Time Attack 2024 Round 1 & 2 – Anglesey
Winter Break
During the winter the car has received a few updates including a freshly built engine, a new turbo and some lightweight composite doors. Unfortunately, due to some delays the first run out for the car ended up being the day before Round 1 which was solely just for putting some more miles on the fresh engine, it was also a good chance to get myself back up to speed.
This year, the opening rounds of championship was being held at Anglesey, Wales. It was the first time I had visited the circuit since 2021 so the Friday test session was useful to refamiliarize myself with the track. We would be running two different layouts of the track over the weekend with Saturday being on the coastal circuit and Sunday being on the international circuit which I hadn’t driven since 2012!
Round 1 – Warm Up
Heading into the first session of the season, I was a little unsure what to expect. I don’t know if this was because of how long I had been out of the driving seat for or whether it was because I had gone from being the hunter to the hunted after winning the championship last season. That all quickly went away as soon as the lights went green for the session and we got out onto circuit. I approached the session the same as I had every other warm up over the years, slowly building the pace lap after lap, gradually finding the grip. I ended the session with a new PB 1:17.548 which was the perfect way to start the new season.
Practice
It was time to start turning the power up on the new engine set up from the lowest mode to the ‘middle’ setting I have at my disposal. The difference was instantly noticeable, with the car feeling quicker than it ever has been before with still more to come! After just 5 laps I had lowered PB again down a 1:16.513.
Qualifying
It was time for the first points scoring session of the season. After putting in a banker lap it was time to push on and turn the power up one more notch and instantly registering another PB. This time with a 1:15.485 – a full second up from the previous best lap with still more to be gained. Sadly, I wasn’t able to deliver the faster time in this session leaving me 3rd in class.
Final
After qualifying we changed the drive shafts after experiencing a familiar vibration during qualifying, knowing it was a worn CV joint it made sense to change them before heading out into the final to reduce the chances of a potential failure. Out on track it was business as usual, banker before pushing a little harder in the following laps. On lap 4 I registered a 1:15.482 which was another PB. Continuing to push harder I then managed to clock a 1:15.413 which was enough to clinch 2nd in class. Although I know I could have gone a lot quicker if I had found a traffic free lap.
Round 2 – Warm Up
With the 90% of the circuit being the same as the previous day, the plan was to just learn the last sector and set some benchmark times, something to aim for later on in the day. It was a fairly uneventful session with nothing to report. We ended the session with a 1:39.397 which was over 9 seconds quicker than the last time I did this layout back in 2012.
Practice
Like the previous day, practice was used to take a next step up in power while chipping away at the lap time. I was using an old set of tyres in this session so the grip wasn’t quite where I would like and I eventually managed to set 1:38.852 lap time. Another PB and a further half a second knocked off of the previous sessions best.
Qualifying
After switching the wheels for some fresh rubber there was nothing to do in-between the sessions. With the power turned up to the 3 out of 4 I knew it was time to get to work. Unfortunately, this ended up being a very frustrating session, the car felt down on power and there was a noise coming form the car that got louder as time passed, it sounded like an exhaust blow. Somehow we got lap time down to a 1:38.308 and third in class in the process, scoring some more solid points.
Final
After letting the car cool down it was time to find the source of blowing exhaust. It turned out to be the V band clamp from the exhaust manifold to the turbo which had failed. Luckily, I carry a spare with me, so it was a quick fix, allowing us to turn the car around with plenty of time to spare.
Heading out to the track I felt there was a chance of a win. But it in the end it was just not meant to be. One particular corner had been plaguing me all weekend. I simply could not get the car through rocket, costing me over a second and a half on my overall lap time. I ended up setting a 1:37.769, yet another PB but the data from the Garmin suggested a 1:36.400 was possible which would have taken the class win.