Qualifying
The car had
been sat under a tarpaulin for the previous 6 months so Silverstone was
something of a test run. A leaky gearbox seal during 2005 had supposedly been fixed
but the drips on the floor of the trailer didn’t bode well. Anyway it was good
to get out on the track and for the first few laps the car seemed to behave
itself pretty well. The new suspension was very neutral in the damp corners
allowing oversteer or understeer
as required and everything seemed to be fine. Until the misfire started – first
of all just a mild lack of power but quickly developing into a serious misfire
that meant coming off the track and ending my session early. A time of 1.31
reflected the conditions and my over cautious approach.
Anyway the
good news is that we managed to trace the misfire and the gearbox seal didn’t
appear to be leaking any more.
Race
The lights go
off and I make a great start, only to be swamped by the faster cars that have
qualified behind me – such as the Keating SD1. Get through Copse without drama
but lose time at Becketts as the inside line queues
up, then miss a gear down the following straight losing further ground with the
cars ahead. Follow the similar Mk1 Golf of Keith Smith through Luffield and try to pass down the start/finish straight,
only to miss 5th gear again. Manage to get past the Golf at Becketts but then get stuck behind a Renault 5 and Rover
SD1 and the Golf retakes the place exiting Luffield.
Miss another gear (5th
again) down the following straight but get another chance at the Golf the
following lap, this time keeping the place.
I then try
everything to get past the Renault, I’ve got the grunt down the straights but
he has way better brakes than me so as I go to the inside of every corner he
just keeps going while I’m pushing hard on the middle pedal. As I realise I’m
not going to get past I try a few different lines to see how the new Leda’s
feel and its understeer city. Back at the paddock we
realise that in the panic to fix the misfire we’ve forgotten to set the
suspension and it’s actually on full stiffness all round. Doh
– we won’t do that again.
Next race –
Snetterton, 2nd April.