Donington Park 5th April 2009 -
Race Progress Report from Andy Shepherd

The 23 had spent all of the close season waiting for its gearbox to be rebuilt, but the Seven was ready to roll, after its 75 minute run in the Birkett Relay race at the end of last season. With just days to go, Hewland finally delivered the new crown wheel and pinion, the box was duly put together and Colin and I installed it in the car. Before loading the trailer we even squirted it up and down the school driveway outside my garage, so all seemed well set. The raceday weather could not be faulted, especially before mid-day when one might even describe it as 'warm'. The 23 was the first to qualify, and therein lay the challenge...

Donington is due to host the British Formula One Grand Prix in 2010, and so a lot of construction work is now under way; a new access road into the infield, well away from the existing pit infrastructure, has been built under the track between McLeans and Coppice, the underpass being capped with a stretch of concrete... The MSA, UK motor sport's governing body, inspected the track before the start of the season and refused to renew the circuit's licence, because of the 'hazard' presented by these two bits of concrete, a few metres from the track's edge, despite them being well protected with energy absrorbing materials. Our club was faced with having to cancel the meeting until, at the eleventh hour, the authorities grudgingly allowed the racing to go ahead, as long as the approch to the two corners and all track in between was deemed to be covered with waved yellow flags - ie absolutely NO overtaking.

If we were all lapping within a couple of seconds of each other, that wouldn't be a massive obstacle to qualifying, but in the Guards Trophy race we had three cars in the 1m40s bracket to my 23's 1m25s, and among the Historic Road Sports competitors five were slower than 1m40seconds... So every time you met one of those cars in the 'yellow zone' your lap time was ruined. Luckily, I had one clear lap with the 23 and so managed a 1m25.1s to put me 13th overall on the grid of 36 and first in my small class. The shorter final drive ratio in the 23 this season meant a lot more gear changing, 5th now being regulary employed on any reasonable straight.

The Seven's session was very similar, but I ruined one potentially good lap by outbraking myself inside Martin Halliday's S3 Seven into the chicane in a repeat of last year's race manoeuvre, bouncing over the grass onto the pit straight, the only damage being to my pride... Thanks to modern Yokohama tyres, I was able to match the 23's time, earning 3rd slot on the 28-car grid, behind Andrew Marler's Elan and Julian Dodd's TVR Griffith. Peter Shaw's Elan and Martin's S3 a second or so behind.

In the afternoon it turned a little cooler, and the wind picked up. Chris Rea dropped by to examine my Seven - he was a few rows behind my 23 in the Guards race in a 26R Elan - and we both sang the Seven's praises for a while; he was looking forward to getting a new Caterham R500 this week, 'Just going to the shops for a newspaper in a Seven gives you a big smile' - a real enthusiast, and a nice bloke.

Colin adjusted the 23's gear linkage so that I'd be able to use 1st gear for the start, and I put it to good use as the lights went out, holding my own into the first corner and around the first lap staying in 13th spot. On lap 2 one of the Chevron B8s went off, promoting me to 12th as I dipped into the 1m24s, chasing after a well driven E-type
for three more laps, getting quicker and quicker - and then we hit backmarkers in the yellow zone, and he was gone, the dice of time letting him get ahead of the slower car just before the 'no overtaking' section began, me stuck behind the slower car for several seconds as the E accelerated away... A retirement on lap 6 promoted me
to 11th overall and first in class, until, on the last lap I felt something odd - either an engine misfire or something in the gearbox was not quite happy, so I immediately switched off and coasted down the back straight, through the chicane, into the pitlane, through the scrutineering bay and back into the paddock. Then I got out and pushed the 23 back to our spot, with some very welcome help from a passer by. Spirits were naturally dampened somewhat, but we had to get ready for the Seven's race without checking the 23 further.

Off the line I was outgunned by Peter Shaw's Elan, but manged to give hot pursuit all around the track, barely 6 tenths behind him at the end of the first lap, with Andrew Marler leading Julian Dodds just ahead of us. On the second lap Peter did a 1m24.90s, while I clung on grimly with a 1m24.99s. Lap three saw Peter's Elan circulate in 1m24.37, while the little Seven achieved a 1m24.33! I was making ground through the fast sweeps of the Craner curves, and carrying more speed through the Old Hairpin, but Peter was quicker up the hill to McLeans and faster from Coppice in the run to the chicane, and while I was later on the brakes for the chicane, from there to Redgate Peter had the edge. At the end of lap four there was still only seven tenths of a second between us, but my brakes and tyres now fully warmed it was time to try and outbrake Peter into Redgate... It was a little crude, the Seven bouncing over the apex kerbs and sliding across Peter's path on the exit, the natural consequence of the tighter entry line, but I kept it on track, and on the power, and with the Craners approaching I had a chance of making the move stick. I stayed a little left and, though the car drifted right at 95mph on the exit it soon settled and i knew Peter couldn't outbrake me into the Old Hairpin, so didn't need to adopt a defensive line there. Exit speed here is critical to the run uphill to Mcleans, and I had it under control. At the end of lap 5 I was almost a second in front, and lap six saw back markers begin to intervene in the yellow zone, putting Peter 2.5 seconds adrift. The next lap he was 3.5 seconds behind, and it looked all over bar the shouting, but on the following tour Peter did a blinding 1.23.9 to get within two seconds of me. Then I got the worst of the yellow zone courtesy of Richard Thorne's Morgan 4/4, and Peter was right back on my tail, crossing the line just 7 hundredths behind! At the end of the tenth lap he was in a safe third place, my Seven being parked up at the exit of Coppice, having spluttered out of fuel with three minutes to go... The race over, I climbed back in and the dregs of petrol that had by then collected at the bottom of the tank took me a few hundred yards back to the paddock, where another push got me back to our spot! Two DNFs ('Did Not Finish') in one day?

After checking each of the 23's spark plugs for tell-tale damage we ran the engine, which sounded fine We then drove around the emptying paddock to listen to the gearbox, which also sounded OK - but couldn't get up enough speed safely to try the higher gears. Did I just drive over some invisible debris out on track? Is there a high temperature misfire? We'll need to do some testing to be sure before the 23's next race, at Silverstone in May. For the Seven the next event is Cadwell Park, in beautiful Lincolnshire on th e19th of April - with a slightly heavier fuel load! And a pleasant surprise awaited when the Guards trophy results were published - my 23 was classified 11th overall and first in class, since I must have free-wheeled past the chequered flag as I rolled down the pit lane - so some good luck after all...

Andy Shepherd