This past weekend we returned to race at Brands Hatch in Kent, on the shorter Indy Circuit. At 1,2 miles (just under 2 km) the circuit feels very busy, you’re constantly in one corner or rapidly approaching another. Even the main straight isn’t really a straight. Or flat. According to Niki Lauda, in his days the F1 cars couldn’t even take that section at full throttle!
The race weekend took place with the annual British Mini Festival with shows, stunts and racing in all manner of Minis, classic and current. Russ Swift managed an entire lap of the circuit on two wheels. Similar to the Euro Nascar weekend the grid and the pits were opened to the public and the reception was impressive. People do seem to enjoy getting up close to the track and the cars.
Quali and race one
One of the effects of racing two classes of Minis (Coopers and the turbo JCW’s) on such a short track is that the Cooper class cars get lapped. Being passed without losing heaps of time was probably the most difficult part of the weekend. It seemed almost impossible to control where on the lap I was overtaken, and that meant very frequent disruptions to racing lines and braking points. You can lose a second on a lap when getting overtaken – and trying to make that back up again isn’t easy.
Something else that came up over the weekend was the treatment of our Pirelli tyres (it’s not just the F1 boys who moan about this sort of thing). One of the peculiarities of the slicks is that the rubber needs a sort of pre-abuse temperature cure: a medium pace scrub on track for 3 laps followed by a cool-off to room temperature. Then, they give good grip for the duration of their working life. If the scrub is not done, however, they give massive grip briefly and then proceed to get slower and slower as they wear. We got caught out by a cancelled session and couldn’t do our prep properly. That meant un-scrubbed tyres and a steadily decreasing level of performance over the weekend.
Qualifying on Saturday was in the wet. At least this time I was on the right tyres and managed a semi-decent lap. Whilst I only managed 7th position, I was within 0,2 seconds of 4th on the grid of 12, so I was happy.
Saturday’s race kicked into immediate action as I lost the back end of the Mini going through Paddock Hill Bend on the first lap. Luckily the car stayed on course (albeit sideways, not forward) so even though I dropped to last place I could still carry on. I made a fighting comeback – some great overtakes and pretty decent pace saw me all the way up to 5th place with 10 laps to go. I managed to hold on to this spot despite someone trying to push me onto the grass (I kept my foot in, and he wound up spinning off) and was pleased with a decent result.
Slippery Pirellis
Races 2 and 3 happened on Sunday and our failure to coddle the Pirellis came back to bite us. The tyres just had nothing to offer and both races were a slog. The rolling start of race 2 went well enough but the race was not much fun. I was trying everything to keep pace but without rubber, the Mini was understeering everywhere. 6th place was the best I could manage.
Race 3 started with me on the reverse-grid pole again (I hate that – pole position should be on merit, not a lottery!) but with ever worsening adhesion, I slipped inexorably back into the clutches of the trailing pack. Even my cunning use of a safety car re-launch to gain a position didn’t last. I got to the flag and the coin-sized blisters on the front tyres explained the lowly 9th place finish.
So, a good Saturday and a lesson-filled Sunday comprised my third weekend of racing in Mini Challenge. I’ll keep you posted as to when the footage is up on YouTube. Next time out, we’re at Oulton Park in Cheshire – July 13th. Stay tuned!
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