Race Report-Round3 & Round4 Brands Hatch 26th April 2015
Brands Hatch has been a thorn in our side previously, attracting issues & complications, despite it being one of our favoured tracks.
This season the event didnt start much better, the rain had already drenched the circuit by the time the MR2's went out for qualifying and was still drizzling. As only the 2nd session we have ever ran in full wet trim, we managed a 20th place laptime out of 39. Shane was disappointed, but considering 11th to 21st was covered by a mere 1.02 seconds, we were content with midpack!
Having so many entries at this round meant the MR2 were split into 3 group. Shane initially being in races 2&3. However, after a mixup by the race administrators, a few drivers were inexplicably moved between groups, which moved Shane to races 1&3. Without any warning or preparation time, having just enough time to get ready for the grid, Shane lined up 13th.
Lots of wheelspin off the line in race one, put pay to a good start, but by maintaining steady laptimes and keeping it on the track, unlike other drivers, Shane had a relatively quiet race on way to 10th. Not comfortable with the car, Shane thought there should have been lots more potential in the pace, but with very limited wet track experience we were content with 10th.
Race two was a different story, a drying track, faster laptimes, some setup tweeks and the car handled more to Shane liking. Despite a reasonably good jump off the line, Shane lost time to the mk3 #30 of Andrew Knight, but found a gap on the inside at Paddock Hill to gain the place. Likewise a lost opportunity at Surtees, turned into a gap at Clearways to overtake the #44 car of Wayne Lewis. A bit more battling with Cam Waltons #56, trading places and a bit of paint before #83 of William Gallacher also got through. A few laps of playing catchup with Gallacher and we both got past the class A car of Dave Hemingway. A late incident for front runner Rob Wells, had him drop behind Shane temporarily until a spin at Paddock Hill infront of Shane put him back behind. A few more laps of solo racing apart from a few backmarkers and then the chequrered flag was out. The race cut short because of a couple cars stationery at the edge of the gravel traps.
Overall we finished Round 3-10th (8th in class) & Round 4-8th (6th in class)
Race 2 was immensely more enjoyable for Shane and the next step is to analyse where we can improve further for races to come!
Thanks go to Hurley Race Engineering for supplying a reliable engine, Power Maxed for our car cleaning products & the family for the support during raceday!
We hope you enjoy the on-board footage below. Apologies for the lack of high definition footage, the administration error and a camera failure left us with very little footage. So below is the telemetry cameras including the new pedal view...lots to work on here we think!!
Shane #34
Brands Hatch has been a thorn in our side previously, attracting issues & complications, despite it being one of our favoured tracks.
This season the event didnt start much better, the rain had already drenched the circuit by the time the MR2's went out for qualifying and was still drizzling. As only the 2nd session we have ever ran in full wet trim, we managed a 20th place laptime out of 39. Shane was disappointed, but considering 11th to 21st was covered by a mere 1.02 seconds, we were content with midpack!
Having so many entries at this round meant the MR2 were split into 3 group. Shane initially being in races 2&3. However, after a mixup by the race administrators, a few drivers were inexplicably moved between groups, which moved Shane to races 1&3. Without any warning or preparation time, having just enough time to get ready for the grid, Shane lined up 13th.
Lots of wheelspin off the line in race one, put pay to a good start, but by maintaining steady laptimes and keeping it on the track, unlike other drivers, Shane had a relatively quiet race on way to 10th. Not comfortable with the car, Shane thought there should have been lots more potential in the pace, but with very limited wet track experience we were content with 10th.
Race two was a different story, a drying track, faster laptimes, some setup tweeks and the car handled more to Shane liking. Despite a reasonably good jump off the line, Shane lost time to the mk3 #30 of Andrew Knight, but found a gap on the inside at Paddock Hill to gain the place. Likewise a lost opportunity at Surtees, turned into a gap at Clearways to overtake the #44 car of Wayne Lewis. A bit more battling with Cam Waltons #56, trading places and a bit of paint before #83 of William Gallacher also got through. A few laps of playing catchup with Gallacher and we both got past the class A car of Dave Hemingway. A late incident for front runner Rob Wells, had him drop behind Shane temporarily until a spin at Paddock Hill infront of Shane put him back behind. A few more laps of solo racing apart from a few backmarkers and then the chequrered flag was out. The race cut short because of a couple cars stationery at the edge of the gravel traps.
Overall we finished Round 3-10th (8th in class) & Round 4-8th (6th in class)
Race 2 was immensely more enjoyable for Shane and the next step is to analyse where we can improve further for races to come!
Thanks go to Hurley Race Engineering for supplying a reliable engine, Power Maxed for our car cleaning products & the family for the support during raceday!
We hope you enjoy the on-board footage below. Apologies for the lack of high definition footage, the administration error and a camera failure left us with very little footage. So below is the telemetry cameras including the new pedal view...lots to work on here we think!!
Shane #34