I usually hate the idiom
"One step forward, two steps backĀ, but I feel for this weekend I have no choice. Donington Park was supposed to be better than this, it was supposed to be better than two laps. Welcome back
curse of Perry McCarthy.
Qualifying
Saturday morning was an overcast contradiction to the sunshine of last week. I was, again, in the second of two qualifying sessions and as the first left shortly after 10am it was dry but with a touch of moisture in the air. I would employ the same strategy of the
Cadwell Park and by being the first on circuit, I could get heat into my tyres, put in my fast laps traffic-free and then drop back to find somebody to draft.
As we lined up in the assembly area it began to rain. Not particularly heavy at first, more a steady mist, but as soon as we were released it became worthy precipitation. My first lap was cautious, we had a dry setup and the circuit was giving no grip at all. Donington Park sits underneath East Midlands Airport and suffers from aviation fuel constantly being dumped onto the tracks surface. Not much of a problem in the dry but in the wet it becomes an unforgiving layer of grease.
I began to think that by leading the pack I was at a disadvantage in these conditions. I was the one finding the most slippery lines and then getting out of shape. The cars following me, which included John Hughes, Paul Smith and Ian Buxton could see where I was struggling and I'm sure this was helping them to go faster.
So I dropped back. I let three or four cars through and for the following laps I was in formation, doing to them what they did to me. My times were quicker but I became increasingly frustrated with being held up at critical parts of my lap. For instance, I had the confidence to take Sheene Curve a very sideways flat; they were not. As a consequence I was having to get out of the throttle up the hill.
Another spoiled lap and I dropped back some more. Time was running out and I could tell I needed to go faster. My on board lap timer indicated consistent 1.39s (compare this to a dry time of 1.19). I left a large gap and pushed all on my own. I took risks on this lap and as I exited the Old Hairpin I knew I was up on anything previous. I was no longer worrying about when the car ahead was going to brake, or whether the car behind would run into the back of me. I exited McClaines to see Paul Smith had made a mistake at the top of the hill and was fast dropping back towards me. It wasn't until Goddards that I caught him and it cost me some time exiting the final turn and under braking. None-the-less it was a 1.36.1 as I crossed the line and took the checkered flag.
After a short wait for the official times to be published it was confirmed to be a good lap and it put me second fastest. After staggering the results (for the fifth time this year) it put me 4th and on row two for the final race of the day.
The race
The second row represented our highest qualification and further indicated the progress we're making this year. All concerned, including myself, were confident we could score the win, providing of course, nothing goes wrong. And why should it? Cadwell Park was a good result, qualifying was a success and I had never seen the car better prepared.
Jake Oliveria occupied pole with Ian Buxton along side and Martyn Donn and myself making up row two. Behind me was Sam Oliveria in the Jenvey Sheane and the ex-Patrick Sherringham Scarab of Ben Evans. I was pretty sure Sam would get off the line well considering how little rear camber the car runs and knew that I would have to be aggressive to remain at the front.
Lining up on the grid gave me a hint of what was to come. I looked in my mirror to see increasing amounts of blue smoke rising from my engine. I figured it was probably temperature related and kept the engine low until the lights came on. As expected, Sam got alongside into Redgate for the first time and we ran side-by-side through the Creanor Curves where I had little choice but to yeild. I was still making progress, however, and passed Donn on the brakes into McClains.
I was being swamped on the straight and was forced to leave my braking impossibly late to defend positions. I suspected at Cadwell Park that my engine was not the strongest and this was becoming evident even on this first lap.
The next time around I looked in my mirror under the Dunlop bridge to see I was trailing a thick rooster tail of smoke. Game over and I backed off and returned to the pits.
Conclusions
So my bad luck is still with me and I wonder why that is. I mean, can someone tell me what I have to do because I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong. Did I upset someone or is my karma bad? If it's not a decision by the officials, it's a mechanical failure in a car which is immaculately prepared. All this time and I'm still stuck in the middle, fast running out of money and wondering if I'll even be able to complete the season. In two visits I've actually only completed three racing laps of a circuit, for some reason, I'm still incredibly fond of.
