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James Cater Racing

~ Realising the childhood dream…

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Tag Archives: snetterton 300

Snetterton 300 – Rounds 13 & 14

29 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

750 motor club, formula vee, joovuu, motor racing, oil, podium, racing, snetterton 300, trophy

Snetterton 300 – Rounds 13 & 14

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We had a new engine sat on the bench for next year, so with the disaster at Silverstone it was easier to salvage all the internals from the wrecked engine and get next years engine in the Sheane early.

Glenn did all the work in time for us to have a non-running car on display for the SPEAR (Sue Pike Equine Animal Rescue) charity open day. I’m not sure rescued animals would have fully appreciated a running engine, anyway, but the day went well with dog and horse shows and lots raised for the great cause.

However, when small children are jumping in and out of your racing car all day long, they apparently want to flick every switch in sight, and be warned if you have a brake bias adjuster in your cockpit at such events… I’ll come back to that point later…

A lot of other drivers either tested the day before the race at Snetterton, or took advantage of a 30 minute session at the start of the day on Saturday – unfortunately our preparation meant we could only be loaded up and on our way (very) early on Saturday, and so couldn’t test the new engine.

Qualifying

Knowing so many others were already warmed up and dialled in to the circuit, I opted to try and tag onto one of my usual sparring partners whilst using the bits of track information I’d gained from playing Project Cars, watching YouTube videos, and reading track guides.

The sun was shining and the track grippy and warming up as we headed out.

It’s surprising how well you remember a track you haven’t been on for a year, and it doesn’t take long to drop into the groove – however, you have to make sure you get 3 laps in to be able to qualify for the race, and with such a long lap this is half the session!

To make things worse, just as I was on my second lap and starting to push now the tyres were getting warm, the red flags came out to stop the session.

I didn’t see any of it, but Neil Aldridge had put a wheel on the grass on the exit of a corner, getting it sideways, and Bill Stanier had nowhere to go as he came off the corner behind. It looked like a pretty hard contact with both cars badly damaged and out for the day, but both drivers were unhurt.

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The clean-up meant we sat in the pit lane for 20 minutes before we were finally let out again – but as this was only for another 2 laps I’d barely got up to speed again before the session ended. This wasn’t too terrible timing for me, as when I came into the pits for the red flag the car was stuck at 2,000rpm. Glenn checked it over and worked his magic with the spanners, and I still managed to get out on track with everyone else.

I tagged onto David Leniewski, sneaking past him but not able to shake him, and held him up twice at the hairpin as I struggled to find 2nd gear again (it was fine before!).

I was trying to get a bit of a move on, throwing the car into a few corners, but for some reason it didn’t feel like I was going very quickly.

After my 11th place overall finish last year, I was a bit disappointed to qualify 22nd and 21st for the races, but given the circumstances and lack of track time figured it wasn’t too bad.

The engine was making a few funny noises but the throttle problem wasn’t anything major. All my suspension settings seemed ok with the time I’d had, so I left it all the same, thinking any improvement would be more likely to come from me for the race.

Perhaps more seriously, I had Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” stuck in my brain, and was sure there’d be 3 seconds a lap improvement if I could just get the damned tune out of my head!

Race 1

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They lined us all up on the grid extremely closely, so I knew straight away it would be tough to find any sort of gap even if I got a good start.

The lights went out, and I blasted away with another great start, but then had nowhere to go. Finding some space around the outside, I made up 5 or 6 spaces on my second attempt, but then got hung out around the outside of the first turn as most of them got back up my inside.

Sam Engineer must have got an absolute flyer as he passed me into the hairpin – but now Dolly Parton had gone, and I got my head back in the game.

I passed Sam on the brakes into Agostini, locking the front wheels up all over the place as I pushed harder than I had been all day, and I remembered the brake bias adjuster, and all those inquisitive hands twisting it as they sat in the car. I made a mental note to tip the balance back towards the rear as soon as I got chance.

Jamie Harrison also had a bit of a lock-up in front of me, with Andrew Cooper sandwiched between all the tyre smoke somehow keeping out of trouble.

I tucked into Cooper’s slipstream down the straight, slipping through on the brakes into Brundle, chasing down Harrison to go down his inside into the hairpin. It seemed I had found the sweet spot with my brake balance again!

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I also decided to take the hairpin in 3rd gear, rather than trying to find 2nd, as I couldn’t see a massive difference between the two.

I tried to tuck in behind a James Harridge as he worked his way back up the grid after a spin, which lasted all of 20 seconds – but did pull me onto the back of Darren Lomas.

Making use of a good exit onto the finish straight, I held onto his tow to get around the outside before we got to the first turn, and then tried to hang onto the rapidly disappearing Harridge hoping the horde of cars behind would trip each other up.

