What a day
Weather forecast said it would rain in the afternoon, so I came prepared for a soaking and thinking that FTD might not go to the single seaters....
At the drivers briefing they said they will try and get the 2 practice sessions and the 1st timed run in before lunch - and the rain! The guy in the Evo was there, so my plan was to run the Khumos all day - but I had brought the CR311's along (with my MSA letter!) just in case I needed them.
The 2 practice sessions went well, found my LC settings and car felt good on my suspension settings, I was about a second ahead at the end of practice so quite happy. Then came the 1st timed runs - rainclouds looming I knew this had to be a good banker, no mistakes because if it pours then there is no going back. Everything clicked, good launch, spotted all braking points, kept everything smooth - I put in a banker and some, monstered it in fact! A 77.10 lap, noone else in my class were under 80 seconds.
Then the rain came during lunch so I thought that was it, but it was only a shower and the wind was so strong it dried in no time. The rest of the day was severely overcast but it never rained again, game on!
So looking back at the times after the 1st run I was 1st in class, 2nd overall by 0.6 seconds. The 2 single seaters were having problems so its game on for FTD too! I'm up against the sports libre caterhams and kit cars which is a bit of an ask in the dry but I'm there or thereabouts. So I try the CR311s for the final 2 runs.
2nd run and its going well, I'm now pushing deeper into the braking zones knowing I have a great time already to can take risks. One risk too many, I lock up in the heavyist braking zone and spin at approx 80mph off onto the grass, spectators said they saw air between my tyres and the ground as I left the tarmac sideways - could have been nasty but it didn't dig in, just carried on through the wet grass towards the fence, erm phew I guess. Luckily I have time to react and get off the brakes, apply lock and as the car is going backwards turn it away from the incoming fence and back towards the track. Double phew!
So 3rd timed run and I get the braking right this time but the lap was a bit untidy and I didn't improve, this was a 77.15 but I clipped an Apex cone and got a 5 second penalty and my 1st battle scar - a nice little dent in the front wing.
The sports libre cars improved their times and FTD was a 75.99, so I was only 1.1 off the pace which is my best result to date.
At last the North Weald monkey is off my back, 1st in class, 5th overall and 1.1 off FTD, best result this season, plus I am leading both championships taking the view of minimum points dropped.
Well chuffed!
