Croft - Hit, Spin and Maybe...

Having finished the official season, we were invited to take part in an additional race at Croft.  It's near Darlington and became the longest distance we travelled for an event.  It didn't come cheap but with the promise of Qualifying and two races, it was not a chance I was willing to miss.  Croft is a great circuit and I've been a few times to watch the BTCC - and Croft has had serious problems with locals regarding noise complaints.  How is it that someone who moves into the area complains and the circuit (which had been there for some time before the complaining resident), can successfully alter the way the circuit operates to such an extent, it nearly closes...?

Anyway - I was really keen to race at this excellent, and vulnerable, circuit.

It is with regret, that our faithful tow-car, is up for sale.  The SAAB has proven an excellent companion and has driven faultlessly - to circuits around the country and to the Nuerbergring, but the arrival of a new car for my wife means it's an un-necessary expense.  Therefore, and by a stoke of timing fortune, my new fleet Zafira was used to tow the car and trailer up to Darlington.  Any worries about the drop in power and torque were quickly dispelled as the car completed the journey with minimum fuss.

Joining us on the journey were 'The Other' Claire and Ian - so it was a bit of a road trip, too.

Qualifying was an interesting affair - out of the twenty Academy drivers who entered this event, I think only one person had taken the opportunity to complete a track-day at the venue.  Therefore, with the skies grey and a damp chill in the air, we set out to achieve a time to determine our starting positions.  The early couple of laps were tentative as I tried to remember my route, tried to remember the notes in my Circuit Guide and tried to remember the You Tube videos I'd studied.  A mistake here could result you ending up in the local farmer's field...  Rachel Horgan with the picture below.

I got quicker through out the session and just as I thought I could set another couple of quick laps, the flag came out to end the session.  The result was pretty good - 6th on the grid meaning if I could stay in touch with the leaders, I had a good chance of a top-5 finish (I even dared to think a podium was possible...).

The green flag lap...

Having relaxed for the rest of the morning and the start of the afternoon, our first race took place in cloudy but dry conditions.  I'd changed the front brake pads after Qualifying as the pedal felt long and soft - a problem I'd had since Brands Hatch and should have been dealt with a while ago - so knew my braking performance would be much improved.  A reasonable start helped me keep a decent position - in 4th - and safely through the tight first section.

'Tower' is the first major braking on the circuit and with my new confidence in stopping, I made a move up the inside into the corner.  I was approaching the corner a bit quicker than other cars and when Chris Bingham chose to try and block me at the last second, I had nowhere to go.

I hit him in the rear.  I don't really know what he expected to happen or how I would avoid him but the nose crunched against the back of his car.  He slid a little wide at the corner and I made it past him.  As I drove away from the bend, I looked in my mirrors and found everyone else was coming round.  Then I looked ahead and all I could see was Wes Fox up ahead.  It took a couple of seconds to register that I was in second place.

Sadly, my good position was short-lived.  Having negotiated the fastest part of the circuit, I approached 'Sunny In' quite quickly - the braking needed to be done in a slight curve.  My new brakes dug in but the rears weren't quite as secure and the front slowed more rapidly than the rear - I wasn't able to get my foot over and blip the throttle and the rear simply overtook the front of the car.

I spun 270 degrees and across the racing line - thankfully everyone passed me safely (a massive thank you to all for that!) but I'd gone from 2nd to 20th in one incident.  But I had nine and a half laps to go...

The rest of the race was exciting.  The laps went really quickly as I continued to pass other cars.  By the end, I'd made it back up to 11th place!  A good result considering the first lap.  I'd start the second race from where I finished the first one.

Next day (following a nice curry with some of the other Academy drivers and their other halves), we didn't race until the afternoon so we didn't get to the circuit until midday.  Having watched some of the other racing, I was looking forward to the race.

A steady start had me lose a couple of places and it turns out it may have been a good thing...  On the exit of the first section of the circuit, Tim and Bev bounced off each other leading to Tim's retirement form the race.  As they recovered, I drove between them and made my way towards Lee Furness.  It took me a few laps to get ahead of him (having been put off the circuit in places and Lee using more of the track than might ordinarily be allowed...) and along came Dave Symanski with me.  Dave passed me into Tower on the last lap but I was able to get the position back at 'Sunny In' - the same corner as I spun the previous day.

So I finished in 7th - but the result counts for nothing and I had a great couple of days racing.  I got to race for position and have battles with people throughout the races.

If this is what next year might bring, I'm looking forward to it already.

A final thank you to the Wymers - there were twelve of us covering three generations at Croft and every one of them helped in one way or another.