Donington Park 30th March 2008 -
Race Progress Report from Andy Shepherd

After the downpours of the last ten days we were incredibly lucky with the weather for the first event of the season - the first drops of rain only fell on our car as we drove home at the end of a long, eventful day.

Colin, Alex and I arrived a little early at the track and, since the 23 was first on the schedule, decided to fire it up so that there would be no problems demonstrating the engine ignition cut-off switch to the scrutineers. Colin had run the engine a couple of days earlier in his workshop, so this was pretty routine...

Even with an auxiliary battery and the 'soft' spark plugs the engine would fire but not run, so we had to resort to tow-starting it through the crowded paddock. Eventually the engine caught, but only on three cylinders, until finally all four chimed in. Colin swapped in the race plugs once the engine was warm, but we still needed another tow start to get to the scrutineering bay. And there we waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually a scrutineer came to check the 23 and was happy with everything - including the engine cut off switch - but said that the brake light pressure switch had to be fixed before we could practice. We borrowed a switch from another competitor and purchased some brake fluid, while Colin and supporter, Mike Cookson, from Newcastle wielded the spanners,  bleed pipes et al. With the brake lights operational again, I drove back to scrutineering, the 23's practice session now already under way. Alex and Mike somehow got the scrutineer to stop what he was doing, re-check our lights and issue the precious sticker, so I could get on track. Having made my way to the Melbourne loop collection area, I was told that, since the session had started I must join it from the Pit lane, so I reversed and threaded my way through the paddock in search of a pit lane entry, only to find when I did that the session had ended by the time I got on track.

With tow trucks removing broken down cars on the circuit I could only drive slowly past the waved yellow flags, but two things were already clear: the winter project of lowered suspension and modified steering arms gave the 23 better turn-in and reduced bump steer, which was very encouraging - but brakes which seemed intent on  staying applied when the pedal was released was not so good. More work for Colin and Mike while I hopped into the Seven for its practice session.

New tyres on the S2 needed to be scrubbed in, which was a shame, because the first two laps of qualifying were the only clear ones I had, so 6th place was a bit disappointing, albeit only 1.5 seconds off the front row times of the Pole-sitting 4.7litre TVR Griffith and Dave Randall's Ginetta G4. Everyone's times were slower than they had been in the past, a lack of grip being the common complaint. Maybe because the tarmac was well washed and perhaps colder than it looked...

Back in the paddock Colin and Mike had the 23 ready to test, a sticking master cylinder being the suspect item, now seemingly suitably cleaned up. A couple of runs through the paddock convinced me it was fine, so we were all looking forward to seeing what we could do in the race, starting from the back of the grid...

I couldn't see the starter's red lights from the 23's low down position behind other taller cars, so when they moved I dropped the clutch and sped off after them. I took three into the first corner and picked off more as I went round, the fantastic acceleration and good cornering making these early overtaking manoeuvres easy. After a lap and a half I'd apparently passed nine cars, but then another 23 lost it in a big way as he entered the pit straight, getting on the power too early and spearing into the Pit wall. He was OK, I think, but the car was a mess, so the red flag came out and we waited for it to be cleared up before a re-start; we were placed in the order at the end of the previous lap, so I was only about six places higher up the grid. The engine was now starting easily on its race plugs and I made a good getaway as the race began once more. But now a misfire  appeared - one moment all 165 horses were tugging at the reins, the next the 23 seemed to be dragging them - and it was typically after turning in to a corner that this power cut appeared. I 'd dive inside somebody under the brakes, then almost stop in front of him in mid-corner. Then the power would kick in and I'd have to catch a tail slide, before it went again. On the straights it took a varying number of yards to power up before the process repeated itself at the next bend.

Still, despite this I finished, and came 16th out of 34 starters, and the car was intact. We have two races in the 23 at Cadwell Park in a fortnight and are confident of having the misfire problem fixed by then.

The Seven's race was more a case of the driver having a mis-fire; the car was superb on the fast sweeps but I was incapable, it seemed, of adapting my braking points to suit the obviously lower level of grip available, losing time particularly at Redgate and the Chicane, the two places where I should have been overtaking other cars. On about the second lap I flew past Martin Halliday's 7 under braking at the Chicane only to run out of road and  threaten to carve a new pit entry lane there, but mercifully I got the car sideways just before the wall, missing it by all of 30 centimetres or so... The net result of all this was that I finished one place higher than my grid position in fifth, but only because Frazer Gibney's 2nd row-starting Elan had a coming together with Paul Tooms' similar car. On the plus side, I posted second fastest lap to Dave's winning G4 by virtue of accidentally getting my braking points nearly right on only the ninth lap... But the car ran well!

We all went home tired, but looking forward to Lincolnshire's challenge, and hoping for greater things.

Andy Shepherd