines into Paddock were interesting but his courage in defining the expression ‘late braking’ was a real pleasure. Twice he locked his wheels up at the latest place possible to make it round the corner – and then only just. On one occasion it looked as though Joe was heading for the gravel but he just teetered around the edge of the track. Possibly not the fastest but they use to say Senna drove like that to find out the limits. (Senna and Joe in the same sentence – too much hyperbole here perhaps.) In any event he came in 5^th and smiling.

Paul was 6^th and a little disappointed after some time spent testing the previous day. Here is a man who defines smooth (driving the car, not necessarily sartorially) but he gave those watching at Paddock the greatest excitement of the day when trying to get past a very effective Dave Lowe. It was difficult to tell exactly why, although Dave may have braked later than Paul expected and Paul may have thought he was going to pass more easily but he left his braking magnificently late. The audience all breathed in as he shot past Dave on the inside heading for the paddock (not the corner but the parking area) gathered it all together and drive serenely on. And managed to still his beating heart sufficiently to capture 6th place on the grid and laugh about it afterwards.

Dave Lowe, first of the Class Bs, looked as fast as he has for some time and was able to outpace the Class B championship leader, Andrew Smith, by over 0.5 of a second. He was disappointed his car was still running hot after investment in a new radiator but happy with his times. Andrew Smith took a similarly sanguine approach to 8^th and knows that if he keeps Dave in sight the Class B championship will be his.

Andy Powell generally finds the time to do Brands, being a local boy, but was struggling to convert himself back from a run around in an FF2000 and could only make 9^th. Phil Norris, who had been spending an unhealthy amount of time working on his car, cylinder head in particular, was next, talking mainly about Matt Johnson (see below), and he was followed by Steve Pearce with water still exiting his chassis after a particularly wet weekend recently. Matt Taylerson was a little unsure of his set up after accident damage previously and new pick up points for the front suspension. Michael Burdon echoed the Paddock Hill mantra of “that is a difficult corner” and added Clearways to the list. Some problem with his clutch was also causing a little concern.

And then came Matt Johnson. He had missed Pembrey to get some testing in but was here in his RF80 with his enthusiasm undimmed. His moment came about halfway through qualifying when he kissed the apex at Paddock but then spun rather luridly just off on to the infield but returned to come to a halt facing the right way, pointing up the hill but slap bang on the racing line. Puffs of smoke from the car indicated the engine was running but the only movement was backwards! Rory Farrell said he had slowed a bit for the yellow flags but really did not expect to see a car reversing towards him at that point. What had apparently happened was that the car had stuck in 4^th and pulling away on a hill in that gear is simply impossible. A stalled engine resulted but eventually he got way with no disasters – and finished 14^th fastest.

John Hesp was next with his best session for ages. He has finally renovated his gear change mechanism, from lever to dog rings and was clearly able to throw the car around with more confidence. Jeff Palmer was next with a depressed Jon Nash only able to do two laps because of a leaking core plug – luckily discovered because of the red flag incident. This had been caused by Rod Stead who had apparently outbraked himself into Druids, lightly caressed Matt Johnson’s front wheel and beached himself in the gravel. No damage except possibly to pride.

Andrew Bartosiak thought he had cured his fuel feed problems with a new pump and was 19^th and then Michael Valentine (brake pad knock off), Tony Folkes (20kg overweight – the car not him) and Michael Saunders (running in new engine) made up the rear, albeit slowly.

Race 1

As the grid formed the commentator referred to both Simon Davey and Stuart Kestenbaum as the Peter Pans of Formula Ford. Whilst one would not want to argue with the esteemed commentator at Brands who seems to have been there since Nuvolari was a boy, the general literary opinion is that Peter Pan was fresh-faced, cheerful and awfully nice. Not sure the comparison quite works.

