8 July 2009: Croft

The morning of the race, 8th of July dawned bright and sunny which made a nice change from previous years when it was always chucking it down! The Blade would be travelling down in the back of the Moore’s transporter (thank you Simon) which was great news as this meant the car would not have to be dismantled to go in the school minibus. It also meant that we would be having the skills of Sarah and David. Sarah is currently leading the British Ginetta Junior Championship with David not far behind. Along with Josh, Little Geek, and Plonker they would be driving during the day. Our pit crew would be Radar, Gina, Alex and James (mainly picked for their tea making skills.) Mr. Bolger would be in charge of media and Mr. Hutchinson just in charge!

We arrived at Croft just slightly after the car which was already unloaded and sat in the garage.

Fortunately we got through scrutineering with only a few problems which we will get sorted prior to our next race. The intention was not to do any practise laps and save the car for the race. This was probably for the best as we missed practise anyway and the cars were already out for the F24+ race!

The car was already prepped and only the tyres needed pumping up. This was not without its problems and I rather enjoyed watching Radar attempting this simple task. We finally worked out that our pump is useless and we will need a new one in the future. Anyway as the one o’clock start approached, Josh was loaded into the car and wheeled to the start line.

These were very nervous times as the car had not run for an extended period, and we knew there were some problems with the electronics that would make gear changing especially difficult. We also knew that people would be watching Live Timing back in school as well as the video clips we would be sending back so they could be watched nearly live during the afternoon on KJS’s TVs. We need not have worried as the car ran faultlessly!

With Radar in charge, it was time for Mr. B and me to relax! Gina was nominated as official tea maker and pork pie provider. The laps clicked away and the first driver change went smoothly with Josh handing over to Sarah. The Blade was in a solid third place and the threat from other cars did not materialise as they suffered various problems on and off the track. Some very fast laps from Sarah and it was soon David’s turn. Our pit stop strategy meant that David would drive over the battery change period so we (Radar!) had to be particular vigilant to make sure the batteries were not failing.

The times remained steady and proved that we had set the car too safe and we know we have loads more in the batteries. After David’s stint, it was Plonker’s turn. Some steady laps saw Brian catching us and eventually we were passed and demoted into fourth place.

David gave way to Little Geek for the last 50 minutes. We realised towards the end of Geek’s session that he was catching Brian. Passing the CAUC car in front of us we had some hope especially as Brian was going slower than ever! Unfortunately time was against us and we eventually finished in fourth place, just one lap behind Brian.

The car was packed away in the van along with the transponder so had to be unpacked again! We were pleased to find out we had been awarded the prize for the best presented team but more importantly it looks like we have done a qualifying mileage for the final.

Thanks to everyone who has helped us get The Blade on the grid! Rob and Chris at Harrogate VW (and Audi), Gordon and Pat at Claro, Dave at Marell, John at Manse Masterdor, Peter at Big Bear Plastic Products Ltd, Athlone Extrusions Ltd, Hope Ltd, and ProBolt.