After the dismal dampness of Thruxton 2 weeks before we assembled at Croft for the next round of the excellent new Powertour series that the BRDC have created over the winter.
Cor Euser had raced in the FIA event at Estoril the weekend before and with some work to do on the Mantara had returned to base in Holland before setting off for Croft. Work on the car had taken longer than expected so the transporter had only left the workshop late on Thursday to catch an 11.30 p.m. ferry.
Amazingly the transporter arrived at around 10.30 a.m. and the crew set about preparing it for the first session at 12.00 noon, finishing off all those last little bits.
Cor went out first to learn the circuit having never been to Croft before. He learns circuits very fast and was soon flying round although with the cold weather he was having difficulty in getting the tyres up to temperature. He set a 1min 23.4 sec lap while still not quite hooked up to the circuit.
Next up I went out on the same old tyres and with some previous circuit knowledge set a 1 min 22.4 sec lap over 5 laps. Cor then went out to finish the session.
The afternoon session was scheduled for 4.10 p.m. and with quite a few set up changes Cor started the session again. He was soon up to speed, still with the old tyres, setting a 1 min 21.06 sec lap. The handling was improving but with the cold we were having some trouble getting heat into the front tyres with resultant understeer. Next up I drove for another 5-lap stint setting a 1 min 21.11 sec lap. Finally Cor made a big set up change to help cure the understeer and set a 1 min 20.35 sec lap. Running out of time in the session I was not able to have a go with the new set up but was pleased at the progress made. I was also pleased at being only .05 sec off Cor on the same settings despite not having driven the car for nearly 6 months.
The same system as last year was in place for qualifying with the first 10 minutes of the first session for GTO cars only. This left us with a 20-minute session in the morning and a half-hour in the afternoon with the GTO cars sitting out the first 10 minutes in turn.
With his vast experience it made sense for Cor to use the best of the tyres for qualifying so the team bolted them on and sent him out. The competition was hot with the Lotus particularly suited to this circuit and setting a blistering pace of 1 min 19.215 to take pole. Cor was the man to take it off him and perhaps he would have but for a slight hold up on his best lap. Nevertheless he put us second on the grid with a 1 min 19.487 sec lap.
With the continuing cold weather the tyres were taking ages to come up to temperature so the session came to an end before I could get into the car and drive the required laps to qualify.
Having used the best of the tyres coupled with the feeling that the second session at 5.00 p.m. would be slower, Cor was sure that we would not be able to snatch the pole away from the Lotus. So I was just going to go out, drive a few laps to warm myself up and leave it at that to conserve our tyres for the race.
The session arrived and before I went out Cor warned me that the car was very tricky on cold tyres. Thinking I was driving extremely carefully the car swapped ends without warning on the exit of the chicane. I obviously had not driven slowly enough and headed for the pits for a precautionary check after an embarrassing "flight" across the infield! It really was like driving on ice and with 600 odd horsepower…
With no damage done I went back out and over the next few laps set the fastest time of the session at 1 min 20.407. I was pleased with this and pitted to keep wear and tear to a minimum.
The weather forecast showed an improvement but Sunday dawned with, if anything an even colder chill on the wind. This was going to make the first couple of laps of the race extremely treacherous as it would be impossible to get any heat into the tyres on the green flag lap.
Cor and I discussed the race start and agreed that I would start, aim to hold position and hand over to him at the latest possible point as long as I was in touch with or in the lead. If there were any problems I would hand over earlier to maximise our chance of the best possible result.
I was feeling ever so slightly nervous about starting on the cold tyres after my excursion in qualifying. However championships are won by consistently scoring points and with Cor's support I felt quietly confident of a good result.
The race was scheduled for a 3.30 p.m. start but first we had the usual round of drivers briefings, meeting the press and public in the Powertour village and a bit of filming work with Steve Smith which I hope will be good enough to put up on the website soon.
Twenty minutes before the race the team pushed the car to the assembly area and I followed down shortly thereafter. The conditions were still very cold so I got into the car to keep warm and ready myself for the race.
