Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2010 Monoposto championship are at Mallory Park, a track that so far seems to suit our Dallara, although I never felt especially comfortable there in the Reynard. This is probably because the Dallara is a much stiffer car, and remains more composed in long, high speed corners like Gerards.
Last year, it was our 2nd meeting with the car (we skipped Anglesey), and was the scene of our first victory and first pole position with the car – although Timms’ engine blow up removed an element of competition that weekend! However, the pole time was bang on the lap record, so I’m confident Jeremy would have had to work hard to beat it. Unfortunately, we also had a throttle cable failure in the subsequent race, and couldn’t capitalise on that form…
For 2010 we’ve had the ‘luxury’ of already having visited the track with the car, albeit on Silverstone Tyres (of the type used at Croft and Snetterton last year), and set new lap record times thanks to the performance of the fuel injection system. Timms’ lap record is 44.135 (set in 2008 when, interestingly, I was lapped for the only time in my racing ‘career’), my pole time of 2009 was 44.142, and I did a 43.661 in testing in April.
Obviously, the aim for the race meeting, on Avon Tyres, is to go even quicker, have no reliability issues, and take two easy pole to flag victories with new lap records. However, that’s been the plan for every race this year, and it hasn’t quite happened yet, so we know we have some work to do to make it happen – complacent we are not.
The lap is a short one; just 1.35 miles long, and with only 4 corners. The lap starts with a 130+mph blast to the first corner, a very long right hander called Gerards that sees an entry speed of 110mph and an exit speed of 120mph. A short straight to the John Cooper Esses follows, which are taken at 110mph, and then a bumpy ride to the slowest corner – Shaw’s Hairpin – taken at just 25mph. This is the most important part of a fast lap, as so much time can be lost under braking, scrubbing around the apex, and traction leaving the corner. Gerards may be important, but there is little the driver can do to make up time there, whilst the hairpin is very much about the driver rather than the car. Leaving Gerards, the speed builds rapidly as you pass through Devil’s Elbow at around 100mph and rejoin the start finish straight.
Passing is not easy at Mallory, with the hairpin offering the best chance if you can outbrake someone. But passes are also possible into Gerards and the Esses if you’re close enough and brave on the brakes, but they’ll cost you overall laptime, so best to avoid if you’re trying to catch up with the leader.
Keep an eye on twitter (also available on the right hand column of Dallara398.com) for updates throughout the season and during race meetings – when I remember to do so!
