In a week’s time we’ll be well on our way to Anglesey for the third and fourth round of the 2010 Monoposto championship. Last time we ventured that far west for racing was in 2008 with the Reynard 883 during our championship challenge, and we came away with two class wins, two class poles and two class fastest laps. We missed 2009 because it was too far to go with a new car and no championship ambitions, but 2010 demands it. Of course, I hope to repeat my class domination of 2008, but Jeremy is never easy to beat, and so far this year we’ve not make life easy for ourselves either, whether it be a ‘technical’ failure (Brands) or a ‘driver’ failure (Thruxton).
My personal best at Anglesey in 2008 was a 1m07.946, but the Dallaras for Timms and Harrison are regularly into the mid-to-low 1m05s, which is where we have to aim for I suppose. Will we have as big an advantage as I seemed to enjoy (once I got the car moving) at Thruxton? No, I don’t think so. Anglesey rewards precision and finesse more than big balls and a heavy right foot. But I think we’ll be competitive, as the low speed driveability of the fuel injection will be worth a little bit of laptime. Plus Anglesey reward late brakers, and I’ve finally managed to get over 2g on the brakes, which I’ve known to be possible for ages, but couldn’t actually manage until Thruxton.
The weather is always a factor, as the track is on the Welsh coastline, but I’m not often worried by damp or wet conditions. Indeed, I’m hoping we get that!
The lap starts with a fast 100mph left hander, which required a lift and a brake in the Reynard, but might be flat in the Dallara, followed by a short straight to the Banking hairpin, taken at around 60mph. It’s a long corner with a decent amount of camber, so one can slingshot out onto the back section. Church is a 105mph right hander that should be easy flat in the dry that leads onto the back straight. This is the fastest part of the lap, but the top speed is barely 130mph! Not a fast circuit then, so we can run a bit more wing angle and benefit from corner speed. The final sector of the lap is the twisty bit, with a 45mph left hander at the end of the straight (with a steeply uphill braking zone) into a 50mph right hander. Another short straight into a 65mph right hander as the track drops away towards the Corkscrew, a 65mph left/right/left complex that mimics the famous Laguna Seca corner of the same name.
The entry list for this race suggests a lot of Dallaras – this is good thing!!! The more competition, the better! Neil Harrison’s car is being rented out to Adrian Holey, so it’ll be interesting to see how someone else gets on in Neil’s car.
2 Jeremy Timms Dallara F397
6 Tristan Cliffe Dallara F398
8 Tony Cotton Dallara F300
9 Richard Purcell Dallara F300
22 Chris Woodhouse Dallara F302/4
25 Kevin Mason Dallara F300
26 Malcolm Scott Van Diemen
34 Graham Read Dallara F300
40 Adrian Holey Dallara F398
49 Amnon Needham Dallara F393
