Marty with the crew from Absolute Race Engineering getting the car ready
We have arrived at Brands Hatch for the historic event and rather than give a long report at the end I thought you might want some rolling stories with plenty of photos.
Marty has fitted the FVC engine to his Chevron with 265 hp so it should be on the pace this weekend. Lance and myself have been required to run Dunlop tyres and we are also running on smaller wheels. The Macon has 8”on the Front and 10” on the rear. The front tyres are about 4”taller than the old so we have been trying to lower the car and keep some kind of handling. The Lotus, and Macon have new local shocks so that should help and Lance has had the Brabham rebuilt.
Henry has repaired the gearbox but will not be running with a first gear but the Holden should be able to carry the load.
It is 1 pm on Friday and Marty is scheduled to practice this afternoon. For those that think we pay a lot for practice two 20 minute periods is about 250 pounds so the rest of us opted to watch and we will walk the track tonight.
Qualifying on Saturday morning
Lance at Scrutineering
Marty was out first with the European F2 cars and the Chevron went very well. Although Marty and Lance practiced yesterday it was on the Indy circuit and not the GP track. Consequently there was only 3 corers the same. He then gave some tips to the Formula Junior drivers who are out tomorrow. The weather is 29 degrees and the locals are finding it extremely hot.
The next event was for the Classic racing cars which included Lance, Henry and myself.
Although I walked the circuit last night it was a bit different in reality. My strategy was to follow some of the F3 cars around as they know where to break and turn. This I did for a few laps and then managed to get one reasonable lap but now where like the front runners that have spent a lifetime on the circuit. The corners which I found challenging were the two blind ones of Paddock Hill Bend and Sheene Curve as well as Surtees. Lance and me are now running on narrow rims and Dunlop tyres which are less predictable than Avons and call for a different style. On one lap I drove through Surtees with a huge amount of over steer which hopefully may give a few good photos.
Henry and his friend Chris had managed to set up the Alton through the week and he was all smiles at the end saying it was the best the car had handled.
Lance qualified in 1.45.8
Neil in 1.48.0 and
Henry in 2.05.0
All three of us were learning the track and we should be able to get a better result this afternoon if everything goes well.
Saturday at Brands
The first day has now concluded with Marty getting a blinder of a start and moving up several places at the start and the car ran great for the entire meeting Marty managed to come 3rd in class out of a large field and with a time of 1.31 for his fastest lap.
Lance and Neil in combat
Lance, Henry and myself all went out in the Classic Racing cars. Lance qualifies 16th, I qualified 23rd and Henry 36th out of a very large field. The weather was hot and the pace was very quick. All our cars performed well with Lance coming in 11th and I was about ½ second behind in 12th with Henry in 26th position. At the end of the race we were all funneled into Parc Ferme and the English were all complaining of the heat. We all said it was still pretty cool compared to Australia and they were all dumb founded.
I was happy with the final results taking a further 4 seconds off my qualifying time and getting the fastest lap in our category.
All the cars are in good condition with Marty running tomorrow and Brian and Peter in the Formula Juniors.
Final Day at Brands
It was another very hot day (for the UK) here at Brands Hatch. They tend to run certain categories on either Saturday or Sunday so most of the Paddock was stocked with different cars this morning. First out was Peter Boel and Brian Searles in the Formula Juniors. Formula Juniors in the UK are quite professional with large fields and professional teams that help rather than the system we are used to in Australia.
Cars at Paddock Bend
Brian and Peter spent a fair amount of their qualifying time behind a safety car but managed to get in only a couple of full laps with Peter about 16th position and Brian about 25 spot. At one point Brian had to leave the track and ran all wheels outside the circuit and hence summonsed to the Stewards and given a reprimand
Marty was the first to race just after lunch and did very well in a large field of mainly 2 litre F2 cars. Marty was able to have the Chevron singing and it was great to watch as he handled Padock and Druids
The next race was for the Formula Juniors. This was a large field and both Peter Boel and Brian Searles drove very well given the locals know the track extremely well and the cars are tuned for each circuit. Peter was presented with a trophy for a class win with Brian second in that class.
