First race day - April 9th 2007

How did it go?!

Having set up camp on the Sunday afternoon Monday morning was a relatively stress free, if a little early (5.45am) set off for the race circuit. The day itself dawned in much the same vain as the test day, in that it was unseasonably warm and sunny. This time on the way to the circuit I was thinking to myself “this is too good to be true” that though would later prove quite valid unfortunately!

The need to leave so early for the circuit was due to the fact that for this season the Castle Combe Racing Club have devised an excellent new initiative involving promoting it’s three “home” championships to the public. The Formula Ford’s were the “chosen ones” to be the featured championship for the first meeting of the year. This status meaning that we were the first race of the day and therefore the first qualifying session of the day and indeed the new season. Once at the circuit the team (aided by myself once I had signed on) began the process of setting up all the equipment that we would need for the day and giving the car a check over ready for scruitineering and qualifying. The thought of the car going through scruitineering was one that had been playing on my mind in the weeks leading up to the first race weekend, as if it failed for any reason it could spell the end of the race day before it have even began! As it transpired there was no need to worry as the car sailed through scruitineering with no problems, we were ready to rock and roll!!!

Qualifying was scheduled to start at 8.40am and with engines not allowed to be fired up before 8.30am due to noise restrictions. I was very glad to see some more friends and helpers turn up just before we were about to push the car down to the assembly area. I was strapped into the car (no chance of doing it myself in that little cockpit) just before 8.30am ready to fire the engine up at 8.30 on the button to allow some heat to build into the engine’s oil and water systems prior to the noise check. Noise check passed we were ready to go. With Castle Combe Racing Club being as efficient as they are at exactly 8.40am the rather large que of Formula Ford’s was sent into the pitlane ready to be unleashed onto the circuit.We were only sat in the pitlane for a matter of seconds before being allowed on to the circuit, which is just as well because for those few seconds I felt the nerves really begin to build for the first time that weekend! With my laptimer still not working I would be relying upon Granville, his trusty mobile phone and my pitboard to see what lap times I was or indeed wasn’t producing!

Out of the pits then and it only took until Quarry on the first full lap to see a car spin first one way then the other in front of me, I almost came to a stop to avoid the gyrating car but at least avoided it was! Then just a little further around the same lap (Tower corner to be precise) I found yellow flags and a car imbedded in the tyre wall. I was starting to realise at this point that with so many cars on track and the rustiness of the off season still present this was going to be a rather fraught qualifying session! So it proved to be as on the following lap after negotiating the yellow flag zone at Tower at a safe speed Approaching the next corner (Bobbies) a fellow driver attempted a rather advantageous or should that be plain mad lunge up the inside only to to find himself unable to stop and go careering across the grass and off into the field! Luckily I saw his lunge out the corner of my eye at the last minute and was able to cut across the grass in the middle of the chicane to avoid the potential clash of machines!

After this series of near misses I managed to find a little bit of relatively clear track with only a few cars around me, now I could concentrate on driving! Once I did begin to concentrate on the driving and not just surviving I found myself amazed with the difference that the new wheels and tyres had made to the car. I found myself being held up by the cars around me and itching to get into some really clear air to see what the car and myself could do. Unfortunately this was not to be as going through Old Paddock corner for the tenth time, attempting to negotiate the other cars I found myself hung out wide on the “marbles” with the car dancing around underneath me. Okay, I thought to myself I’ll just back off, get the car settled and regroup. Unfortunately in attempting this I selected first gear instead of third! Unsurprisingly the little pushrod engine didn’t really like this request and made it clear by producing a noise akin to a terrified cat! Upon hearing this I immediately shut the engine down and pulled the car off to the nearest marshal’s post.

Once the car had been towed back to the paddock after qualifying I barely had enough time to tell the team what had happened before I had to sprint to the drivers briefing. Throughout the drivers briefing all I could think about was the car and indeed what damage had been done to the engine. After the drivers briefing was over it was with an air of intrigue and trepitadtion that I returned to the team awning! When I got there I was greeted by the sight of Granville holding aloft three rather bent pushrods! This didn’t bode well for the state of the valves that they are designed to actuate.

Once the news that the engine was indeed in rather a sorry state had sunk in I decided it was time to try and do something about it! Despite Granville and others telling me that it was highly unlikely that they would be able to repair the damage in time for the race, and even if they could coble an engine together it would probably run closer to the spec that it ran in it’s orginal home (1960’s Ford Escort’s) than a race engine. I decided that after all the effort that had been put in to get the car to the first race meeting and the fact that there were many guests present I would put my charm and communication skills to the test and scower the paddock in search of the parts needed to get the engine back in to a state that would at least see it run!

I spent the next 2 hours or so running around the paddock begging and borrowing parts from other teams, whilst always subconciously keeping an eye on the time as that grid walk which the car was due to be part of was looming ever cloer and ever larger. It wasn’t until 12.15, when all the other cars were now on the grid for the parade was I finally forced to admitt defeat! I had managed to get almost everything need but ended up one exhuast valve short! So it was with very heavy feet that I trudged up the stairs of the control tower to see the race director to inform him that car 57 would not be able to take the start due to “technical difficulties”!!!

It was a bitter pill to swallow after all the work that had gone in to this and doubly so as it looked as if the car was going to prove a lot quicker than expected. This setback though had made both myself and the team even more determined to prove ourselves. Although the team will now be forced to miss the May 6th meeting while the engine is rebuilt we will be back on May 28th with potentitally some exciting news!

Watch this space…

Thank you very much to the people below for helping and supplying various parts in a vain attempt to repair the engine:

> Steve and Erling Jensen

> Wayne Poole

> Wiltshire College

> Hamilton Motorsport

> Steve Chapman