A Croft Cockpit View

Tristan Cliffe gives his personal report from the Dallara 398

I thought I’d share, yet again, my view of the weekend for any of you that might be interested. It wasn’t the smoothest weekend I’ve ever had, but then again it wasn’t the worst either. It was our first time at Croft in any capacity (although Andrew had covered the BTCC meeting here earlier in the year as a photographer), so we didn’t really know what to expect. We guessed (wrongly as it turns out) gearing and setup, and kept our fingers crossed that it would all pan out okay.

Tristan in the 398

The track is the most difficult I’ve yet been on – it’s quite bumpy, has some very ‘technical’ corners that demand patience and precision, and has some very quick bits that demand, for want of a better term, balls. It was, therefore, critical that we maximised our track time to learn the circuit and get the car handling nicely, as our rivals had prior experience at the circuit that would give them an initial lap time advantage. This was aided by Simon Davey working his magic and arranging a non-championship race, the practice for which was the first session of the weekend – effectively it was a test session, and our participation in the race (the last Mono session of the weekend) would depend on how we were feeling, and how track-worthy the car was, after the championship races.

I also added a spanner in the works in the shape of new tyres – and not new Avons, as they’d run out of the A53 compound we normally run. The replacements were ‘Silverstone’ tyres from Malaysia (via Service and Sport of Lancashire) that are “Silicon based” as opposed to the oil based tyres we’re used to. The warning that the silicon release agent is incredibly slippery for a couple of laps stayed on my mind, but we had little choice in the circumstances. The saving grace is that the Silvestones were a lot cheaper than Avons, which could tip the balance in their favour

Leading Nick Anstruther, Race1

With all of that in mind, I trickled out of the assembly area for the non-championship practice aware of the lack of the grip. But I hadn’t realised just how little there would be – driving in torrential rain on slicks would have given more! And so it was that I was powerless to stop the spin at the first corner… Once I was pointing in the right direction I continued at an even further reduced pace until a bit more grip became apparent. I wouldn’t recommend attempting to use a brand new set in a race, because there would be a big accident at the first corner. As the tyres started to come on song, and the temperatures and pressures in the car headed towards where they should be I started to speed up, but as I did so the car lost all power and I coasted to a halt on the outside of the Jim Clark Esses. Session over, but I did get to befriend a marshal who was very interested in Monoposto.The problem was a silly one – a fuel line from the tank to the pump had come slightly loose – just enough for air to get in (but not fuel to get out), and of course the pump took the easy option and pumped air into my carburettors. You don’t need to have read my father’s article on fuel to know that air isn’t that good as a gasoline replacement!

With that all fixed (30 seconds of ‘work’) we were ready for the championship practice. The only problem was that I had 4 laps of track experience, whilst everyone else had had about 12. I was on the back foot already, so the only way to catch up was the push. I went out behind Neil and tried to stick with him, but he was almost out of sight before I got up to speed. But I only got one ‘decent’ lap in, before the nut behind the wheel – me – pushed too hard through Sunny, lost it on the exit, and went quite a long way backwards into a ploughed field. I’d like to say that I did it because I wasn’t impressed with the quality of the ploughing, but I can’t find that on in my copy of “Racing Driver Excuses, Vol. 12”, so I’ll blame it on the wrong kind of snow (from “British Rail Excuses, Vol. 3”). I don’t think it was the tyres at fault, just an over eager driver trying too hard too early; you live and learn, and at least I didn’t hit anything. My best lap was still good enough for 3rd on the grid, which shows howquick even a badly driven Dallara is over the well driven Bowmans, Ralts and Reynards behind me.

Leading Lenny Coleman, Race 1

As the race got underway, my start was its usual poor attempt, so we headed down to the first corner with Nick Anstruther on my left and Richard Purcell on my right. One of the big advantages of the Dallara has is on the brakes, so I knew I could brake later, and so it proved. Jeremy nearly dropped it through Tower on the first lap, letting Neil by ahead, but I was too far back to make anything of it. Fairly quickly both of them – Jeremy back ahead on the second lap – disappeared up the road, and in my mirrors the threat from Nick faded. A lonely race beckoned, and so it was (although I was still trying quite hard!) until the slower cars started appearing. Most were very aware and helpful – waving me by or moving offline – which is very nice of them. I work on the principle that we’ve all paid the same amount to be on the track, so we all have equal rights to the tarmac, and I don’t like to cause backmarkers to lose any time having to deal with me. So far, so good, until Doug McLay became next on my list. I got alongside him into the final hairpin – the tightest in the UK – only to discover that he hadn’t seen me. He turned in, our wheels touched, and I was launched into the air and off the track. My wheels seemed to be pointing in the correct direction, so I carried on (and I think Doug did too), by which time Nick Anstruther was on my tail and wondering how easy it would be to get in front. Not easily was the fortunate answer, as I was able to go quicker in the fast stuff and pull out a gap, and we finished like that. Jeremy taking a commanding win (albeit with an occasional misfire) from Neil (no clutch and fading front brakes) from me (I’m sure you can think of something wrong with me), with Nick, Richard and Graham making up the top six. Jeremy’s best lap wasn’t quite under the lap record, and I was still over half a second off this benchmark, so I still had to find something if I was oing to give either of them something to worry about.

