The best laid plans...
With full FIA homologation being confirmed for the Mantara, Cor was off to put in an appearance at Zolder in the FIA GT round there. He was also going to compete in the Belcar GT round so was in for at least 5 hours racing. A deal was struck for Kurt Luby to join me for the Croft race in the original car. Arrangements were made and the car was ready and fettled in time for us to join in on the test day.
The first session was due at 9.30 a.m. and even by then the sun was burning hot. I went out first to warm up the car and check all the systems. This went well although the handling was very tricky especially through the faster parts of the track. This was very puzzling as the chassis was supposed to be set up exactly the same as when Cor and I won there in April. I completed a few laps and then handed over to Kurt to let him have his first experience of the Mantara.
After the session we compared notes and agreed that things were not right. We made some changes and settled down to wait for the afternoon session at 2.45p.m. The sun was ever hotter and the in car temperature made me sweat like never before! I suggested that Kurt try the changes first as he was last in the car and could make a direct comparison. This he did before handing over to me but the basic problem was still there leaving us scratching our heads and setting almost identical times but well off what we thought and I knew was in the car.
The weather forecast was for an even hotter day but it did not materialise and we were left with a grey and relatively cold day. The first session was at a very civilised 11.15a.m. I was going out first with the plan of putting in a banker on new tyres and then handing over to Kurt so he could do the same. This would leave the afternoon session to look for improvements and try again. The team had discovered a set up anomaly, which we thought would explain the handling problems we had encountered.
I went out onto track, warmed up the tyres and then put us in P3. This would do for now but although I went quicker on the next lap setting a 1 min 21.6 sec lap by the time I came in we had slipped to 4th. By the time Kurt went out we were in 5th but some way off the pole pace as the handling while improved from the day before was still inexplicably wayward. Kurt warmed up and started a faster lap. Coming through the chicane the bumps caught him out and he spun fortunately remaining on the track and with no damage done. Over the following laps he set a 1 min 22.9 sec lap and we stayed in 5th spot.
After much discussion again we decided on some changes and hoped for a better grid slot in the second session at 2.45p.m.
I went out first again for the 10 minutes of GT only qualifying. I warmed up the tyres as before and started to build up my speed. Towards the end of a reasonably good lap I switched on my headlights in preparation for a real go on the next lap. Exiting Sunny 2 disaster struck and how! The car turned sharp left and I found myself in the barriers at high speed, virtually head on. What had happened? I spoke to the marshals later and they said I was perfectly on line and suddenly the car turned left. We could not see anything broken on the car but then the front end was completely destroyed. Also, I had experienced a strange anomaly in the steering earlier in the lap but I still find it all rather puzzling. Had something broken or had our weekend long handling problems caught me out? I still can not work it out but the net result was a badly damaged car and no race on Sunday.
It was certainly the biggest crash of my career and a testament to the strength of the Marcos that I climbed out with a small bruise on my left elbow and nothing else. Even the next morning no bruises had appeared and my neck was fine.
The Lister won yet again and has taken the championship lead by 9 points. With 4 rounds to go that is certainly not insurmountable but equally with only 3 points between 1st and 2nd it looks tough. Never ones to dodge a challenge Cor and I will fight it hard and look forward to the next round at Silverstone on the International Circuit on 18/19/20 August.
Many thanks for this report to Melindi and Calum - You can follow Calum's activities in 2000 on his website, but you'll hear how he's doing right here!