Alex Jones must have also gone off somewhere, as he passed me into the chicane, and I could see Lomas, Cooper and Harrison all very clearly in my mirrors again.

To my surprise, I was also catching European karting champion Harry Webb – who must have been suffering some problems – as Harrison overtook Lomas in my mirrors and piled on the pressure.

As I powered out of the hairpin I saw a thick line of oil (Alex Jones had hit Craig Bell, damaging his oil cooler) on the racing line all through Palmer corner.

It was one of those spills that was impossible to avoid, as at some point in the corner you had to either brake or turn on the oil. All you can do is adjust your line to minimise this, and hold on for the ride!

I got through alright with Harrison still on my tail, but could see that Lomas had dropped right back.

With the hard-braking into the next corner at Agostini, I had to make the choice to either slow down and risk Harrison overtaking me, or go for it and risk being the first one to spin off into the wall.

Being a bit of an idiot, I quite enjoy sliding around on oil, and managed to keep the nose at the right end of the car. As I slithered over the exit curb I saw a flash of blue and yellow as Harrison went off backwards – not hitting anything, but being unable to restart and so ending our battle.

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Going into Hamilton – a small lift or even flat out but only one line through – was always going to be an interesting experience, but I somehow held that one, too, after several stages of lurid slide!

I could see Bell pulling onto the grass after the next corner, so was pretty sure that was the end of the oil, and got the hammer down, braking a little earlier and shifting a few rpm sooner knowing I now had a considerable gap over Lomas, with nobody within my sights ahead. There’s no point crashing out of a sure thing, but you also don’t want to lose your rhythm and slow too much or make a mistake.

The last lap board came out and I knew I just had to manage that gap and keep it safe on the oily bits, still getting it pretty sideways but virtually crawling around Hamilton successfully back onto grippy tarmac.

Driving out of the last corner towards the finish line I realised I must be well up the pointy end of the B Class, and began to suspect I was in the top 3!

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A quick count of the cars in the holding area confirmed the B class was won by Jack Wilkinson with James Harridge 2nd – and some newbie called James Cater had finally fought his way to a trophy!

Race 2

Phew – that was long, wasn’t it? Fortunately (for you, the reader – not me) this one will be a lot shorter.

I made up a couple of places off the line but got blocked again and had to lift right off.

Within a few corners I’d edged past David Leniewski and caught the tail of Darren Lomas and Mark Egan, so all was set to resume the scrap with the big group before the oil in the first race.

On the second lap Jamie Harrison (after a terrible start) passed me down the back straight, followed a few corners later by Andrew Cooper.

I was driving much harder through the corners – for example, where I was dabbing the brakes hard into the first turn in the first race, in this one I was just giving a small lift… and yet I just couldn’t hang with anyone!

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I managed to retake Cooper and stay ahead for a lap until he re-passed me and pulled out a little, and then he managed to hold that gap until the finish. I was clearly missing something, and think we’d lost some engine power.

Alex Jones somehow came from behind me once again (I don’t know how he keeps getting behind me like that!), but other than that my mirrors were empty.

I brought it home a fairly lonely 18th (perhaps appropriately for the final race of the season?) and 5th in Class B, but did enjoy the drive!

After the flag a mixture of lack of concentration and “I wonder if I can take the corner like THIS” into the first turn meant I clipped a high part of the curb and ended up all kinds of out of shape on the grass on the exit. My main thought was that if I spun after the flag I might get into Trouble with the Clerk of Course, so that motivated me to save it somehow as I bounced wildly over the mud!

But nobody saw that bit, right?

I think hitting that curb bent something, as the car was pulling left as I came in – oops!

Up front was titanic as ever, with Paul Smith winning a controvercial photo finish over Dave Hughes, and Adam Macaulay a tenth of a second back from them!

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So I have my first B Class podium after so many 4th places, and I’m chuffed to bits!

No doubt I’ll do a year review – but for now I’ll be looking forward to getting back on track for the Vee Festival at Brands Hatch on the last weekend of October. It’s cracking value for track time, and I hope a lot of UK cars turn out for it, because I know the Irish will come over in force again!

Snetterton 300 Formula Vee – 12 & 13 September 2015

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing

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Tags

2015 championship, 750 motor club, driving, formula vee, learning, novice, overtaking, qualifying, race report, racing, rain, rookie, snetterton 300, spin, video footage, wet

Snetterton 300 Formula Vee – 12 & 13 September 2015

As soon as I’d slithered around the first few corners I was finding cars going much more slowly than I felt I could go.  All doubts gone as I dropped into the zone, I pulled out past them, opting to feel the track out at my own pace rather than take the safe option of following someone else.

After the torrentially wet Silverstone test day, I though I’d learned nothing – but maybe it had helped me.  I had a lot of confidence in the car, and it was only when a car spun in front of me that I panic braked, locked the front, put a wheel on the grass, and around I went.

