Well that was stressful!
This was the first event of its kind at Donington and the CSCC had put a fair amount of effort in to its smooth running.
There were actually to be 2 endurance races. One for the modern stuff, (including us in the Tin Tops) and a classic race for the 60s stuff etc.
So with a 2 hour race we were allowed up to 3 drivers and would have to make at least 2 mandatory pit stops of a minimum of 6 minutes each (pit in to pit out) and at least one refuel during one of those pit stops.
I think it is fair to say most people refueled in both pit stops as most of the cars don't have tanks big enough to carry enough fuel for much more than an hour's running at full chat.
The biggest complication though, came from the option to refuel via the petrol pumps at Donington. I'm not sure whether this was part of the deal that CSCC did with the circuit to secure the race (so they might make a bit of money selling their exorbitant fuel) but it was not a popular option and made the pitting process painful to say the least.
So... To enable the refueling at the station, pitting was via the Melbourne loop, and then through a fenced off road through the paddock, passing by the fuel pumps and then around to the medical centre and through the gap back into the pit lane! Extremely convoluted and again, made doubly complicated by varying the speed limit from 60kmh on the track and pit sections and then 30kmh through the paddock. With heavy penalties for any speeding.
Refueling was in the pit lane if you chose not to use the pumps.
So once we had absorbed all that we needed to start figuring out some timing, it soon bacame apparent that the 6 minute minimum may not be far off it was going to take us anyway. Once we had navigated the pit entry, refueling was complete (when no one else can touch the car and the driver must be out) to strapping the next driver in this was all taking a fair amount of time.
As mentioned in a previous post, I had mounted an extra timer in the car set to 6 minutes which we could start as we pitted, allowing us to keep over the minimum time. In theory this was a good idea. More on that later!
I arrived Saturday evening at Donington about 5:30. We were told that no one would be allowed in until 7pm because another race meeting was taking place on the Saturday. All endurance racers were to set up in the garages (rather than out in the paddock which was for the other short races taking place) but we were not allocated specific garages, meaning that it was first come first served and therefore no surprise that at 5:30 there was already a queue at the gates and by the time they started letting us in to the circuit the queue extended out into the road. Not ideal and needless to say a bunfight ensued in the paddock and at one point I, (Mr. non-confontation) was having to stand my ground with a rather irate lorry driver trying to muscle in on the garage I had nabbed bacause I was able to squeeze through a gap that an artic couldn't!
Anyway, as I explained to him, there are always enough garages to go round and within an hour or so everyone was sorted.
Parked up in the public parking area
Queuing to the road!
Rob and John both arrived soon after I started setting up so within an hour or so we were ready and headed off to the hotel for some food and an early night.
We agreed to an early start for the obligatory track walk at 6:30am and the weather was perfect.
...and joined by Shaun from Recycled Racing who we were sharing a garage with.
Once satisfied that the track still went the same way we remembered, we returned to the garage to prepare for scrutineering and quali.
All good so far.. Quali came soon enough and it was agreed that I would do 10 minutes, Rob would then do 20 minutes because he hasn't driven the car since March and then John would finish off the last 10 minutes and hopefully get some clear air for a decent lap with a lighter car after fuel burn.
the track was really busy of course and the crazy closing speeds between the fastest GT cars and the slowest Puma Cup cars was something to keep us on our toes.
My stint went ok but nothing special and the changeover went ok with Rob settling in quickly and soon setting equal lap times to me.
When John jumped in he got 2 or 3 laps in before coming back in with the dreaded fuel starvation issue. Not what we needed. It left us qualifying in 32nd position out of 43 cars and second in class.
So, not the nice chilled break between quali and the race that we hoped for and after some food, a driver briefing and a chat about a plan, we went to work stripping the fuel assembly at the rear again.
We inspected the filter again and still nothing obvious. As the problem has only started since changing the tank over winter we are wondering whether there could be a restriction in the breather causing a vacuum in the tank? A difficult one to check so in the end we decided to eliminate the one possible restricting factor despite it looking ok; the filter.
At least for this race and with a new filter on the lift pump in the tank we figured it should be fine. And with everything crossed we assembled everything and prepared for the race.
Running order would be the same as quali and at each stop we would refuel, just brimming the car. We didn't feel quite as prepared as we had hoped but we had planned the changeover procedure carefully and we each had a role. We just needed to keep an eye on the time.
the start was quite spread out
A rolling start of course and with such a variety of cars and speeds the run into Redgate wasn't too sketchy and I made a couple of passes on the first lap but then got almost taken out by Nigel Ainge in his Integra going into the 3rd lap. His car was quicker of course but I had a good run through the final chicane and was along side him on the outside in the run up to Redgate when all of a sudden he moved over and ran me onto the grass.
i'm not actually sure he knew I was there!
Not a lot of space!
I got past Nigel in a couple of laps by following a faster Porsche, lapping us into the final chicane and the rest of my 40 minute stint was spent watching the mirrors for the insanely fast GT cars leading the race and occasionally having a legitimate tussle with the cars around me.
We were currently P2 in class with Blair and Shaun of Recycled Racing in their Civic a little further down the road.
however, I could feel the clutch starting to slip and spent the last half of my stint managing the gear changes a little more carefully until I finally came in to refuel and swap with Rob.
So, as I came to the Pit entry line on the Melbourne loop I was conscious of having to start the 6 minute timer. But I also had to hit the pit lane speed limiter button as I crossed the line and all of a sudden I was patting my head and rubbing my belly and somehow didn't hit the timer button hard enough!
trying and failing to hit the timer!
I only realised as I stopped the car at the garage that the timer wasn't running. So i hit it then and we began a guessing game on the timing!
The refuel and driver change went like clockwork though and I had time to warn Rob about the failing clutch and we released him hoping and praying that we got the timing right. And looking at the timing sheets afterwards, we were certainly safe with a 6:38 stop.
With Rob out we were crossing fingers for the clutch and the fueling gremlins which so far seemed to have gone away and he managed to have a trouble free stint, briefly having a good battle with Blair in the Civic before getting stuck behind a Jag that was quicker in a straight line but unsurprisingly much slower through the bends. It frustrated Rob but with the slipping clutch there was nothing he could do.
Sadly, for Shaun and Blair the civic expired just before they swapped for the final time, leaving us leading the Tin Tops category. All we had to do was bring it home!
When John climbed in the clutch was really struggling and he spent the last 40 minutes managing the gears and just trying to get the car home.
He put in some good laps still, but couldn't keep position on the road with a couple of cars that we had passed earlier catching back up and finally passing him but they weren't in our class so it didn't matter.
And as the clock ticked over 2hours and 1 minute he crossed the line!
A class win! Albeit by default but a win is a win and it makes all the hard work worth it.
For John and Rob, their first red caps too! So a good day all round.
The next race is at Snetterton on the 19th July. I have a new clutch already and just need some time to prep the car. Rob and John will both be away so I'll be riding solo and just need to rally some help in the pits. (If any one wants to offer?)