Anyway a good start from Rory saw him get into a lead which was nearly 4 seconds at the end of the 7 lap race. 7 laps for Rory, 6 for everyone else and simply not enough for the drivers who had paid out £175 for the Sunday race – but more of that later. So Rory won in fine style and could tie up the Championship during the Monday race. Next was a fantastic dice, especially between Simon and Ollie, but with Stuart Kestenbaum adding some excitement by trying outside lines at Paddock, although to no avail. As has been mentioned above overtaking here depends on a very good lap, courage and some kind of mistake by the person in front. Simon is much, much too wily to allow this to happen and he refused to give quarter using all his skills (and the tarmac), particularly into Paddock to keep Ollie in 3^rd. In what turned out to be a rather despairing move Ollie went for the inside line into Clearways but the corner bit back and he spun, causing palpitations to the following group but with no damage.

The next 5 cars, Kestenbaum, Walton Snr, Walton Jnr, Lowe and Smith retained their positions until the end of the race but these words do not really do justice to the effort expended. As keen Freudians will have noticed the dice between the Waltons, pere et fils, looked interesting and both seemed to give each other respect. What was going on inside their heads one can only imagine. Joe did get second fastest lap after Rory and was pleased with that element of the day. Lowe was able to keep a safe gap to Smith although Andy, rather ecstatically, claimed the fastest lap meaning his Class B ambitions remain undimmed.

Ollie Robinson came in 8^th with Jon Nash up from an over-heated 17^th on the grid to a fine 9^th – with possibly more to come if the race had lasted longer than a blink of an eye. Steve Pearce, not looking quite as good here as at other races was 10^th followed by Matt Taylerson who is gradually developing his confidence. Phil Norris was 11^th and pleased to have overtaken a couple, especially one who may not have seen him coming in the mirrors, his RP 26 having to do a little grass cutting. Andy Powell was next after a spin and he was followed by Matt Johnson who won the novice award.

This of course was where the shortened race happened. Michael Burdon was in front of Matt Johnson on the grid and was hoping to wrest the novice win for the day. Unfortunately he lost 3^rd gear and was struggling. When he made a mistake at Paddock which resulted in much sideways motion, kerb bashing, sparks from underneath car, Matt was able to get the inside line into Druids. What happened next is unclear (apart from one witness who refused to give Queen’s evidence and was wearing a cowboy hat) but certainly Matt’s front wheel came into contact with Michael’s rear. Michael then did one full barrel roll, with eyes closed, and landed in the gravel, upright but causing the race to be stopped. The two protagonists disappointed many onlookers by being very mature about the incident afterwards and actually shaking hands.

The jury decided it was a “racing incident”, no penalties and tough luck for Michael who was cheesed of he had brought two radius arms and bent three. Bernard Baxter, Championship sponsor and all round good bloke, was unable to ignore a stricken car and was well on the way to a repair before the car had cooled down.

Of the remaining racers John Hesp won the Cobra beer Driver of the Day award for finally feeling able to properly race and being able to find 3rd gear.  Of the others it was another race completed with no damage and a little more experience. Andrew Bartosiak suffered more problems with his fuel feed but that seems to be standard for his season. It seems the fuel tank is going to have to be disembowelled to get to the bottom of his troubles.

Finally a word about rules versus reason. It was right to stop the race with the beached car where it was. The rules do say that after half the race the result must be declared.

But nowhere does it say that the organisers cannot use common sense. The car was removed within minutes, there were no injuries, it had been a great race and all they had to do was line them up on the grid and start again. The meeting schedule was ahead of time and the spectators love a good FF dice. The racers deserved their money’s worth as do the spectators.

So why did rules win and not reason?

Could it be that those given power become, probably unwittingly, deaf to the pleas of the common man, that is, if given responsibility they assume that such responsibility also bestows greater wisdom?

JUNIORS LEAD THE WAY

Race 2 report

Reporter: Andy Hodson

With total track time of a mighty 21 minutes so far this weekend, people were hoping that Bank Holiday Monday would be pay-back time. As it turned out, the racing was as good as it gets in Classic FF. There were even mutterings in the paddock afterwards that it was the best race ever witnessed. Certainly on a par with last season’s Brands race that’s for sure. And club correspondent Mr Wills decided to spend the day in the garden back home….the wrong decision Anthony !

