A Walk in the Park

[fatcat]

A Walk in the Park. Oulton Park to be exact – and it was actually a race but at the speed I was going “a walk” is probably the most appropriate description ! So for Round 5 & 6 of the Caterham Cosworth Masters Championship, we left the sun and heat of Valencia and ventured North to Cheshire along with the Eurocup boys & girls. Despite the grey threatening skies, Oulton Park still looked rather fine - it has to be one of the more picturesque settings for a circuit with a track that snakes through woodlands, past a lake and up and down through rolling parkland. Arriving early on Friday morning for testing, Nick (my co-driver) and I were very impressed to see a line of big race transporters with huge awnings beside them backed up against the pits. Now rather worryingly, we were the headline event for the weekend so we got preferential treatment in terms of pit garages, etc., so this wasn’t the F3 mob or Palmer Audi or something, this was us ! Blimey, no more skulking at the back of the paddock with landrover, trailer and a flask of tepid coffee. One of these transporters belonged to Hyperion who were looking after my CSR for the weekend – along with various other CSR’s, Eurocup R400’s, Roadsports, etc. Inside the awning, coffee was already bubbling and biscuits and fruit were laid out on a table. We said hello to the engineers and crew who were rushing around getting the cars ready. I hopped up the steps into the transporter and dumped our kit in the driver changing room – yes, really, The Driver Changing Room. Luxury ! and then poured a cup of coffee and started nattering to some of the other drivers while munching an apple from the fruit bowl. This was just sooooo civilised ! OK this does not come free, but good facilities and top notch engineers & support crew really do make a difference – see later. Furthermore, I’m disorganised, I can barely make an edible sandwich and I’m lethal with a spanner so “fully supported” is the only way to go for me. The cost of all this support isn’t as bad as you might think as it is spread over some 10 cars. However I do keep incurring additional costs, er, repairs and that sort of thing. Further note to my children: the bills that you will inherit will actually be quite large. Its probably worth starting to save up your pocket money… I walked over to have a look at my car in the pit garage. It looked very nice and shiny – and so it should with new wings, a re-skin and paint job, etc. To recap, I’d been clobbered by another CSR in Valencia during testing – not my fault for once – and my car had suffered a fair bit of damage. Rear body work torn up, rear chassis tubes out of shape, wing off, tyre torn of wheel, rear right upright shattered, petrol tank dented, etc. Amazingly Hyperion had it back on the track few hours later and we got to race – although it didn’t look too pretty! Anyway, the car had been back to Arch to be fully repaired and the results looked good. Of course I shouldn’t have bothered, but more on that later. While we’re on the subject of the car its worth mentioning some of the mods that the factory have done – nothing like a bit of racing to improve the breed. Part of the wiring loom that connects to the coils on top of the plugs has been re-designed to avoid fractures. The diff has gained a couple of additional mounting struts to make sure it all stays in place when manic lead-footed race drivers dump an instant 200 lb-ft of torque through it as the lights go out. The engine map has been refined to help protect the catalytic converter under race conditions. The bonnet has gained a couple of side cut-outs which helps the breathing a bit and lets the heat out during the mid-race 2 minute stop for driver changes. The front wingstays have been strengthened – obviously nothing to do with driver’s bashing into each other ! The silencer and cat converter have gained heat-shields – a wise move given the risk of serious burns during the frantic driver change pit stop. None of these are big deal items, just improvements based on race track experience – the factory paid for them – and we, track & road users, all benefit from this process of continuous evolution. Oh and one final point on the car – originally I was impressed by the effectiveness of the silencer. Well a few races on and I guess the padding in the silencer has compressed a bit or something and now it makes a thoroughly healthy bellow, nothing subtle at all – almost enough to make old X-flow owners go all wistful and nostalgic. So back to Oulton Park. I’ve never been there before, let alone raced on the circuit so I needed to extract all the value I could from testing on the Friday. I’m not one of these natural drivers who can go out and drive a car to the limit within a couple of laps. I need a bit longer, more like a couple of years of regular driving on a circuit to get to know it ! For those who haven’t been there, the circuit is quite demanding; there are several fast blind corners, some interesting camber changes and a few large bumps for good measure and, in quite a few places, not much space if it all goes pear-shaped. A lap goes something like this – but don’t assume this is in any way the definitive guide ! Along the start/finish straight in fifth, ease over to the left and get ready to brake for Old