muttley2887
06-10-09, 03:39 PM
In a macabre twist of fate it turns out that Lunar Racing's Challenge in the BritCar 500 was over with the discovery of a body on the M40 in the early hours of Saturday Morning.
After having a problem with a power steering pipe in Qualifying Friday night the fateful decision was made to head back to the workshop for a replacement rack etc Saturday morning, had the race been held further away it would have been done overnight, but with the race not starting until 4pm this seemed unnecessary. However with the M40 closed the chaos brought to the local traffic system meant the quick nip back took 6 hours. So the race was started with the emergency repair undertaken during qualifying.
Inevitably 20 laps into the race and less than an hour of running the repair failed and LR1a headed back to the pits looking like a competitor from Wacky Races smoke billowing from the car where the power steering fluid was pouring onto the exhaust.
Peter Fairbairn had started the race and despite being exhausted from his victory in the Porsche race earlier and trying to adapt to front wheel drive he managed a best laptime of 2.26.817.
Once the repair to the power steering system was completed Rob Hedley took over the car and enjoyed the nicest weather of the day as the skys brightened and the wind dropped. Rob completed 36 laps with a best of 1.21.502 however in the last 4 laps the weather changed rapidly as darkness came and brought the rain. Despite the pits seeing a heavy shower Rob reported on the radio that the back of the circuit was dry.
Due to the split track conditions Paul McLean took over the car staying on slicks so it was unfortunate the rain got harder and made the whole circuit wet. Then just started to drizzle, with the team short of budget the otions were Full wets or slick when inters were really the requirement, so Paul completed his run in the wet and dark on slicks with a best of 2:45.992. However at the end of his stint a car blew up at Brooklands and spread oil across the circuit collecting a handful of other cars leaving several laps behind the safety car. So when the lights went out on the safety car he headed in thinking the safety car was coming in but it did another lap meaning the team were only allowed to put 25 litres in.
So now Cassey went out on slicks in the dark, wet and with oil now being spread around the circuit, which resulted in an amusing sight of her being held up by a Porsche, as at every corner she either nearly ran in the back of it or got alongside only for them to floor the throttle on the straight and power away. The only way Cassey could change the result for the team was to slither off and cause a DNF so she just concentrated on bringing the car home, however her time of 2.27.528 was superb in the circumstances and gives the team a lot of hope for the final round at Brands Hatch.
3 minutes from the end fuel started to run out causing a need to splash and dash in order to see the chequered flag, which meant a 2 lap penalty as refuelling is not allowed in the last 15 mins. However the team saw the chequered flag and that was what was wanted and they learnt huge amounts ready for next years 24 hours.
After having a problem with a power steering pipe in Qualifying Friday night the fateful decision was made to head back to the workshop for a replacement rack etc Saturday morning, had the race been held further away it would have been done overnight, but with the race not starting until 4pm this seemed unnecessary. However with the M40 closed the chaos brought to the local traffic system meant the quick nip back took 6 hours. So the race was started with the emergency repair undertaken during qualifying.
Inevitably 20 laps into the race and less than an hour of running the repair failed and LR1a headed back to the pits looking like a competitor from Wacky Races smoke billowing from the car where the power steering fluid was pouring onto the exhaust.
Peter Fairbairn had started the race and despite being exhausted from his victory in the Porsche race earlier and trying to adapt to front wheel drive he managed a best laptime of 2.26.817.
Once the repair to the power steering system was completed Rob Hedley took over the car and enjoyed the nicest weather of the day as the skys brightened and the wind dropped. Rob completed 36 laps with a best of 1.21.502 however in the last 4 laps the weather changed rapidly as darkness came and brought the rain. Despite the pits seeing a heavy shower Rob reported on the radio that the back of the circuit was dry.
Due to the split track conditions Paul McLean took over the car staying on slicks so it was unfortunate the rain got harder and made the whole circuit wet. Then just started to drizzle, with the team short of budget the otions were Full wets or slick when inters were really the requirement, so Paul completed his run in the wet and dark on slicks with a best of 2:45.992. However at the end of his stint a car blew up at Brooklands and spread oil across the circuit collecting a handful of other cars leaving several laps behind the safety car. So when the lights went out on the safety car he headed in thinking the safety car was coming in but it did another lap meaning the team were only allowed to put 25 litres in.
So now Cassey went out on slicks in the dark, wet and with oil now being spread around the circuit, which resulted in an amusing sight of her being held up by a Porsche, as at every corner she either nearly ran in the back of it or got alongside only for them to floor the throttle on the straight and power away. The only way Cassey could change the result for the team was to slither off and cause a DNF so she just concentrated on bringing the car home, however her time of 2.27.528 was superb in the circumstances and gives the team a lot of hope for the final round at Brands Hatch.
3 minutes from the end fuel started to run out causing a need to splash and dash in order to see the chequered flag, which meant a 2 lap penalty as refuelling is not allowed in the last 15 mins. However the team saw the chequered flag and that was what was wanted and they learnt huge amounts ready for next years 24 hours.