Controlled Agrression Or Just Rough Driving?

So, the double header went ahead as planned as alternate fuel supplies were found. My feelings after the day are still a bit mixed so I'll try not to say anything I'll regret.

Round 3 was held prior to the lunchbreak with Gordon at the wheel for the first time in 8 months. He was a bit nervous about going straight into the races but given the relative lack of funding all three of us have, he couldn't test on Saturday (which I did with nothing spectacular to report - still off the pace I'd gotten up to last year which is a worry.) He got up to a pretty good speed in the warmup though so started in the grid, running pretty well in the first round and avoiding a big accident that happened right in front of him towards Clark, that said however myself and Rory's worst fears were realised when he vanished from the field with a couple of laps to go, eventually showing up on the back of a towrope in the paddock. A broken oil cooler was the issue and it was quickly replaced in time for him to get out again for the next two races which he got through both of with no further issues, setting a very impressive laptime in the final.

During the lunchbreak I was a little tense about running in the three afternoon races that made up Round 4 as Rory and myself had been really surprised at all the rough driving that was going on all down the field - quite apart from the two largish accidents that happened in the morning (Colin Atkinson needing a little medical attention after an airborne moment which ended his day completely and trust me, could have been much worse as it happened right in front of us and was close to being much bigger) there had been a huge number of aggressive moments with a lot of take and not a lot of give.

Still, drew 5th for the first heat and got underway, trying as hard as I could not to get swamped by the field. It was going quite well until I screwed up my braking for the hairpin and went deep into the corner, holding the outside lane so that I wouldn't get in the way. Right. Next thing I know impacts are coming and Alex Knight's car jumps over my front-right, tearing off the fender. The upshot was that I was left sitting in the gravel but after a push from the marshalls I meandered back to the paddock, the steering feeling to me like it was way off - turns out it wasn't - just dust, gravel and my inexperience making me think it was. I'll have to wait for the TV coverage to find out what actually happened there as I heard three different versions from three different people (one of which was very unflattering to one of the cars which hit me) but I really can't comment on it until I find out. Pic by Linz Gordon follows:



The second race was quieter as I was starting at the back but I made a terrible start and fell right to the back but managed to repass Ericco Palazzo into MacIntyres. After that I just had to watch in amazement as broken down and crashed cars proceeded to litter the track, only 15 cars actually finished in the end so I picked up my best result so far of 14th.

The final had me start third and given that this was my last race for the next 3 months or so I decided to try going for it. Nice idea I suppose! Got a decent start and managed to grab the racing line and only lost a couple of spots on the first lap. Then on the run up to Clark on the second lap whilst side by side with Rich Crozier, Chris Hynds lost a fender ahead of us. It landed on the road ahead of Rich and he jinked left to avoid it, clipping me and sending me off into the gravel. Got a push out by the ever-excellent marshalls and (in a bit of a raised state of adrenaline) pounded round in what had become something of an extended test session. One moment of note when the leaders lapped me was when John Marshall passed me at Clark only to go straight on and rejoin right ahead, but we got away with it.

Was pretty annoyed with Rich over the incident and made the mistake of not cooling off a bit before speaking to him afterwards and feel a bit of an idiot for shouting at him which hardly helped the situation. Sorted it out between us afterwards though and thankfully the car was fine, though it ended the day looking a bit battle worn.

There's been a lot of dicussion about the aggressive driving and the gulf in driving ability between those at the front and those of us towards the back among the drivers recently as the legends is really becoming a pro-am series these days. There are some extremely quick drivers and those who've come up from karts and may be eyeing futures in motorsport at the front and plenty of novices and those of us who are just out for some fun at the back and the way we all get mixed together in the big grid that currently exists is leading to occasional problems. Guess we'll see where that goes.

As for me, I get a big break until the August 3rd meeting until I'll be racing again, though I might get a go in the Saturday tests if Rory and Gordon don't do them just to keep myself in practice - and I need all I can get.

Results from April 28th meeting. Why I'm called Matthew by SMART Timing this time out, I'll never know!

Double Header?

The question mark is over all this stupid fuel-shortage stuff which wouldn't be a problem if unions didn't insist on the impossible almost constantly and the public didn't all flock like sheep to the petrol stations and swallow up all the supplies even before the strike begins!

Anyway, assuming Aly can source the required juice as Knockhill have said they wont supply him as normal for this weekend, the plan for this event had been for me to test on Saturday, Gordon to do the Sunday warmup and then the three races for Round three in the morning and finally me driving in the three races of Round Four in the afternoon.

Fingers crossed!

