Dusting off the cobwebs

A drivers perspective from Jon Davis:

For me 2007 was a sabbatical year to concentrate on becoming a father and sadly loosing a mother.  With the tyres barely cold from a semi final run in the 2006 WHT the car, my Hawke DL11, was spread to the four winds for a ground up rebuild.  The engine disappeared 'oop north' for a belated Novice Champion rebuild with BBE, the chassis to a fixer up near Silverstone and the fibreglass to the local GRP chaps for a spruce up.  The rebuild was going swimmingly right up until the end of February last year when the little nipper arrived and life as a DINK'y ended overnight!  The rebuild ground to a halt and nappy changing became an unpleasant time consuming pastime!  Hours became days, days became months and nothing progressed (other than the return of the outsourced stuff mentioned above . . . the engine now an on song BBE FF1600 special, rather than the tone deaf JPD garage snotter).  Putting the car back together didn't really start 'till the dark evenings of January this year and finally finished last Thursday (20th March . . . 3 days from Qualifying at Thruxton).  The great plan to test before the big day fell to the wayside as the day I had planned to spend at Brands was block booked by some back street Formula Renault championship . . . ok so the car wasn't ready either.

So . . . Sunday morning arrives and fortunately I had pulled the car and trailer up the hill from the Garage the evening before as snow had settled overnight and I would never have managed to leave home had I left the trailer under cover at the bottom of the hill, which would have been a little frustrating.  We, including the nipper, arrived at 0845, yanked the wheels off the Hawke and delivered them straight over the the BMTR truck for new shoes.  Having initially worried that the BMTR guys would be inundated with requests and had imagined the car 'up on bricks' at the start of qualifying I was glad to have the old girl suited, booted and scruitineered by 1100 . . . two whole hours to spare.  By the time we were 'all' called to the collecting area, a noticeable no show from Dave 'Dark Lord' Lowe in the Lotus, the snow/hail/sleet/rain combination had finally passed and the track looked to be improving session by session such that there was no spray evident as the Historic F2 guys ran back up to the chicane.  I went for a softish option keeping the bars fitted but set long.  After a handful of where does it go, how fast can I go, where do I brake, yeah I'm a racing driver again laps I knuckled down switched off the bit of the brain that sees the obstacles in the periphery and hung on popping in a couple of 1,41's a 1,39 and a 1,40 before the chequered flag fluttered . . . the car felt pretty larey and I didn't feel as if the times were that good (not remembering what I had done in the wet in our 2005 visit to the Hampshire circuit) but the response I got from 'the boss' suggested otherwise and I had in fact held pole right up to the wire before Simon (or is it Keith) Davey toppling me with the very last roll of the dice.  The race for pole was as follows: Stuart Kestenbaum 1,46,4 lap 1, Simon Davey 1,45,6 Lap 1, Stuart Kestenbaum 1,44,6 Lap 2, Steve Pearce 1,43,1 Lap 3, Simon Davey 1,41,6 Lap 5, Simon Davey 1,41,1 Lap 6, Me 1,39,3 Lap 7 and finally 1,39,2 Lap 8 . . . a repeat of the 2005 front row.  I think that the only casualty of Qualifying was Paul Walton, down in 10th, with Clutch problems (which would be fixed, as you would expect, before we all set off on the green flag lap the following morning).  Special congratulations were due to Dave Malpas in 4th, another returnee to the championship after a year off, and James Gowens the leading Novice in 9th.  Congratulations to everyone for venturing out and keeping it out of the wall in such tricky conditions.  I think we had at least 7 different spinners in a field of 18 . . . it was good to see people finding the limits!

After a disturbed night in an hotel in Andover, the night disturbed by the young master Davis who woke on the hour every hour, we headed back to the circuit which was now, to my dismay, dry.  A quick spanner check, fuel top up and a switch to full dry settings (or what I remembered as full dry settings) left the car ready for action