Fortunately we had a chance to rest now, as the evening was upon us along with the DDMC BBQ and a Sarah Fern quiz. The quiz was quite enjoyable (especially if you like Monopoly, music and films), but the BBQ was a bit of a disaster really. There was a special queuing system that nobody was told about, so if you were quick witted enough (read: dishonest) you could blag your way to the food, but if you were honest enough (the Cliffes) you sat there for nearly an hour. By the time we did get food (which required some moaning to those in charge, and a certain amount of lying) it was cold and they’d run out of potatoes. And after all that they expected one to cut up a rather tough steak with toy cutlery. My advice – next year, find a pub or a restaurant. Or grub about in a ditch. You’ll get more food, it’ll taste better, and you’ll probably get it before midnight!

Anyway, back to the racing. Sunday’s practice was looming, and I was reasonably sure that I could go quicker having slept and thought about what I was doing wrong. My life was made easier by a misfire on Jeremy’s car that slowed him down a bit (perhaps we could mandate this misfire? He’s normally far too quick in a healthy car), but Neil was driving well and wanted pole. This time I didn’t crash or pull of the track, and I’d set a time that was, according to my pitboard, just 0.3 seconds off pole. My next lap was better, and my dashboard was telling me that I was 0.5 seconds up on my previous best as I went into the last corner – how hard could it be to get to the end of the lap and claim pole? Well, very, as it turns out. Knowing I was on a pole lap meant I jumped on the loud pedal too early, and lost all of my advantage in a long powerslide through and out of the corner. Yet again, the nut behind the wheel fails to take advantage of car! Still, second wasn’t bad, and was preferable to being in a field.

However, I knew that being quick over one lap was different to matching Jeremy or Neil over a race.

Race2, Start. There looks to be plenty of room. There isn't.

And the race didn’t get off to a good start – I stalled at the start of the formation lap, but just got it started before everyone passed me. Therefore I could reclaim my grid slot; but passing people on the formation lap isn’t very easy. They’re weaving all over the place and not really looking in their mirrors for overtaking cars, but I squeezed through in the end. My actual start was only marginally quicker, as Jeremy shot by off the line, and Russ Giles peeped up the inside to see what was going on. But I kept 3rd place, which I now expected to keep until the end of the race if everything went to plan. Jeremy carried on and did his usual disappearing act, whilst Neil was just quick enough to maintain a gap, but slow enough that I was able to stick with him. Like at Mallory I couldn’t catch him, but unlike Mallory it’s possible to lap people without being held up too much, so traffic didn’t work in my favour. At some point into the race – maybe 8 laps in – Neil selected the wrong gear on the start straight, letting me through. The speed he lost made me think that he was retiring, but soon enough he appeared in my mirrors, and with the extra incentive of championship points started to close me down. I was powerless to respond, and soon we were nose to tail through the fast back section heading

Neil's car with Silverstone rubber on it

towards Sunny In. Geoff Fern was ahead, but I think he’d seen us coming. Or had he? My hesitation was more than Neil expected (although I was only a couple of miles per hour slower on that lap at that point), and despite locking up his wheels he wasn’t able to miss me. The contact sent us both off the track, but somehow still able to continue, albeit in reverse order – but how much damage was there? Neil’s front wing and nose was damaged, whilst mine was a bit bend around the diffuser and rear wing. I started to close, Neil’s car clearly less healthy than mine, but there weren’t enough laps to do anything about it. I was, of course, very angry at having been hit out of 2nd, especially as I had planned on moving over for Neil on the last corner so as not to interfere with the championship fight too much. I hadn’t been quicker than Neil, so it seemed unfair that I should cost him two points.

Neil did just the right thing though, by getting out of his car and coming over to say sorry immediately. That completely diffused the situation, and I no longer felt the urge to strangle him – a lesson to us all; say sorry as soon as you can and everyone calms down a lot sooner.

Should we do the non-championship race? If we did, I wanted to experiment with wing angles, so I set about adjusting them whilst Martin and Emma straightened bits of the car as best they could and topping up the fuel. But as soon as I spotted a driveshaft coming lose I called them off – the accident had broken 4 of the six bolts that hold the inner CV joint to the gearbox (on the other side of the car than that that was hit), allowing grease to escape everywhere. Game over for the weekend. That did, however, allow me to watch the race from the grandstand. Neil was ahead off the grid (with a new wing and nose fitted during the brief turnaround period), but Kat Impey was hot on his heels. Every time Neil pulled away, Kat would drag him back in. After a few laps she was all over him looking for a way past, but it was not to be. Neil had a coming together with Len Turner whilst lapping him in the fast part of the circuit, damaging his wheel and tyre, and spinning Len into retirement with a wheel at a dodgy angle. The red flags came out, and the countback gave Neil the win, but in a sporting gesture he tried to give the prizes to Kat as “she would have passed me sooner or later”.

The tyres weren’t all that bad really, but as I’d never been to Croft before a direct comparison was impossible. Maybe, on Avons, I’d have been a second per lap quicker and taken the fight to Jeremy. But then again, I might have been a second per lap slower, or they might have made no difference. If we had the time and money the ideal solution would be to get some new Avons and go testing to see how quick they are. But we don’t have the time or money, and so the test is going to be Snetterton. I’ve got a fairly good idea how quick I am at Snetterton relative to the opposition, so if I’m miles quicker or miles slower than I should be it would be fair to put that mostly down to the tyres. Or would it? And they are a lot cheaper! But are they good enough to mount a championship challenge? So many questions, and most of which are unanswerable, at least until the Snetterton round in a couple of weeks…

Tristan Cliffe