OEKC Round 5 – Whilton Mill
July 29th 2012
A hard days work.
We had a very hard days racing! During practice we played with a few setup changes and found quite a good balance for the race. Unfortunately the engine we used for today seemed to lack bottom end power which was costing us time exiting slow corners. We qualified in 12 position and knew we had our work cut out for us today.
The race started and we kept with the pack but the bottom end power was hindering us greatly. On top of this, the brake issue we have experienced on and off all year was back. Not only were we slow on exit but also having to brake earlier on entry. We had another 10+ teams behind us and were struggling to move forward in the race.
An hour had passed and we were still 12th! we completed our first pit stop and Jon continued. After around 15 minutes of his stint we picked up a front right puncture. We decided to continue with a slower pace as the rain looked like it was coming. We were in 18th position by now and sure enough, the rain came. We stayed out on slicks with a puncture while others came in for wet tyres. We were now up to 5th position and lapping quite nicely.
The rain continued to fall for another 50mins. We made another stop and had to change wheels but kept with the slick tyres. Richard continued and the weather dried up. We were back in 12th again! after the tyre stop. We ended the day in 10th position and were thankful for the rain because this is all that helped us sadly.
