Club Lotus - Cambridgeshire

Lotus Seven

 

In qualifying Bruce Stapleton claimed Pole in his Morgan Plus 8 with a 1m48.65s lap, Paul Tooms' Elan second fastest four tenths behind. Less than two tenths adrift of him were myself and Andrew Marler, the easy winner of the previous round at Snetterton, me a scant four hundredths ahead of his Elan. Then Martin Halliday's Seven S3 (1m50.0s) and Peter Shaw's Elan (1m51.0s). Robert Barrie's 911 was flying with 1m51.9s and Frazer Gibney, Caterham racer and last year's winner only managing 1m52.4s in his Elan. Andrew and Frazer were surely capable of better things and must have simply failed to get a clear unobstructed lap round this superb track.

 

If only I had the confidence in my back axle to practice starts, I might do better... Still, Andrew Marler powered past me only to slide into the welcoming Paddock bend gravel, barely a hundred yards into the race - at least I was still a contender, albeit now behind Martin Halliday, Frazer Gibney, Peter Shaw and Robert Barrie.  I challenged the 911 into Graham Hill, but Robert was having none of it, so I bided my time until the exit of the next bend, the crucial Surtees uphill hairpin leading onto the back straight. My better exit speed allowed me to pull alongside and hold the inside line down to Hawthorns, brake a little later and - even entering off-line to the right - exit with more speed. Through Westfield, Stirling's and Clearways I gained ground on Peter Shaw's Elan and entered Paddock on the right in my now familiar overtaking mode, braking late and deep to the apex, just as I had done last September in the Indy circuit race. I passed Peter, but in so doing missed the yellow flag being waved because of Andrew Marler's Elan stuck in the gravel; I think the marshal's post on the left of the corner entry was probably out of my view, obscured by Peter's car as I moved up and past it - or else I was simply over-focused on that apex kerb... Anyway, the Clerk of the Course let me off with a warning when the race was over, largely, he said, because Peter dropped out later on lap seven, so I 'had gained no advantage'...

 

Martin was just half a second ahead in 4th place, and was surgically precise in his car placement, preventing me from a move out of Westfield on the approach to Dingle Dell/Sheene curve. But after Stirling's I went for my 'brake to the apex' line into Clearways, sufficiently spoiling Martin's line to be just ahead as we crossed the line at the end of the second lap. But Martin was not about to throw in the towel and made a brave move on the inside into Surtees at the start of the GP loop, then continued to drive impeccably, shaving 4 tenths off his grid time while holding me at bay! On lap four I made a perfect exit from Surtees and slipstreamed Martin on the long run to Hawthorns, darting right at the last to take third place. Quick runs through Westfield and Sheene put me a few tenths ahead of him and on the tail of Frazer, who was indeed circulating a second faster than his qually time. Repeating my Clearways move on him, then holding to the right down the pit straight to protect my inside line into Paddock, I posted the first 1m49s lap of the race and was now in third place.

 

But what I couldn't understand was why the leaders were not so far ahead, after four traffic-free laps for them; Bruce was clearly trying to do a Prost, and win at the lowest possible speed... The two second deficit to Paul Tooms' Elan was eliminated in the course of the next lap, my faithful mount slipping to the right at the end of the pit straight to take him into Paddock, then quickly crossing back to the right to defend the approach to Druids. Paul was unable to get within a second of his qualifying time throughout the race, for whatever reason. So now only Bruce's Plus 8 was ahead of me - 'only'! The gap was four seconds at the end of lap five, almost halfway through the race, but we were already lapping slower cars, so there was hope - but I suspected Bruce of 'managing' the gap. On lap six AND lap seven I helped him by trying to take the classic line through Paddock - since for the first time here I was neither attacking nor defending - but both times ran out of room under braking, only just making it through, at reduced speed. (The more you go off line, the dirtier the track, the lower the grip, the more you go off line...) So the gap was now four and a half seconds. But on lap eight, Bruce posted his slowest lap of the race, 1m52.3s, enabling a more Paddock-careful Seven racer to reduce the deficit to three seconds. On lap nine Bruce posted his fastest lap as we both passed Chris Gawne's Lancia Aurelia for the second time, and the gap was up to 3.6 seconds. Not to be outdone, 'Blue Streak' clocked the fastest lap of all, three hundredths quicker than my grid time, but Bruce's 1.9 second lead as we entered the last lap seemed insuperable. I was still gaining on him, though, I could see that, and flying through the blind entry into Sheen curve I was on his bumper and went for the inside approach to Stirling's. But ever-so politely, professionally and firmly, that door was closed. My heart sank - there was no way I could out drag a Plus 8 to the line from Clearways. I dropped back very slightly, so that my entry to the Clearways apex would be unimpaired and my exit speed optimised, then buried my right foot as soon as I dared. To my astonishment, I was still gaining on the Morgan - sure, my exit speed helped, but now it was a power thing... Incredulity was swamped by joy as I flashed across the line a third of a second ahead of him after 20 minutes sport - a win!

 

On the podium afterwards it transpired that Bruce's fanbelt had come off early in the race - Paul Tooms said he'd seen it go! - and the temperature gauge was dominating Bruce's drive. However, he's had this problem for some time now - he complained about it at Oulton Park last year - so he didn't really deserve to win, did he? Protune would never let a problem like that persist with my 'magnificent' Seven!

 

 

Lotus 23

 

Qualifying was interrupted by a car - actually several - in gravel traps, so was effectively two separate mini-sessions. Water temperature was fine on this lovely hot summer's day, so the radiator ducting fitted post-Silverstone was working. Unfortunately the brakes got spongy towards the end of the session.  Eighteenth fastest out of 39 cars, fastest in my class, was OK, but nothing special.

 

In Colin's absence, (on a family holiday), David Nairn kindly bled my brakes while I pumped the pedal, but in the race, after only 9 minutes, my brakes went spongy again. Having to pump them more and more I considered pulling in and calling it a day, but then the safety car was deployed for an E-type in the gravel at Stirling's, so instead I went for an early (compulsory) one minute pit stop. Engine temperature didn't go too high as I left the engine running, and brakes were noticeably better when I rejoined. But all too soon I was stuck behind a Diva GT that didn't understand safety car procedure - we were in danger of being caught by the safety car rather than joining the end of the 'snake' as intended. Several laps later the SC signs and waved yellow flags were withdrawn and the race was on again. Within three laps or so the brakes started going off once more. I was determined to master the skill required, but arriving at a corner like Hawthorns and finding it takes longer than expected - ie more pumps - before the car slows doesn't help smooth gear changing, or good entry lines. Also, the stamping process of panic pumping tends to lock the fronts when the brakes finally bite... I tried moving my left foot across to do the pumping, but there isn't enough room in the 23 footwell - the steering column gets in the way. Still, I managed to keep a 4.8 litre TVR behind me to the finish.

 

Was it smart or brave to carry on, or stupid and foolhardy? It's the ultimate dilemma of motor sport; teasing risk rather than being blatantly rash, testing the limits of you and your car's ability whatever the car or the circumstances. But when risk to others rises - as when in this race a couple of years ago, with rain and steamed up visor and glasses, I simply couldn't see - retirement is the only choice. I think the boiled brake fluid experiment was worth it - you never know when in an endurance race such a skill might get you to the flag. And, astonishingly, once I had adjusted my style and come to terms with it, my lap times only suffered by a couple of seconds! Finishing 13th overall, and second in class to an excellent Matt Newman, was some reward. Brake ducting to be installed for our next event...