Time Attack 2024 Round 6 – Donington Park
After the side mission to Mallory Park for Quick60 a fast turnaround was needed for Round 6 of the 2024 Time Attack Championship. After resolving a few issues including the throttle body pulling the thread out the inlet manifold. Luckily it was sorted in time thanks to GR Performance. The usual nut and bolt check was also performed before we travelled to Donington.
Warm Up
This was the first proper outing with the new front subframe so it would be good to get a decent run of laps to see how things felt. However, after the initial couple of laps, I started to smell burning wood which could only be one thing, the front splitter.
After returning to the pits, it was also discovered a bit of debris from the track had been thrown up into my car and impaled into the bonnet which was not ideal but luckily it wasnt any higher as it would have been through the windscreen or an inch or 2 lower, through the radiator and intercooler. After pulling it out and patching it up with some gaffer tape we inspected the splitter and it had smouldered from being too close to the exhaust, this is actually a result of having a different subframe on but it was a quick fix and we were good to go again.
Practice
Back out for the next session with all the issues sorted, it was time to get down to business. After a few laps the times were tumbling. On the 4th lap I registered a 1:17.830 but the car was acting a little strange under braking and cornering, before a new smell appeared so I returned to the pits once again to inspect.
Nothing could be seen so we head back but the smell only got worse so I returned to the pits once again and parked the car up. After a more thorough inspection it was discovered both rear calipers were sticking which would explain the erratic car behaviour and the smell. I did a quick strip down and rebuild in the pits and adjusted the brake bias to the front. I also noticed a drive shaft with a little play so swapped it to be safe – Ready to go for qualifying!
Qualifying
It was now time for the sessions what matter. Straight out of the box the car felt so much better than it did in the morning and on the 1st flying lap I recorded a 1:16.889 which was my fastest of the day, which I followed up immediately with a 1:16.316 a new PB, placing me 2nd in class. After a trip back to the pits for a check over I went out again to see if I could improve further. Unfortunately, the tyres were giving up in under 1 lap causing the car to suffer badly with understeer. I was unable to improve but managed to end the session 2nd in class.
Final
Knowing the tyres wouldn’t hold up for prolonged periods of time I got straight to it, putting in a flying lap from the off, knocking a few more tenths off my PB but there was still more time to be had. So I did 5 cool down laps to try and bring the tyres back into a decent operating window and went again.
Throughout the lap I was up on my previous PB despite suffering with the understeer but battled through and managed to clock a 1:15.560 which was a new PB and a solid P2 in class. After all the struggles of the day it was a brilliant result and keeps the season alive going into the final 2 rounds. Next up, we head back to Brands Hatch for Round 7 which is usually a strong circuit for me. Especially with a new set of tyres fitted!