It was no drama, and in the 5 laps I had to qualify, I spun another 3 times – still managing to clock the 15th best time of the 22 cars listed!

Above all, I found it great fun!  The times themselves weren’t worth much with massive differences making it a bit of a lottery, and I thought I’d most likely drop back in the dry for race 1.

After an ok launch the start line, I found myself up with the experienced drivers Martin Snarey, Tony Mitchell and William Stenning, when things settled down.  I was up to 11th on track but then started to drop down the order, as I wasn’t able to find much speed through the first corner and most of the infield section.

After losing about 4 places in one lap (I left it in 4th gear through the infield – doh!), I gave myself a mental slapping and watched the cars in front, braking later than wherever they were braking, and soon began reeling them all back in.

I swapped positions with Tony and Martin until they both got past me again. Tony went a bit wide onto the back straight, and I got a good exit to pull out of his slipstream and outbrake him (and nearly myself!) and made up a lot of ground on Martin.

The lap before I’d managed to get my front wheels alongside Martin into Coram, and this time I thought I’d see if I could complete the move. Getting a good run through the Bomb Hole, I closed in on Martin and seeing I had room kept it pinned in 3rd around the outside of him on the dirty line.

I caught him totally by surprise and flew past, skating sideways into the braking area and just about pulling it back into line to get around the left hander onto the main straight still ahead.

Feeling pretty chuffed with myself, I then saw the chequered flag was out!

I’d snatched an ecstatic 12th place – which then became 11th after Graham Gant was excluded for being under the weight limit. By far my best result, and more than I would have ever hoped for in my second race meeting!

Massive thanks to Tim Probert and the Vee Centre for organising the free BBQ on Saturday night, too – I got to relax and chat to a lot of the other drivers and their crews over a can of beer and great food. This kind of event is especially brilliant for us shy newbies, who struggle to match up names to faces and then match them all up again with the cars and helmets on track! I’m trying to get around all the drivers for a chat, but that’s almost as hard as the racing side of things!

Race 2 saw Snarey fly off ahead but left me in a battle with Wes Burton as I watched Tony Mitchell and William Stenning scrapping it out ahead.

I didn’t push anywhere near as hard as I should have at the start of the race, and although I was 5 seconds per lap faster, everyone else was even quicker!

Wes’s engine sadly blew as he slipstreamed me down the pit straight, leaving me trailing the two ahead.

I got up to a decent pace on the last lap, finally catching Tony and reaching the finish line 0.05 secs behind him to finish 17th overall of the 19 finishers.

This might look disappointing on paper, but I drove much better, and at that pace I should have been in the big gaggle fighting for 11th place again, if I’d gone harder at the start.

More importantly, I still enjoyed it and came away happy!

To keep this short(er), I’ll do another blog with my full post-race analyses.

ONBOARD VIDEO FOOTAGE:

Qualifying:

Race 1:

Race 2:

Snetterton 300 Formula Vee – Preparation and not wanting to be there

15 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Rules & Regulations

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Tags

#18, 750 motor club, confidence, formula vee, james cater, open wheel, preparation, psychology, qualifying, racing, snetterton 300, vw camper

Snetterton 300 Formula Vee – Preparation and not wanting to be there

My second ever race weekend, with the goal of finishing all the sessions intact and getting signatures for my licence upgrade.

We chose not to test the day before, and set off at 5am for the long drive to Snetterton in horrible weather conditions.

At the circuit I had a quick chat to the other drivers, then signed on attended the New Drivers Briefing.

When getting the car scrutineered, I forgot to bring my signing on sheet, then forgot my gloves and balaclava, then had to trek back across the paddock yet again to fetch my camera mounting, before getting a mild bollocking about my tinted visor.

We were called to the assembly area quicker than I expected, so I donned all my kit and then found the car was totally dead!

Glenn shorted across the starter motor with a screwdriver, and luckily it fired up, so I shot through the paddock, not knowing where the Hell I was going, before eventually catching up with everyone after asking for directions (thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Steve Ough!)!

I sat in the holding area with all the other cars, staring out across a very wet track, and was fully aware that I did not want to be there at all. I don’t really know what it was, but I wasn’t happy with anything.

I’d struggled to find any videos showing the 300 layout, and only done that last minute, so didn’t really know where the track went.  I worried I’d be far too slow, or just spin off everywhere, and miserably decided to trundle around and try to qualify for the (forecast) dry races.

I had a feeling I wouldn’t even get the car back safely…

I took one last deep breath and tried to force myself to focus, and then followed the pack onto the puddle-filled tarmac for my first ever lap of Snetterton, and my first time ever on a wet track with all the other Vees…

Of course, then I stalled it.

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