Today was the day when the inevitable finally came to pass – Rory Farrell Junior won the 2007 Class A Championship. It had been on the cards all season, indeed Rory was one of the pre-season favourites following his impressive performances on his rare outings last season. He had to fight for it on occasion (and today was certainly no exception), but it was always a question of when, not if.

Qualifying 2 :

No stoppages meant a full 15 minutes, with most drivers managing 17 laps. Track conditions were similar to Sunday, and many beat their Sunday qualifying by virtue of the additional lappery.

By flag fall, Rory headed the timesheet for the eighth time this season, despite only running 9 timed laps. A happy Paul Walton returned to the front row, a position he’s rarely occupied this year. Ollie was next up, then Joe, who knocked a third of a second off from the day before. Row 3 saw Stuart, the only other man in the 52s, with Simon alongside, following an abbreviated session following contact with Michael Saunders approaching Paddock, which broke both cars’ suspension.  Dave took the Class B pole, another to find three tenths. Steve Pearce found a lot more (a whole second) to be Joint Best Improver. The two Andys occupied the fifth row, Mr Powell continuing to struggle a bit on old tyres, and Mr Smith also improving a tad.

Matt Taylerson was the other driver to find a second, as prophesied the previous evening by Andrew Smith, with a time barely 2 hundredths shy of the Class B leader, much to his alarm ! A change of ratios was at least part of the reason. Next up was – blimey – Rod Stead, who had blown away Messrs Pearce and Taylerson in finding a whopping 3 seconds ! How the hell had he done that we wondered…all would be revealed in the paddock when it transpired that Rod was now on his way to Australia, his place in the blue and white Royale being taken by a bloke by the name of Graham Hill…Presumably because BARC’s computer system cannot deal with two drivers racing in the same car, Graham had to be content with being called Rod Stead for the day. Well at least it avoided him being the butt of Brian Jones’ sense of humour… Graham had never driven a FF1600 before, so his effort today was impressive.

Next up was a calm and collected Jon Nash, who surprised Bernard by bringing the RF80 back in without any dramas. Phil Norris joined him on row seven. Matthew Johnson just pipped Michael Burdon to the Novice pole, despite a couple of spins to keep his record intact. Michael later identified that he had been running round with the wrong third gear in the box…not just the wrong ratio you understand, but an LD gear. The result was no third at all. Replaced with a Mk 9 version, it would prove somewhat more useful come the race…John Hesp and Jeff occupied row nine, with Michael Valentine and OAP Tony behind. The luckless Michael Saunders was out early with suspension damage following the coming-together with Simon, and Andrew Bartosiak brought up the rear with but a single lap to his name, the fuel starvation problems of the previous day returning.

Race 2 :

With the afternoon’s racing starting 20 minutes earlier than planned, we managed to get a couple of extra laps added on to the race distance, to make it 16. Better than nothing I guess, although running round the paddock trying to get 22 signatures to agree it was a lot of effort for an additional 110 seconds of racing…

At the lights, everyone made a clean getaway, with Rory leading from Paul. Ollie made a dreadful start, coming round at the end of the opening lap in 6^th. Joe was 3^rd, then Stuart and Simon. Joe took the lead from Rory on lap 3 on the Cooper Straight, having passed his dad on the previous lap. Joe and Rory then pulled out a gap to a tremendous squabble for third comprising Paul, Stuart, Simon and Ollie, which lasted the entire race. Joe managed to hold off Rory until lap 10. Rory retook the lead again for 4 further laps, only to run wide at Clearways on lap 14, allowing Joe to retake the lead going into the penultimate lap. He resisted the pressure all the way round until the last corner of the last lap, where he too ran wide at Clearways. Rory saw his opportunity, and it was side by side all the way to the flag, Rory taking the win by just two hundredths. Joe was annoyed with himself for throwing away his first race win, but his performance today just shows how strong his race craft has developed as the season has progressed, and he should be justly proud of his effort. That first win cannot be far away.