Long Weekend

Showed up on Friday to get re-aquainted with the car and did so, thought I was getting back into the way of things.

Saturday kind of showed me that wasn't - in the morning warmup I had trouble stringing coherent laps together but I was still feeling rusty so expected it. We were the last race of the day after the first British GT race of the weekend and I had drawn at the back and got a little left behind. Found myself fighting with Mervyn Wilson and Kenny Thompson (both newcomers this year) but was starting to wonder how long we had been going - I was sure we'd done 8 laps. With cars starting to litter the side of the road I was sure something was up and with my mind wandering slightly and (as it turned out) my brakes overheating, I had a massive spin down Duffus Dip. Got going again just as the top five or so lapped me and toured it back in for the last few laps, sure that the race had been a lot longer than it should have.



Turns out there was a misunderstanding with BRSCC who run the British GT Championship and therefore this meeting somehow getting the impression we ran 15 minute races. As this became 15 laps, a couple of cars had run out of fuel along with others suffering overheated brakes and tyres and possibly even engines. This led to Tony Caig (who led at 8 laps when a standard legends race would have ended) losing everything when his engine blew. A vote was put to the drivers afterwards and the preffered (but by no means unanimous) decision was to go for a result after 8 laps. It obviously made no real difference to me in terms of results so I just voted for what I thought made most sense - i.e an 8 lap result given that the last 5 laps had just been a comedy of errors as we all fell off all over the track. Obviously the top five finishers after 15 laps weren't happy with this idea and you can understand why.

In the event on Sunday morning the BRSCC decided that a 15 lap result would stand with regard to working out the grid for the final. Whether the result will stand for the SMRC Championship points, I don't know. Anyway, the second race was the first of the day and thankfully it was dry. I'd originally meant to be starting second but this became pole when Scott Hynds couldn't get started in the pitlane alongside me. I got an average start and this meant the quick guys mugged me pretty quickly and before I knew what was happening I was in the midfield. There was a lot of hard driving going on with a lot of wheel-banging and I was "moved" out of the way once or twice. Still, the race went well and I finished right with Murray Ford and Jason Ogg who had suffered a couple of offs.

The final was also thankfully dry and I was second again but things went much the same way as before and a pretty poor start meant I got pushed wide at the top of the hill and got a bit freight-trained. Had a few fights as I went backwards but was soon at the back again. Tried to follow Aly Hunter and Kenny Thompson but they dropped me in the last couple of laps. Finished 22nd of 24 finishers. Best lap of the weekend was a 65.1 so about half a second slower than at the end of last year which is a bit dissappointing but then it has been six months. Hoping for better things in two weeks when I'm driving in the second round of the double header.

Results can be found here.

Ups, Downs and All Sorts.

Almost impossible to believe it's a year since the start of last season but my debut year has been and gone and year 2 started at the weekend. As practice on Saturday got underway and I stood beside Lance Gauld and Rob Johnston (Radio Knockhill commentator), I commented as Rory went by on his first lap out of the pits in our car that I was going to feel uneasy watching someone else racing it. Sure enough, 15 seconds later the red flags came out and Rory didn't come back round... turned out he'd hit the tyre wall on the outside of Scotsman chicane and been pitched head on into the perimeter tyrewall. The car came back on the flatbed looking a bit crumpled at the front but thankfully a few cosmetic repairs and a new left-side steering arm and the car was ready for the second session in which Rory was able to go 6th quickest.

Here's Rory and his trophy for the day: the bent steering arm.



Sunday morning was wet and cold, but started really well. After being 6th in the morning warmup, Rory had a good first race. He was challenging for a podium finish when another driver put himself and our car off the road but Rory still recovered for fifth place at the end. The second race saw Rory with podium-pace again but David Thorburn spun directly in front of him and the avoiding action put him to the back. He still managed to fight back to 12th which in a field of 26 was really good.



Then in the final things went a little awry. After a poor first lap he found himself towards the back but along with Oliver Mortimer he quickly worked his way through the midfield. However with 2 laps to go he and Oliver got hooked on the pitstraight and in a cloud of tyre smoke both went into the tyrewall. The car suffered some front-end damage but wasn't too bad, Oli however suffered a fair amount of damaged bits and pieces.

Even with the DNF in the final we ended up third in the "Team Championship" standings for the day which was a good start.

Next up is my first shot in the drivers-seat at the British GT Championship round at Knockhill. It's going to be a three-day deal with testing on Friday aftenoon, warmup and a single race on Saturday and two races on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to taking part in a big event again. The timetable of events for the weekend is here.