Britcar Endurance Championship

Friday Test

Saturday 28th March would be the opening day of the race season for farther and son duo Chris and Mika Brown taking to the wheel of their Aston Martin GT4 Vantage in the MSA British Dunlop Endurance Championship.

A dry Friday test with minimal tuition saw the lap times tumble from the morning sessions and by the afternoon they were consistently lapping in the 1.03’s.

Qualifying

Tack conditions on the Saturday morning were damp and greasy, only being able to run on either slicks or wets as we did not have the option to use intermediates so using worn wets was the only choice.

Mika went first in the 30 minute session, with lap times some 6 seconds slower than the previous  days test  he did a sterling job qualifying 15th with a time of 1.08.6 with the ever changing conditions. Chris qualified next and although the track was slightly drier the wet tyres were breaking up and he couldn’t go any quicker than his son Mika.

Race 1

Mika started race 1 on a new set of wets as a down pour 30mins before the start of the race had once again made it tricky conditions. Mika accelerated well from the rolling start and progressed well through the opening laps, overtaking 3 cars in the first 6 laps, with another two positions gained with only 15 minutes gone of this 90 minute race.  As the track started to dry Mika was given instructions on the radio to drive on the wet parts of the circuit, particularly down the straights to cool the wet tyres as much as possible. He did this to great effect without compromising his lap times. Due to the drying track and that Mika was comfortable driving instead of changing at the 45min point as planned we ran slightly longer to gain any pit advantage as it looked like slick tyres would be used before the end of the race. With most cars having already pitted if we could do our driver change and change the tyres at the same time we would gain an advantage over our rivals.

We bought Mika in after 52 minutes as the air felt damp and the track hadn’t dried enough for the slicks, a swift driver change saw Chris take to the wheel, exit the pits in P10 and was soon up to speed matching Mika’s lap times. The next couple of laps saw him gain 2 positions and move us up to P8!

On lap 53 Chris reported being hit from behind and continuing past the pits it was clear to the team that there was smoke coming from the damage, he was instructed to pit so we could assess the damage. Once in the pits it was clear that the gearbox cooler situated behind the rear bumper was damaged and was leaking oil. We retired the car on lap 54.

Repair

Removing the bumper skin and under trays it was clear to see the hole that had been punctured into the cooler, once the cooler was removed and another one sourced it was simply a matter of de-oiling the rear end of the car and suspension.  Filling the empty gearbox with oil in situ took longer than removing the bodywork itself! Everyone in the team helped with the repair and cleaning and we were ready for race 2 with time to spare.

Race 2

Chris started this race in P9 from the grid, others were starting from the pit lane.  Although fully fuelled as it was again a 90 minute race we had been informed it would be cut short due to the Circuits 6 o’clock curfew. This would make the race just over an hour long.

Chris’s rolling start was good and he soon settled into a rhythm, during the opening of his stint he was lapping in the 1.03’s, with the track looking dryer with every lap completed and Chris’s confidence building by the end of his stint his laps times were consistently in the 1.02’s. On lap 32 Chris pitted and Mika took over, unfortunately after only 2 laps we had to come in for a stop/go penalty as our pitstop was 88.8 seconds (1.2 seconds under the regulated 90 second stop). Once this was served Mika charged out on track with 2 aims -1: to finish, 2: to beat his dad’s lap time!!

The first he achieved and took the chequered flag in 10th Position after completing the 57 lap race distance, the second part he failed at and owes Chris at least a drink…………

A promising start by both drivers and team with no doubt more to come throughout the rest of the season.

 

 

More information on this event will appear soon.

Check back closer to the event date for an update.

Thank you for your interest in 22GT Racing.


DBRS9 Francis Flower Find us on Facebook Find us on Twitter

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