Thunder Saloon – Round 1 Silverstone
March 28th/29th 2015
Qualifying
Difficult decision to make on tyre choice due to damp but drying track with on and off drizzle in the air, we went with slicks as we had to try and scrub them in for a potentially dry race 1. Brad took his time to bring them up to some sort of temperature then started to put in a lap or two. The track was still greasy in areas which made it very difficult but we managed to scrub tyres. Qualified 11th out of 16.
Race 1
Once again we had the same decision to make with regards to tyres, the weather was consistently changing as were the track conditions. We went with wet tyres as we had gambled in the past on slicks and lost, that and the fact everyone else in the paddock had chosen?wets too. Good start, gained two places in the first bend then a couple more positions a few laps in. The track was rapidly drying which was a problem for the wet tyres so we made the decision to not push the car and just keep position, saving the tyres for a almost guaranteed wet race 2. Finished 7th.
Race 2
The weather was still turbulent for race two. We went with wet tyres as the track was still fairly wet. Another good start passing one car into the first bend. After a couple of laps, just as the brakes and tyres were coming up to temperature, and the rain had got a little heavier, someone dropped oil all the around the circuit on the racing line ,then to make things worse, they have moved off line to avoid their own oil maybe thinking it was someone else’s and covered most of the track. This made for the worse racing conditions Brad had ever driven, it was like driving on ice. Still, Brad managed to keep the car in the circuit where others didn’t and finished 5th.
Another great weekends racing despite the weather.
On to round 2 at Castle Combe.
