April 28th 2007, Aintree, Liverpool
Until very recently the only type of racing I thought happened at Aintree involved four legs and a little bloke wearing funny coloured silk outfit.
It came as a bit of a surprise to find there was in fact a race track running inside the Grand National course that was once home to the British Grand Prix during the 50's and 60's.
Having got lost and ending up at the Grand National race course entrance some very grumpy security guards, "not bloody car racing again!", pointed us in the right direction.
Signing on, Scrutineering and Drivers Briefing
Caused us no problems. The drivers briefing was quite long. However it did helpfully point out that if we did go off the track the white perimeter fence (dividing the Sprint track from National Course) wasn't that far away, next was the lovely National grass and finally came the huge National fences and they weren't anywhere near as soft as they looked.
Hitting any of the would result in the embarrassment of having to be fished out of the fence, a broken car and a huge bill from the Nation Course owners. One driver said he had his billed framed following his off a few years ago!
Practice Runs
As before I spent some time watching videos to learn the track. Aintree wasn't too hard to learn, but to drive was a different thing.
The videos made the track look much wider than it was in real life and watching the other drivers go out you could see it was incredibly dusty.
With the same aim as ever of getting round in one piece on the Practice runs I went over the Finish line at 101mph, Peter going over at a massive 123mph.
Practice 1 time 1:00.84
In the second run it was obvious that the corner I was having most trouble with was called Village, the second corner on the track. Getting that wrong meant not being as fast as you could be for the rest of the 1847m course. This track was all about speed.
Photo courtesy of Se7en Imaging
This time I went over the line matching Peters first Practice run speed of 123mph. Amazingly a few minutes later Peter went over the finish line for a second time again at 123mph.
Wondering whether that was the max the car could do it turned out that the speed trap was broken!
Practice 2 time 58.11
Timed Runs
With the speed trap now working, the day getting warmer, the track was now much less dusty.
I was still having trouble with village and now trying to ignore the fact that after Village was the long Valentines Way straight before a righter hander just behind which lurked the famous Beachers Brook National fence! Not the place to go off.
Sprint 1 time 56.93
Ave Speed 71.5 mph
My next run was going quite well till the Red Flags came out, not for me but for a car behind me having a little moment. It meant my run was ended but I would get to go again.
Adam expressed his concern by saying "Glad I didn't bring Kelly along, first run she sees and Kev goes and crashes!" Peter looked worried, he claimed for me but who can tell! The general concern from all Team NMR members was truly underwhelming!
On my re-run I posted by best time of the day, crossing the finish line at 105mph.
Sprint 2 time 56.12
Ave Speed 72.5 mph
The day was so well run that we actually got a third timed run. Trying a different line through Beachers Bend, after listening to what the other drivers where doing, I think it was a quicker but as ever Id lost my time in Village.
Sprint 3 time 57.01
Ave Speed 71.3 mph
Class E Novice Championship
To see the current Championship Points standings, click here.
Lessons learned for next time
All three of my timed runs were pretty consistent all being within 0.9 of a second. I think the best thing I can do to go faster is to understand more about proper racing lines. Peter gave me a video a while back that may help, think I will watch that before the next race.
Photo courtesy of Se7en Imaging
I have also managed to increased my claims to fame. I can now say I've raced on a proper (if no longer used) F1 Grand Prix track, the same track that Stirling Moss raced on no less.
I can also claim to have once finished Second in Class on a Sprint. Ok, there was only two in the Class but somehow it sounds better this way!
Montage
For a summary of the entire WSCC 2007 Speed Series season click here.