So Rory took win number 9 to wrap up the Class A Championship with 2 rounds remaining – on behalf of everyone in the club, many congratulations. Its been a busy year for the Farrell family, crossing the Irish Sea for each race, as well as various mid week test sessions on unfamiliar tracks. Rory can now afford to miss Snetterton to participate in the Leinster Trophy meeting at Mondello, but will be back for the curtain closer at Combe. And then its Europe for 2008…or can we tempt him back for a few over here ?

The four car train battling for third saw Stuart lead for the majority, only to make a slight mistake on the penultimate lap to allow Ollie to sneak through and claim the final podium place. Paul fell to the back of the train initially, but re-passed Simon on lap 6, only to succumb to Ollie in the closing stages. The four drivers were separated by a mere 1.8 seconds at the end, again demonstrating how competitive the racing is up front. Well played to them all on such a close but clean battle.

Dave took the Class B victory, passing Steve on lap 10. He scored heavily this weekend, sufficient to ensure the Class B title remains unresolved. His return to winning form won him the coveted Cobra Beer Driver of the Day. 

Jon Nash had a good race, from 13^th on the grid to eighth, picking off Matt Taylerson on lap 3, Graham Hill on lap 5, Andy Powell on lap 6, Steve on lap 11, and finally Andrew Smith on lap 12. Bernard was completely bemused in the paddock afterwards, facing the prospect of not having to repair the RF80 for once ! Seriously, Jon did his reputation a world of good this weekend with two clean and competitive races. Nice one.

Steve ran in 7^th in the early stages only to lose two places at Druids on lap 11, and was then further delayed when Andrew Smith dropped it at Clearways.

Graham Hill ran well in the midfield, with some consistent lappery to take 10^th overall, inheriting a position when Andrew dropped off. He blotted his copybook only slightly, when he nudged Andy Powell into a spin at Clearways on lap 10, losing his nosecone. Hopefully he enjoyed the experience of a Formula Ford enough to have another go.

Matt Taylerson took advantage of four working ratios in his gearbox to take second in Class B, and will use his CFFR race entry cheque to go testing, to try to find that missing second. If we don’t see you out again this season, we hope to see you back next year Matt.

Michael Burdon took the novice win and a respectable 12^th overall in the rebuilt PRS, following his flip on Sunday (which kept Bernard away from the bar). Wisely he has (or should I say had) a decent spares package with him. The win keeps him in the hunt in the novice battle with Matthew, so it’s certainly not over yet.

Andrew Smith was running behind Dave for the first half of the race but slid off at Clearways on lap 13, dropping him from 9^th to 13^th. With a third place today, the points lead back to Dave has narrowed to 17 points, so Dave still has a mathematical chance, although it’s looking unlikely. The Championship beckons for Mr Smith.

Starting at the back for reasons unknown, Phil Norris moved swiftly up the order to 15^th, where his progression petered out, although he did pick up a place in the dying laps from Andy Powell.

Andy started 10^th but battled an ill-handling pink panther with old tyres, and dropped three places when he was nudged into that spin on lap 10. He has a busy few weeks ahead as he will be out with both the Royale and the ex Scott Temple FF2000 at Snetterton and Combe, which will be interesting to see. 

Matthew Spinner Johnson had a relatively uneventful race to 16^th, losing a place to John Hesp during his 5^th lap spin, only to retake the position on the penultimate lap. John took 17^th, with Jeff Palmer next. Jeff lost two places off the line, but managed to retrieve them by mid distance. He was slower than on Sunday, with ever worsening gear selection problems.

Tony and Michael Saunders rounded out the finishers, Michael just relieved to have finished. Perhaps a bit of testing would be useful Michael, in an effort to find a few precious seconds, and gain some more confidence

Michael Valentine dropped out on lap 12, but the most spectacular DNF was reserved for Andrew Bartosiak. Having suffered from fuel starvation problems all weekend, he managed 3 laps before the car caught fire ! Time for a complete strip-down methinks, and a new fuel tank (at the very least).

And so to Snetterton in 4 weeks. As has become the custom now, we will hold our AGM at the circuit on the Saturday evening, followed by the final barby of the year – details will follow soon.

ADH