Race Report: Brands Hatch GP (UK Formula Vee)

Filed under: Race Reports on April 16, 2006

Note: Broken images will be fixed shortly.

I’m sticky because I was covered in champagne and it feels absolutely disgusting but I love it. Okay, so I didn’t win, but I did achieve my first podium with a 3rd place finish at the Champion of Brands race this weekend.

Qualifying

Coming off a strong test at Thruxton meant I was reasonably confident that we had a good set-up. The car was mostly unchanged, with the exception of a few minor the front-end adjustments. Conditions were dry and warm, although overcast.

I put in the mandatory three-laps to ensure I was eligible for the race and then began to push. It was soon obvious that the balance of the car was loose, the brake pedal was far too long and for some reason, my steering column seemed off-centre. This would have made for a difficult session anywhere but was made worse by not having seen the circuit before.

None-the-less, I was surprised to find we’d qualified 6th fastest. It was acceptable, but we had a lot of work to do before the race.

The race

At about 3pm it began to rain. A few days ago, the forecast predicted 16 degrees with sunshine and they couldn’t have been more wrong. The severity varied, but it was enough for standing water to grace the circuit long before we were due.

As I lined up on the grid I had renewed enthusiasm for the race. The rain changes everything, not always for the best, but today at least, I was content. If it had been dry, I had anticpated there being a leading group for the duration of the race, slip streaming one another to the flag. It would be hard for anyone to break away due to the race straights and so it would be largely down to tactics.

However, in the wet, that would be too difficult. There is so much spray when following another car it makes visibility impossible and you cannot run at a consistent pace so naturally the field would become more segmented.

I made a reasonable start, which was made difficult by row three being downhill and tried to find grip at the outside of Paddock Hill Bend. I got a good run down the hill and was alongside Burnett on the run up Hailwood Hill to Druids. I’d decided well before braking that I was going to pass Burnett and given that he had the inside line, I’d have to go the long way round. I was past him and into 5th position as we reached the exit and reigning two-times champion Mike Jenvey was next on the road.

The run down Pilgrims Drop on the first lap was difficult as visibility was so horrendous. I switched to different sides of the track to try and gain some reference to where we were but instantly fell back into line as I realised how much standing water there really was. When I reached the base of the drop I could see the two leaders were already making a break. I looked at passing Jenvey out the back but decided it would be much more sensible to make a move down the pit straight and into Paddock Hill Bend. A good drive out of Clearways and I forced myself along side just before the pit lane entrance and we ran side by side past the start-finish line. Now in 4th position I was on the back of Paul Smith as we went through Hawthorns for the second time.

I’d decided that I would pull exactly the same move as before and concentrated on getting a good exit from Stirlings and Clearways so I could make the pass into Paddock Hill Bend. As I got the run out of Stirlings Smith ran wide and spun to the inside, where he would remain.

Lap three and I was already 10 seconds behind Sam Oliveria who was leading from his brother Jake. Exiting from Graham Hill Bend I could not see the cars I was chasing but for the next few laps at least I pushed hard to try and close the gap.

When I could occasionally see in my mirrors, usually on the exit of Surtees, I saw that Jenvey was not far behind. Considering the conditions and the risks I was taking to catch the leaders, I kept a careful watch on the distance between myself and him. When he became closer I knew I had to put in a faster lap and this continued until he (unknown to me) had a spin whilst at Druids for the penultimate time.

Celebrations

The Managing Director of Yophoto, who were the sponsors of this one-off race, kindly presented us with trophies and champagne on the podium as we were photographed by the nations media (no joke!). It was a fantastic result, made even better by the fact nobody noticed my harmless spin on the second to last lap!

Let me congratulate Sam on his maiden win and his brother Jake on second place. But it is the same old story for him, and for the rest of us because we’re all still chasing the same car which has dominated the series for the last two years, albeit now, with a different driver.

Many thanks to Dave Kilburn for the photographs, and Riny for the videos ([1], [2], [3]). They’re 3GP movies, so you may need RealPlayer to view them.

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