patently Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Started well again, picked up a few more places a couple of minutes in, lost a few, but finished well by my standards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I've just watched every second of that. It was bloody brilliant. More full race video's please! (I appreciate some might be short). Fantastic to watch a full race though. Loved the mini-drift at 5m 15s and a nice recovery there too. It's interesting when watching it from that perspective too because of course I'm sat here as you're constantly trying to catch the two cars immediately in front for most of the race (up to 12m 45s), and on occasion thinking you'd do it. Then, out of nowhere at 12m 45s - you're overtaken by the black car and it's clear you had been fighting him off for a while! Whereas I was watching and focused on the car in front. You had a good little tussle with him for a minute too, all the way up to 13m 45s it looks like you're going to get him, especially in one chicane. He likes locking up doesn't he! At 14m 10s I thought he'd probably done it once too often and you'd get past, but he does well to recover. By the way, great start, bullet-like up the inside and against the wall! Really enjoyed watching that. I could watch those above F1 every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stooH Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Stonking start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) More full race videos please! Well, you have the full Donington video, and the Brands & Snet ones aren't really in the same league. In those, I fall back fairly quickly and spend the rest of the race trying to play catch-up. They were fun, but not like yesterday's. Something clicked yesterday and I started racing more than trackdaying. The mini-drift is just as Tor came through on the inside, meaning I couldn't continue with the line I had up to that point so the back end steps out as I lifted reflexively (I think). It's interesting when watching it from that perspective too because of course I'm sat here as you're constantly trying to catch the two cars immediately in front for most of the race (up to 12m 45s), and on occasion thinking you'd do it. Then, out of nowhere at 12m 45s - you're overtaken by the black car and it's clear you had been fighting him off for a while! Whereas I was watching and focused on the car in front. Yes, quite a few guys have a rear-facing camera too, so you can see in the video when there is someone trying to get past. Truth is, though, there is always someone, once the black car was past then I was being chased by Paul for the rest of the race. That's part of the fun - you have to work on the chance to get past, but without leaving yourself open. Stonking start Thanks! I'm actually becoming known in the Academy for doing that. At Donington, it was a deliberate tactic that I'd thought about in advance with the intention of surprising everyone, and since then before every race several people have commented that I'll no doubt make up several places off the line... I think the surprise element is lost, then, but it still seems to work. While I was going past, I was actually thinking "I can't believe everyone is letting me do this again!​" Edited October 8, 2012 by patently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 So what was your position in the field at the end? I'm guessing 12th-14th? That's out of 20+ isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 18th, out of 24 starters, including one DNF. The DNF was a result of being gently T-boned by Tor (of my mini-drift) which left the other guy's exhaust flattened, so he lost almost all power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Is that your best finish to date then? Are there any performance differences (bhp, torque etc) in the cars? What about tyres too, do you all have to start on the same? Is it qualifying you struggle most with as you seem to be at the back of the grid for most starts? (Genuine question, not a piss take, as I've never done anything remotely like this). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Best race finish, yes. I managed 14th in one of the sprints, 19th in the two others. All the cars are identical in terms of power and tyres. There is some freedom to set them up in terms of camber, caster, corner weighting, and the like, but not much. All you can do is fiddle with the suspension to make it worse (as I found out for the Snetterton sprint... 19th!). I don't think I have a problem qualifying as such; my quali positions in the first three races were fairly well correlated with my final race positions. The odd one out is the Rockingham finishing position, where I think a few things just came together. Rockingham & Snetterton were Caterham festivals, with all the official racing series there together but (crucially) Rockingham has the pit roof easily accessible from the paddock where you can go and watch almost the whole circuit. So at Rockingham I spent most of the day up there watching Caterhams race and spotting where the leaders' lines were different to mine. That made me change a few things in the way I drove the track, which I do think made a difference. With hindsight, my best track sections were the ones you can see from the pit roof, no-one passed me in any of those Also, Donington ended early, but the effect of that and the Brands crash really knocked my confidence for the Brands race and also left me with essentially no practice at all prior to qualifying. So the Brands race was almost a tiptoe round hoping desperately to just finish. I had more practice for Snetterton, but still arrived there with a confidence issue. The practice for Rockingham went better - mainly shown by the fact that I fell off the black stuff four times in the process of finding a few limits (a compilation video is being assembled...) but in the end I was still left behind by everyone else in quali. Something just "clicked" though for the race itself; it is a controlled absence of fear and willingness to risk an off that allows you to take a few more seconds off (and gain experience of driving at that new pace). The "offs" in practice reassured me that the world wouldn't end if I took a risk. If I could have had the chance to carry on doing that at Donington then things might have been different... but they weren't. I've also been very thinly spread this year. I was meant to be bored out of my skull and in desperate need of something to do; instead (as you all know) I've had to set up a business from scratch and grow it. That has meant that I just haven't had time to go and do lots of trackdays and lots of instruction - it has shown. That is something to think about and correct if I do any racing next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Some more race videos for you, MrMe... First up, the same race viewed from someone else's car. Before you worry about the comments, he's decorated his car so that it is as close to a Noddy car as possible, looks great in fact. You can see my overtaking moment in his rear-view cam at 2:01... Edited October 8, 2012 by patently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Next, someone in Group 2, so a different race. Note the unconventional approach to tyre-warming in the green flag lap: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hang on, so Noddy was 7 places ahead of you on the grid? Oh my. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hang on, so Noddy was 7 places ahead of you on the grid? Umm David is pretty good, actually. Yesterday was an unusually bad outcome for him. You can see him in my Donington video, I catch up with him by Redgate and chase him to Starkey's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Here's the "So, who wants to see how he did in practice?" compilation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 If any one is an Autosport subscriber, there is an article about the Caterham Academy and the Rockingham Round on line. I assume it will be in this weeks mag as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Any chance of sending me a scan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 PM me you email addy and I will copy you the artical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Race report with photos now online: Caterham Build Blog | Rockingham! A bit of touchy-feely stuff for the end: I drove home with tears (almost) in my eyes. I'd done it; that was a proper race, I overtook people, I kept up, and I finished respectably compared to my quali position. I am, now, a racing driver. Thank you, Caterham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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