Thanks for all your support and great to see some of you at Combe. There's some great pictures on here. Sorry we didn't post over the weekend but mobile internet connection was sketchy at best.
Anyway most of the team arrived at Castle Combe on Wednesday evening including picking up one of the new drivers, Alan Bonner, from Bristol airport after his flight down from his home n Scotland.
The plan for Thursday was for Alan to test all day, unfortunately though he only managed one session before the rain started and didn't stop for the rest of the day although he did have one run in the wet as well. As a track day was being held on Friday it was hoped that there would be an opportunity to run, but unfortunately the day was fully booked, so instead the team went shopping for new uniforms for the students.
Newsflash
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The new ZSCentral.com Shop! is now live. From the shop you will be able to purchase ZSCentral.com stickers for the rear quarter windows and the front & rear screens. |
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| Britcar Castle Combe Review |
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| Written by zscupdate | |
| Tuesday, 11 August 2009 | |
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The main concern over lack of testing was no opportunity to scrub the brand new set of slicks. Friday evening's meeting between Alan, Cassey and Eddie was a long one as all the options were considered to find the best time to put a heat cycle through the slicks. Eventually the decision was made to start the untimed practice session on the new slicks, do 3 flying laps and then come in and change wheels, Alan & Cassey would then split the remaining time and the quickest driver would qualify first in the afternoon. This strategy put the pressure completely onto the students as if it took too long it would mean less track time and considering Alan had had 1 session and Cassey was yet to drive at all this was a real concern. So the students practiced late into the night changing the tyres again and again getting their time down from 8 minutes to 3 minutes 40 seconds, a great performance and within the 4 minutes the strategy required. So Saturday morning Alan took to the track did 3 flying laps then came into the pitlane, then the incredible happened the students managed to change all 4 wheels in 2 minutes 20 seconds gaining the team 1 whole extra lap of track time. You have to consider that they achieved this without the compressed air bottles, or air jacks that the other teams have. Alan then went back out on the old tyres and completed 5 flying laps with a best of 1.20.3, before returning to the pits and handing the car to Cassey. As Cassey hadn't had a run in the car yet she got the extra lap the students had earnt, in her 6 laps she managed a best of 1.18.9 putting the team 2nd fastest in class and 25th overall a terrific result. Things took a disapointing turn in qualifying, mainly due to expectation more than fact. It was expected that the brand new set of slicks would be at least a second quicker than the old rubber maybe even 1.5 seconds. Temperature had risen rapidly during the day and by qualifying track temperature was 40 degrees. Cassey went first as planned but only managed a 1.18.862 in her 10 laps and then Alan completed his 10 laps with a best of 1.20.354. This meant the team would start Sunday's race 31st of 33 and ahead of only one of the cars in class. It was found that the tyres had increased by a massive 12 psi, explaining why the car had felt great after just 2 laps but not good at all soon after. With a mixture of driver feedback and advice from Dunlop a number of set up changes were made to the car in preperation for Sunday's race. On Sunday, Friday nights planned race strategy was thrown out and it was decided Alan would start the race, and things started badly again, cars a few rows ahead dropped a long way off the pack on the green flag lap meaning when the race started we were only just coming out of the 2nd chicane quarter of a lap down already, then as the car rounded Camp corner to take the start it got totally sideways, Alan was later to admit himself that he thought our race was over before it started, however he managed to collect it up and took the start dead last and best part of half a lap down already. Alan brought the car in after 27 laps with a best lap of 1.20.696, the students did a faultless job with the refuelling which is more than can be said of team 888 with their Accord who received a 2 lap penalty for a refuelling infringement. This really emphasises the superb job our students are doing when a professional team shows how difficult it is under pressure. Cassey took to the track 4th in class, 34 seconds behind the Renault Clio and 2 laps behind the 888 Civic. The leader in class was an Invitation MG ZR that didn't count for championship points so it was all about the Clio and the podium finish. Lap after lap Cassey caught the Clio setting a best lap time of 1.18.626 and eventually passed it into Quarry and quickly opened a gap which included unlapping us from the Civic. Eddie then instructed Cassey to slow down and bring the car home safely which she did. This was a fabulous result for the team and one that really had to be earnt, it was also really important for Cassey as for the 4th consecutive time she scored a podium on her debut in a new car. With the new driver line up we are a massive 4 seconds closer to the fastest cars in class, so we will now work on the car to try and close the remaining gap in time for Snetterton. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 August 2009 ) |
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