The minutes counted down and the start up signal came. Driving round to form up on the grid I tried to warm the tyres by spinning the wheels in first gear, which gives us over 80 mph, and weaving from side to side. I also warmed the brakes by driving round with my left foot on the pedal. Once in my grid position I switched off immediately to save fuel. We are allowed a maximum of 100 litres so in a dry race fuel consumption could play a part. Cor checked the tyres for heat but reported that they were still stone cold. So, it was going to be a cautious start to stay on the black stuff and see how things developed.
The pace car set off and after 20 or 30 seconds we were released for the pace lap. The pace car was going so slow that even in first gear the car was chugging a bit. But at the hairpin it pulled off and I came alongside the Lotus on the run up to the start. The lights went green, I put on the power and promptly went sideways! Grabbing second I powered towards Clerveux, the first corner, expecting to pull in behind the Lotus. But it braked much more than I expected so the door was open and through I went into the lead. Playing it very carefully, only putting power on when in a straight line until the tyres had warmed up. The Viper had also got past the Lotus and it gave chase leaving me to defend the corners. On lap 3 the Lotus had got some temperature in its tyres and came past the Viper and up to my boot. On lap 8 I made a small mistake but enough for the Lotus to get its nose inside me at Sunny. Never mind, I hung onto his rear wing as best I could but very mindful of not taking any big risks.
Over the next few laps the Lotus stormed away helped by me catching some heavy traffic and having a close shave with a Mantis Challenge car. Around lap 12 the Lister spun at the Hairpin and remained there, beached on the inside kerb. While this was going on I was obliged to slow a little for the waved yellow flag and so lost a little more time to the Lotus. However, it was all academic as the Lotus pulled into the pits with engine maladies on lap 16. That lap I was given the in board by the pit crew as the pace car was due out the following lap. This meant that I was the first into the pits from the lead giving Cor track position despite a very slow pit stop.
The next few laps were behind the pace car with the second NCK Marcos and the Viper not far behind. And so it remained to the flag except the Viper came up to second place finishing only a second behind Cor. And this after 60 minutes of frantic action!
So with the six points from Thruxton and fifteen from Croft I am second in the championship only 3 points off the leaders. I also set the second fastest race lap after the Lotus.
After the finish Cor drove the car to Victory Lane and shortly after we were interviewed for both TV and Radio. Then it was on to the podium for our respective National Anthems and the prizegiving. Not to mention showering the crowd with champagne!
Thanks again to all the sponsors, Cor and Ellie, the team and everyone else who has supported this huge effort.
After the high of winning the Croft round with Cor 2 weeks ago it was back to real life. The Grand Prix weekend loomed with guests in the Gold Track Driving Club start line hospitality suite all three days. After that it was the next track day at Castle Combe on the Tuesday.
With the usual mount having been punted off into the barriers in the FIA race at Monza the weekend before, the team were really up against it. First the crashed car had to be repaired for the Spanish GT round on the same weekend and then the second Mantara had to be finished for me at Oulton Park. The latter became doubtful as Cor was let down by suppliers and with the car I had driven at Thruxton also badly damaged in a Belcar race the options were looking sparse. Echoes of last year! I could not believe it.
Well, they say that every cloud has a silver lining. A phone call from Cor alerted me to the fact that David Leslie had been called up to drive one of the Honda Touring cars at Thruxton. This left a vacancy at NCK Motorsport with whom I had raced in 2 races last year at Donington. I called Graham Nash and a deal was done and all this on Friday afternoon with testing the next day! The stress had been considerable with the added worry of having 50 guests for the race wanting to see a car with me in it!
Testing day dawned wet and grey but not too cold. I was paired with the regular driver Martin Byford who had come from F3 and had finished 3rd at Croft. Martin and I immediately established a good rapport, thinking in the same way about our aims for the weekend and how best to achieve them.
Martin went out first as he knew the car, to check systems and warm it up. Being wet with a dry qualifying and race day in prospect we drove conservatively, found a wet set up just in case, and made sure we did not throw the car at the barriers. After the session we compared notes and agreed some changes for the afternoon.
