drmikey
K20 EK9
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2008
- Messages
- 446
What a weekend!
Cracking qualifying with myself and Kris getting out early and having a good 5 clear laps â Kris was on a mission and I couldnât believe his commitment on lap one having not driven Cadwell for a year â impressive - but kept pace with him and we qualified 3rd and 4th overall and 1st and 2nd in class - about 2 seconds ahead of the next GT250 car Dixon Cheng. The PA civics were flying!!!
Good start into race 1 managing to retain position into coppice behind Kris and we pulled away from the cars behind us. Basically there was only a few feet between us for the first 4 or so laps until I started pushing harder into the hall bends, I outbraked myself and locked up onto the grass and into the tyre wall, brushing it enough for the front to dig in a spin round pretty much 270 degrees and with my nose at 90 to the track, quickly tried to pull it in out of the way but wasnât enough and Tommy Gun collected my rear quarter. You can see most of this on Dixons video. You can see the skid marks (on the tarmac!) just at the crest of the bend.
Dragged the car round with the smell of burning rubber, bonnet vent flew off on the park straight and made it into the pits. It wasnât a pretty sight. The marshalls had kindly collected the rest of my car from the track so at least we now had the bonnet vent and my new carbon mirror back!
But after a check over with the doc I was cleared to drive whilst the rest of the Performance Autoworks team assessed the damage. Verdict was it was only superficial and so the A Team music was cranked up and basically with the help from Richy, the PAW team, Sams Boyz and countless other Nippon teams/supporters the lump hammers and gaffer tape was dispatched and we got to work. Two hours later we had the resemblance of a Honda civic, albeit with a Brian James rear trailer cluster on the back. Richy remedied the bit of toe out I had, probably from a bent lower arm and we dropped it down to the scrutineers for a check over, they had a laugh, passed us and sent us on our way with about 5 mins to spare for the start of race 2.
So race two started with me second from last at the back of the grid. Well, Ive never had so much fun in my life. Fighting my way through the field of MR2s and GT200s was fantastic with an interesting overtaking manoeuvre going onto the mountain! Soon I saw Andre ahead â I had something to aim for! Managed to pull up to him and wow we had a hell of race for a good 5 laps. I had miniscule straight line advantage but not really enough to do anything on the straights and Andre did some superb tactical driving. I knew my chance was getting a good exit from the harpin and following bend into the start straight, which after about the 3rd attempt I managed but we were basically side by side going into coppice, but as I didnât have a drivers mirror any more I had ignorance on my side and slipped in front! Managed to hold him off until just after the goose neck when I locked up and once again saw the grass. Andre took back position and despite my best off roading skills didnât stand a chance of gaining on him. By this time the car sounded in a very sorry state â knocks, strange noises, although was still driving straight I decided to cool off and make sure I finished. So cruised round and took an 11th place in the end.
So there we go, despite the damage definitely the best race weekend of the year. The vibe was awesome â with my Tank Tape Civic making a remarkable come back, Kris with a spectacular drive and two wins in Class and 3rd overall and Tim with two firsts.
I really wanted to get two finishes this weekend as that would have made 6 signatures on my card and so I could ceremoniously remove my novice sticker, but given the circumstances I think it best to leave it on for a little longer!
Anyway a general massive thanks to all that helped get the car back together â there are too many to mention and I cant remember everyones name but I know there was Dave the slave, Austin, Andy from vtec direct, Darren from Samz Boyz ...please remind me of everyone elses name!
A special thanks to Richy and Performance Autoworks for doing and organising the effort getting the car out again, Pete, as always, for his sterling support and blue peter wizardry with the light cluster, Kris for sharing the attention for the second race, Tim for loving me, Austin for looking after the troops...and Iâm sure there is more.
Off to the body shop this morning â roll on Snetterton.
] 
Cracking qualifying with myself and Kris getting out early and having a good 5 clear laps â Kris was on a mission and I couldnât believe his commitment on lap one having not driven Cadwell for a year â impressive - but kept pace with him and we qualified 3rd and 4th overall and 1st and 2nd in class - about 2 seconds ahead of the next GT250 car Dixon Cheng. The PA civics were flying!!!
Good start into race 1 managing to retain position into coppice behind Kris and we pulled away from the cars behind us. Basically there was only a few feet between us for the first 4 or so laps until I started pushing harder into the hall bends, I outbraked myself and locked up onto the grass and into the tyre wall, brushing it enough for the front to dig in a spin round pretty much 270 degrees and with my nose at 90 to the track, quickly tried to pull it in out of the way but wasnât enough and Tommy Gun collected my rear quarter. You can see most of this on Dixons video. You can see the skid marks (on the tarmac!) just at the crest of the bend.
Dragged the car round with the smell of burning rubber, bonnet vent flew off on the park straight and made it into the pits. It wasnât a pretty sight. The marshalls had kindly collected the rest of my car from the track so at least we now had the bonnet vent and my new carbon mirror back!
But after a check over with the doc I was cleared to drive whilst the rest of the Performance Autoworks team assessed the damage. Verdict was it was only superficial and so the A Team music was cranked up and basically with the help from Richy, the PAW team, Sams Boyz and countless other Nippon teams/supporters the lump hammers and gaffer tape was dispatched and we got to work. Two hours later we had the resemblance of a Honda civic, albeit with a Brian James rear trailer cluster on the back. Richy remedied the bit of toe out I had, probably from a bent lower arm and we dropped it down to the scrutineers for a check over, they had a laugh, passed us and sent us on our way with about 5 mins to spare for the start of race 2.
So race two started with me second from last at the back of the grid. Well, Ive never had so much fun in my life. Fighting my way through the field of MR2s and GT200s was fantastic with an interesting overtaking manoeuvre going onto the mountain! Soon I saw Andre ahead â I had something to aim for! Managed to pull up to him and wow we had a hell of race for a good 5 laps. I had miniscule straight line advantage but not really enough to do anything on the straights and Andre did some superb tactical driving. I knew my chance was getting a good exit from the harpin and following bend into the start straight, which after about the 3rd attempt I managed but we were basically side by side going into coppice, but as I didnât have a drivers mirror any more I had ignorance on my side and slipped in front! Managed to hold him off until just after the goose neck when I locked up and once again saw the grass. Andre took back position and despite my best off roading skills didnât stand a chance of gaining on him. By this time the car sounded in a very sorry state â knocks, strange noises, although was still driving straight I decided to cool off and make sure I finished. So cruised round and took an 11th place in the end.
So there we go, despite the damage definitely the best race weekend of the year. The vibe was awesome â with my Tank Tape Civic making a remarkable come back, Kris with a spectacular drive and two wins in Class and 3rd overall and Tim with two firsts.
I really wanted to get two finishes this weekend as that would have made 6 signatures on my card and so I could ceremoniously remove my novice sticker, but given the circumstances I think it best to leave it on for a little longer!
Anyway a general massive thanks to all that helped get the car back together â there are too many to mention and I cant remember everyones name but I know there was Dave the slave, Austin, Andy from vtec direct, Darren from Samz Boyz ...please remind me of everyone elses name!
A special thanks to Richy and Performance Autoworks for doing and organising the effort getting the car out again, Pete, as always, for his sterling support and blue peter wizardry with the light cluster, Kris for sharing the attention for the second race, Tim for loving me, Austin for looking after the troops...and Iâm sure there is more.
Off to the body shop this morning â roll on Snetterton.
Glad you got back into the event and wasnt hurt. I always enjoy reading the nippon writeups 
Roll on Snetterton!
