Curborough Sprint - True 'Grass Roots' Motorsport

Curborough is a small Sprint venue just on the edge of Lichfield.  The sign on the way in says 'Grass Roots' and it certainly is!  It is a very narrow (and technical) course in a field.  It is a unique track with a start spur (where you also return after your run) leading on to the circuit.  Our event consisted of running down the start spur followed by two laps of the circuit.  It really is a technical circuit and despite taking only 65-70 seconds to complete, it requires constant concentration.  For this event, I'd been assigned '18' as my competition number.  The picture above was taken by Rachel Horgan.

It should be pointed out here that in order for video cameras to work, they need a charged battery.  For this event, mine didn't have one...

We were given two practice and two timed runs.  My first run proved competitive enough and the sunshine made our runs a little easier.  My second practice saw an improvement on my time.

By this time, it was clear that I was in a far better mental state than Aintree.  I felt more comfortable with the process, got myself ready in good time and was happy with my driving.  There were less cars than at Aintree with far more Caterhams (but there were a few other cars - a Peugeot 206 GTi, a Scimitar and a brand new Nissan GTR...!!!  The last was barely narrow enough to stay within the confines of the track!).  Organisation was excellent and by keeping an eye on which cars were going out for their runs and when, made sure I was a lot calmer.  The picture below comes from Rick Wilson (or at least his deputy as Rick couldn't get to this event).

For my first timed run, I tried very hard to remain smooth without sudden steering and good throttle control.  I'd found the track slippy and sudden acceleration creates slides which were fun but not quick!  A time of 65.99 seconds put me in third place in my group - a good result but with other drivers close around me, I knew I could still lose out.  Another of Rachel's pics...

As soon as I returned to the paddock, I changed my front anti-roll bar (ARB) to a stiffer version - one of the few changes the regulations allow.  This ARB should stiffen the front of the car which creates less roll at the front of the car.  I'd never run this before so it was a risk but with a good time in my first run, I felt it was a risk worth taking - the front running cars had the stiffer ARB fitted...  The change didn't take long (which is down to the help given to me by my older brother and my Dad).

My final run started with a slide into the first corner and despite congratulations from the commentator for controlling it, I'd lost some time.  Ultimately, it cost me getting a quicker time but after a nervous wait, my time from my first run was good enough for third.

Once again, though, my starts have dropped me significant time.  I'm still among the slower starters and a better start time could have bagged me a second place.  The win went to Mike Hart - with a time quick enough to narrowly miss out on the class record - he was quick.

So a 'podium' netted me a trophy from Caterham and another trophy and book from the event organisers.  Rick's picture shows I was pretty pleased with my result.