The second session was late and the track had dried considerably. I went out first to compare the settings and learn the car. It is a 1995 car, which David Leslie and Cor Euser competed at Le Mans that year, and despite being close in age to Cor's 1996 cars handled very differently. I was taking more than my usual 8 or 10 laps to get used to it but was not concerned as I was confident that when it mattered I would be right there.
After a few laps I came in to the pits to change to slicks as there was a dry line appearing around most of the circuit. But just as we were discussing the conditions it started to rain again and I drove 2 more laps before handing over to Martin. This is where it could all have gone horribly wrong. On his second lap the cockpit filled up with smoke and he switched off the engine immediately.
On later investigation it appeared that the valves in one cylinder had broken and the full scale of the damage would only be known once the engine had been dismantled back at the Leicestershire base. It was going to be a long night for the crew and a nerve racking one for us. Were we going to have a car to drive or was I going to have to entertain my guests from inside the suite?
The morning brought the answer: the engine was only lightly damaged and when we arrived at the circuit the team were finishing the car off ready for a pre-qualifying check. They had finished the engine and returned to the circuit at 3.30 a.m.- what a fantastic job!
Martin and I discussed our plan and we agreed that Martin should do the qualifying on the new rubber, as he was familiar with the car, which was his mount for the season anyway. I would then just do enough to qualify keeping our tyres in the best possible condition for the race. The latter we felt was very important as the weather was due to be hot and sunny making tyre preservation critical.
The plan went off well although the engine felt quite down on power resulting in a rather lowly 10th place on the grid. This was a little disappointing but still a reasonable position to achieve our aimed for top six result. This was what we felt was realistic as three more competitive cars had joined the fray taking up to 8 the number of quick cars in with a chance of winning.
Later that night the team phoned to say a problem had been discovered; one plug lead had fractured so we had only 7 cylinders in qualifying. With the problem fixed in a few minutes we felt really boosted. I expected some trouble at the beginning of the race with several drivers who I felt might try to win the race on the first lap. This thought left me quietly happy about our grid position from where we just might be able to benefit from any mayhem.
Having explained our race tactics to my sponsor's guests I returned to the pits to prepare for the race. Martin and I had agreed that I would start, our philosophy was to keep our noses clean, preserve the car and pick up the bits as others fell by the wayside. At least that's what we hoped!
The race started and I gunned the car into 8th at the first corner with my main current championship rivals not even making the start. Down the inside into the second corner at Cascades but losing the place again down the next straight. Ah well, it does not always work! Half way round the first lap the Lister broke - I was up to 7th already. Then the real mayhem started with Cleland making a move round the outside of Andy Purvis who had started on pole. This move was not going to work especially at Lodge Corner. The resultant damage put the Viper, Marcos and Lotus out of the race. I had to pass the scene on the grass as they had blocked most of the circuit losing two places temporarily. I was soon back past them and into 4th place. This was great and well ahead of our expectations.
Ahead was a Porsche GT2 and I set out to catch and pass it. Over the next 2 laps I closed right in on its tail but then the management system started to flash temperature warnings at me and I had to back off. Finishing the race was most important and with my current main championship rivals out of the race I was in a good position.
The remaining laps of my session went by without incident and I was called in to hand over to Martin. This went well and Martin went out into a temporary 5th place. Once all the driver changes were complete he was back into 4th place but closing on the Porsche. The temperatures had gone down and Martin was able to go for it passing the Porsche a few laps later. We were on the podium but I did not dare think about it until the race was run. The last laps came up and we were in a good 3rd with a Porsche ahead and the TVR in the lead. Then it all went down the pan - for the TVR! It ran out of fuel on the second last lap and Martin stroked our Marcos home for the most unexpected 2nd place result. Apart from the delight of second place from 10th on the grid, the points haul puts me in the overall lead of the championship with a margin of 6 points over Martin.
Talk about snatching "victory" from the jaws of defeat. A big thank you to Graham and his team for all their hard work. Boy, did it pay off! With only a few days until the next round at Donington Park it will be back to my usual Memec Marcos Racing International team with Cor. I cannot wait!
Many thanks for this report to Melindi and Calum - You can follow Calum's activities in 2000 on his website, but if he is out in a Marcos, you'll hear how he's doing right here!