David Rose Racing

So went out for qualifying and was surrounded by traffic for most of the start and couldn’t manage a decent time and after a few I was getting a shuddering through the steering at speed and the car was pulling to one side and really didn’t feel right. So I came into the pits and we couldn’t see anything wrong apart from the smoking o/s caliper so went out to try and put a better time in with the shuddering steering and I did a 1:28.324, which put me 32nd on the grid, 8th in class.

We took the o/s caliper off (after about an hour of cooling! it was that hot) and worked it a little and couldn’t see any issues to put it back on and hoped for the best. We also checked all the steering components but couldn’t see anything obviously wrong so decided to live with it!

In Car Video – Youtube

On the grid I couldn’t actually see the lights!! So had to lean over and look through someone elses car…not ideal! Managed to get a half decent start with a little wheel spin and instantly around the green MG (Pete Weston) in front and down the inside of the silver MG (Paul Ashton). Paul managed to pass me going into the Esses and then somehow Pete passed coming out of the Esses towards Old Paddock. I kept close to Paul and manged to pass after a good exit from Camp. Paul passed again going into Tower, I seem to lose a lot of pace from the Esses to Tower. Then going into Camp Paul tapped Pete causing him to lose a bit of speed and I couldn’t help but give him a little tap on the back bumper as well (my first racing incident!) Pete managed to keep ahead and I nearly passed coming out of Quarry but we had a similar pace and Pete just kept in front but I managed to finish the pass in the Esses and really for much of the race I stayed there. Paul pulled away having a quicker car but on the last lap I think Paul was having some issues and I started to rapidly gain on him. The lap board had said 2 laps remaining so I thought I had another lap to get passed but as I came out of Camp close to Paul again and about to pass I saw the chequered flag was out! A shame really but I had a good race none the less with a bit more action this time! I finished 23rd, and 6th in class with best lap time of 1:26.849 (new PB!).

Still not entirely happy with the car and I know where I’m losing my time so hopefully next year I can fix the issues and get me up the field a bit more.

In Car Video – Youtube

I went out for qualifying and after 3 laps (minimum I have to do) I saw my oil pressure looked low so decided to come in, in the pits the gauge showed 0 pressure. After putting in a mechanical gauge and seeing 30psi we decided that I just had a dodgy gauge!! grrr!! Anyway I’d qualified 27th with a 1:30.335, 8th in class out of 10, 3 seconds off my best ever time but with the problems and first time back I was happy with this.

The race, obviously nerves kicking in but as soon as you line up these disappear quite quickly I gave it too much on the start and got too much wheelspin but everyone else seemed to do the same! I dived down the inside of a few cars going into quarry and locked up, meaning I got passed again on the exit, then unfortunately me nearest competition pulled off with problems and people in front pulled away and I left the people behind. After 5 or so laps I realised I’d used 1/4 tank (I only put in 1/2 tank and its 15 laps!) so I backed off a bit and after 11 laps I think it was a medi helicopter was hovering above the circuit attending a previous incident so the race was stopped. I finished 23rd, 7th in class with a best time of 1:27.438, which is equalling last season, which tbh I’m not very happy with but the map was setup with a very safe map and it was my first time back so I suppose its ok lol.