and me pacing around wondering how I would cope with my first start in 16 months and only my second ever start from the front.  The call to the collecting area came at about 0930 with temperatures nudging a tropical 2 to 3 degrees . . . the Dark Lord had finally arrived, held up in Guernsey by the ferry, and would be starting from  the back, which would make for interesting viewing.  The out lap and green flag lap showed that there was considerably more grip that the previous day so my fear was that I would begin to head backwards as I hadn't managed to sort out the air deflector behind my front mounted radiator and so expected to act as a big hole in the air generator for all those behind me (as has become the norm for me at fast circuits like Thruxton and Snetterton).  Surprisingly this didn't happen for the first 4 laps and as the red lights went out, after a very small nibble at Simon into the first corner, I settled into second place watching Simon drive off into the distance at about a second a lap and, seeing nothing in the rear view mirror, I assumed I was doing the same to those behind . . . though with a car looking less well set up and definitely a little loose through the quick stuff.  Coming up the hill to the chicane on lap 5 a red nose began to appear in my right had mirror . . . I initially assumed it was Dave Malpas making progress in his slippery VD78 but the nose became wider and wider and the number 49 (backwards of course) unveiled itself . . . Noooooooooooooooooooooo not Mr. Smith in the VD73 last years Class B champ . . . oh yes!  Before I had the chance to drift across to the right to cut off his progress he was through and I was MORTIFIED, where had he come from having started 7th on the grid.  This was NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.  Going into lap 6 I latched onto Andy's rear and shot back past on the run into the complex somehow holding onto 2nd all the way back up the hill and onto lap 7.  My problem seemed to be stability through the two quick corners of Church and Village which scrubbed off speed and left me open to attack on the way up to the chicane, I seemed strong everywhere else, and this weakness proved to be the case on lap 7 when both Andy and Paul Walton (up from 10th) breezed past to be followed on lap 8 by Dave Malpas . . . this was turning into a disaster a comfortable 2nd becoming an uncomfortable 5th.  My salvation came on lap 9  as we came up to lap Ian Millan (I think).  Paul was past Ian before Turn 1 and I was far enough back not to be baulked mid corner . . . both Andy and Dave however had to lift and my chance to pounce presented itself, Andy and Dave stayed well to the right on the exit of Turn 1 whilst Ian drifted out to the left . . . this left a Hawke FF1600 sized gap into which a Hawke sized FF1600 had to be placed.  The temptation to wave to Andy as I swooped past was great . . . but with a lap and an half still to go maybe a little premature, two more runs up the hill to the chicane to survive!  The lap 9 run up the hill was helped ever so slightly by a tow from Paul, still in second, and so onto the last lap the placings were Simon (way off in the distance) Paul, Me, Andy and Dave covered by just over a second.  There was one last twist in the race for second and that was a Davis lunge down the inside into the complex to pass Paul.  I think Paul was more interested in keeping ahead of Class A rival Dave that taking 2nd overall which meant that he did not squeeze me through the complex nor tow past me on the way up the hill for the last time risking a coming together into the chicane.  This of course worked in my favour as it stuck Paul between me and Andy and ultimately stopped Andy from mounting a last corner assault . . . phew.  After a manic 6 laps the race for second had ended as Me, Paul, Andy and Dave covered by 0.9 of a second Dave only 0.002 behind Andy at the line, about 9cm or 3 1/2 inches (who's got their transponder where then?!)

The race for 2nd was not the only battle through the field . . . the Steve Pearse, Stuart Kestenbaum, battle raged throughout with positions changing frequently at the line, as I am sure elsewhere around the track, Stuart came out on top.  Alan Fairbrother and Jon Hesp were never much more that 0.5 apart an 11th and 12th, John Hesp receiving the virtual Cobra Beer for "Driver of the Day", as were Philip Norris and Peter St. Barbe in 13th and 14th.  Dave Low, as expected made good progress through the field from 19th to 10th.  All the novices showed well with James Gowens taking the pot and maximum points with a 9th overall.  The only casualty of the day, that I am aware of, was Dave Penlington who retired to the pit lane in a shower of sparks at the end of lap two . . . he was called to the clark of the course to collect one of his suspension springs after the race it having been collected and returned by one of the very diligent Thruxton marshals, I'm sure he will have a story to tell!

For me I couldn't really have wished for a better start to the season . . . though Andy did get the extra point for fastest Class B lap.  I was amazed how quickly it all came back to me.  I am looking forward to a week of lazing around now before getting back to it to prepare for the Pembrey double header.  A massive thanks must go out to everyone who has helped me turn the car from the tired old lady that was rolled onto the trailer at the WHT at the end of 2006 to the young sprightly slip of a thing that she is now!

Plus my driver's profile.

Jon Davis