It’s been a while, but we’ve been so busy that I’ve not had the chance to squeeze in a report. And it’s not let off just yet, so I have to apologise and short change you with yet another half arsed, part finished, mostly rushed report. And to make matters ever worse for you, the neglected reader, I’m going to combine the brief Race Retro report, a brief test day report and a brief Snetterton preview into one article, so you don’t even get the pleasure of clicking the mouse several times to read what I have typed. Worryingly this is starting to have a blog feel to it, which isn’t something I intended…
Race Retro
We delivered the car to Stoneleigh Park on the Thursday evening, unloaded and positioned it on the Monoposto stand, amongst the fliers and display boards. Then we went home, and trusted it’s wellbeing on the other Mono members manning the stand and the visitors not to break it. And our faith was proven right when we saw the car on Sunday morning, as it was still immaculate bar a few finger prints (which are to be expected!). Thank you to all on the Mono stand for making sure it was damaged, stolen or vandalised in any way.
The show itself wasn’t all that great. A few interesting stands, but it was mostly tat, second hand ‘automotive rubbish’ and even chocolate stands. I wouldn’t bother going as a paying visitor. But our car, and the Monoposto club, got quite a lot of attention and praise, so perhaps we’ve got a few new members out of it. I believe (though I can’t confirm) that the Driver of the Day award has found a new sponsor to present it – although that is of little value as I haven’t heard anything about the Driver of the Day award since it was first mentioned…
Anyway, we came back and all was well. Apart from a tyre throwing a tread on the trailer on the way home, and that flying tread sliced the top of the valve of the other tyre. So we had a canvas/metal tyre and a flat, but only one spare. Limping home for hours on end at 35mph is not fun!!!!
Testing
Despite only just finishing the car the night before we went, the testing was, overall, a success. We shookdown the car, found various problems – loose wires, dodgy batteries etc – had a play with the slicks and wets (because it rained, duh) and the appropriate setup for each, played with dampers, wing settings, the dashboard etc, and had a crash.
Yes, sadly the day wasn’t a total success. I had made a fiberglassed foam seat in the preceeding days, and it turned out that it was too thick, which meant I couldn’t easily get full lock with one hand. Combine that with an overall lack of talent, and arm in the air as I came into the pits and a damp patch that appeared on that lap, and I ended up hitting the tyre wall at 10mph, destroying the front wing, damaging the nose cone and causing more work when we could have done without it. Fortunately it was in the last 5 minutes of the final session, so lost track time was negligable, and at least we know the basis of the car is good, although there remains a lot to learn with setup and driving technique. However, given the conditions, the old tyres, the fact it was our first time running/driving the car, I was quite pleased to set a 1m12 lap, with the datalogging suggesting that times a second or two faster should come relatively quickly. Jeremy Timms and Neil Harrison probably won’t have to worry about me just yet, but I’d like to think I might be able to join them on the podium if it all goes well…
Snetterton and Season Preview
2009 starts now. Well, actually it starts tomorrow, but I won’t be able to write that then, so I’ll write it now and hope you understand. But it looks like it’ll be a good year, but perhaps with a slow start. As I write I am not aware of any entries into the new Mono Formula class (for modern Formula Renault and Formula Three cars in original specification), 5 entries in Mono2000 and 5 entries into Classic 2000, plus an additional entry of an 1800 car in the 2000 class for Peter Bragg to get more track time out of his meeting.
Jeremy Timms and Neil Harrison are likely to be the pace setters in Mono2000, with Kevin Mason in his new F399 Dallara not far behind and Barry Smith hoping to pick up points and places when things don’t go to plan for the Dallara drivers. Obviously I’d love to beat them all, but being realistic I would be hoping for a podium at best. In Mono Classic, my old class with the Reynard, Russ Giles, Jeremy Goodman (in his Ralt), Lenny Coleman, Graham Probyn and Terry Clark (a returnee to Mono) are all going to be fairly evenly matched. I think Jeremy Goodman will be the pace setter at Snetterton, but Russ Giles is likely to be greatly improved over a troublesome 2008. Terry Clark is an unknown, but I think he’ll take a race or two to get up to speed.
The weather forecast is for mostly dry conditions at a moderate temperature, but the risk is rain will be ever present and as such we won’t be able to relax too much. Ultimately the aim is to finish rather than ‘do a Brawn GP’, but we won’t know how quick everyone is until we’ve got underway and shown our true paces when it matters.
Hopefully more entries will occur as the season progresses, with Jeremy Walker from F4 coming into Mono soon, and perhaps the return of three times champion Mark Harrison at some point too. Combine that with expected entries in the Mono Formula class and we could have a competitive and hard fought season on our hands. It should be exciting, and I’m looking forward to trying to upset the apple cart at some point.
As usual, I can’t wait!
Mono 2000 Jeremy Timms Dallara F397
2 Mono 2000 Neil Harrison Dallara F398
5 Mono Classic 2000 Russ Giles Reynard 913
6 Mono 2000 Tristan Cliffe Dallara F398
17 Mono Classic 2000 Graham Probyn Reynard 863
20 Mono Classic 2000 Jeremy Goodman Ralt RT3
25 Mono 2000 Kevin Mason Dallara F399
28 Mono Classic 2000 Lenny Coleman Formula Vauxhall Lotus
32 Mono Classic 2000 Terry Clark Formula Vauxhall Lotus
47 Mono 2000 Barry Smith Van Diemen FX02
85 Mono 2000 Peter Bragg Nemisis Mygale SJ00