Hall. Braking point is somewhere just after the right arrow corner board, around about a couple of advertising boards. The circuit is quite bumpy there – guys on the pit wall said I got the rear wheels completely off the ground a few times - and I found it easier and more stable to stay a couple of feet in from the edge. Drop down to fourth and turn in aiming to take a good helping of curb at the apex. Not a hugely difficult corner but the exit point is not visible as you approach the turn in point so track familiarity helps here. The exit is quite wide and there is some grass-crete or matting so a wheel over the curb on exit is not a disaster – although I did spin in testing when I got the whole car off the circuit and ran out of grass-crete ! Quite a fast corner and a good over-taking point with a bit of late braking (well several cars got past me there anyway). Coming out of Old Hall, stay on the left edge, up into fifth and prepare to swing gently right across the track for the start of Cascades. The turn-in is blind as the track falls away down hill. Aim for the curb on the right hand side at the crest but don’t run over it. Drop down the hill towards the main left hander keeping to the right edge, brake and drop to fourth as late as you nerve will allow. Turning point is somewhere around the start to middle of a sort of track/exit on the right. Don’t turn in too late as the track really starts to drop away towards the gravel trap. Apex is late, I didn’t try taking any curb as the car never felt particularly well balanced – my bad driving or the camber changes but probably the former - and aim to exit just past the conventional curb on the right as the track straightens out - there is a bit extra tarmac strip beyond the conventional kerb. Don’t run wide as there is a slight drop down to the grass. I found this a very difficult corner to get right. I almost always ended up braking too early, turning in too early and so being unable to carry speed through the corner or get the power down early coming out. This was not good news as it is one of the most important corners on the track – a lack of speed here is crippling as it leads into the longest flat out section and other cars can go past easily or pull out a big gap going along the straight past the lake, round Island and into Shell Oils. Incompetence and a lack of bottle was costing me at least a couple of seconds a lap here. Next we have the blast along the straight beside the lake and a chance to check the instruments. Up into fifth and keep to the right as the gentle left curve – Island – approaches. If, like me, you’ve made a mess of Cascades and haven’t carried speed onto the straight, then Island is pretty much flat in fifth. If you have carried the speed and/or you have a brain then a lift or a slight dab on the brakes is good to make sure that you don’t run wide coming out of Island as this will muck up the line into Shell Oils hairpin. Also there is precious little run-off here - over-cooking it round Island and coming off while flat in fifth is probably a standard exclusion in most sensible life insurance policies. Anyway, turn-in is fairly obvious, roughly where the Island version of the circuit goes off to the right. The apex is on the curb where expected. I didn’t try clipping the inside curb as I couldn’t see any advantage and I thought it might unsettle the car – see bit on life insurance above. With the right line through Island car, the car naturally arcs out to the right, about halfway across the track, and then comes back to the left into the braking zone for Shell Oils. I never got this right, always braking too early. Yes this is another excellent over-taking spot, well it is if you’re trying to get past me anyway. Although it is quite a tight hairpin, this corner is much faster than you might expect due to the heavy banking. The line is fairly obvious; brake, drop to third, turn in quite late and drop gently down to the inside curb for a late apex. Use all the inside curb then power out using a bit of the outside curb. Simple, except I never managed to find the right speed to go with that banking – too little and you loose time and/or drop down and apex too early which messes up the exit; too much and the car stays high and you miss the apex and mess up the exit again. I tried a lot of different lines and speeds but the only consistent thing I did here was mess up the exit. Out of Shell Oils, up into fourth keeping to the left, then there is an early, slightly blind turn-in to the little right hand kink before left-right-left of Foulstons chicane. I’m not good with chicanes and this is quite a difficult one. The trick, apparently, is to turn in and brake late through the left kink while still turning left and taking all the kerb you can. While the car is unsettled, flick it back to the right, get the power down and monster the kerb on the right hand kink, come out wide and take lots of kerb on the final left hander as you power up the hill. Yeah, right. I took this in third, maybe second would have been better for the exit from the right hander, but whatever, I always lost time here. Once again there is a heavy price to be paid for a lack of exit speed and for failing to get the power down early in the drag race up the hill and then down to Knickerbrook. Knickerbrook – a sharp right left chicane, then a critical right leading onto Clay Hill. For once, this was a bit of the circuit that I got mostly right, well the unimportant bits of it anyway. Braking point on the downhill section is just after the 100m board, say about 90m. I tried 80m in testing but overshot. Drop from fifth to third, and take all the available kerb on the first right hander. Keep tight and across to the right to really flatten the left hander and again use all available inside kerb – in both cases the inside kerbs are quite flat but keep clear of the tyre piles which are designed to ensure that drivers treat this as a chicane, not just a slight twitch and bit of grass-tracking. Exit the left hander to the centre of the track but no wider. Quick squirt on the throttle while bringing the car back to the left – swing out too wide and there’s no chance to get the power on here and the final corner is also compromised. Little dab on the brakes to steady and then monster the inside kerb on the final right hander having done most of the turning first. Use a little exit kerb but not much as it is quite rough and the car will lose traction up the hill. Yeee Haaa – hurtle up the hill and into the woods ! Keep to the left up the hill, into fifth under the bridge and then keep the car straight as the circuit curves slightly to the left, bringing the car across to the right. There’s a little track on the right which is the turning point for the gentle left bend before Druids. There is a small kerb at the apex. I didn’t use it but many did as it is vital to get the car well across to the left and then settled before Druids. This little bend is taken in fifth gear without any braking and seems pretty trivial but get sloppy here and Druids will eat you up. Druids. Scary. It’s a fast fourth gear right hander tunnelling through the trees, sort of double apex but the first apex is really an illusion and the car should be several feet wide of the kerb, the real apex is at the second kerb which is completely out of sight as you start to turn in. If you outbrake yourself at the entry there is a bit a gravel - but not that much; if you go wide on the first part there is a little grass-crete – but still not much. Screw up the apex or the exit and there is just a small strip of grass on either side before the barrier and then dense woodland. At the exit, there is a slight hump and the track drops down. The car goes very light here, in my case the rear wheels left the ground, and I’m sure the really fast guys are fully airborne. Hmm, fast fourth gear job, blind turn-in, tricky line with an airborne exit and no run-off. Back off a fraction so that the exit is straighter and take a line a foot or too away from the edge and the car the car just hops up. If you’re still turning even slightly then the car will hop sideways – how far depends on how fast you’re going. Over commit so you’re still turning and going very fast out on the kerb and – well let’s leave that to your imagination. This is a corner that sorts the men from the mice. Pass the cheese please. The final section is a rollercoaster ride in fifth along to the right hander at Lodge. The track undulates sharply on the left edge and I lit up the rears wheels in two or three different places. The centre line is a little flatter and is less likely to damage the transmission or make the driver feel seasick. Brake and down to third – there is a small bit of run-off if you go straight on. Late apex, lots of kerb, definitely a “slow in fast out” sort of corner. Go in too hot and as you come round the corner the track drops away sharply to the left and car scrabbles for grip. Power out of the corner, down the dip and up over Deer Leap and back onto the start finish straight. Easy really. Can’t understand why I was at least 5 seconds off the pace. (Bear that in mind if you’re thinking of giving any credence to my course notes !) Oh yes, testing on the Friday. Cascades. I made a bit of a mess on the entry and, as you do, over-compensated with too much power too early on the exit. Oh dear, the exit from Cascades. What was the thing not to do ? “Don’t run wide as there is a slight drop down to the grass.” So I ran a fraction wide and lost the back end. It should have been harmless, after all its one of the few places where there’s acres of grassy run-off. Wrong. In defiance of physics, well my expectations anyway, the car did a slow spin and headed back across the track towards the lake at some speed. Actually I’m quite glad that there’s a big tyre wall before the lake but I’d have been even keener on some gravel too. At that point it was entirely clear that I was a passenger so I consciously let go of the steering wheel – to avoid broken fingers – and decided that this was probably going to hurt and not just in the wallet. WHHUUUMMMMMMMPPPPFF - tyres and splintering fibreglass flew all around and then it went very quiet apart from the ticking of the hot engine as it started to cool. Tried cautiously to recover the breath that had been knocked out and started experimenting with some gentle limb twitching to see what was broken. Miraculously everything seemed to be in one piece. Felt like I’d been kicked in the back by a horse – thankfully I’d gone into the wall backwards – but nothing worse than that. I climbed gingerly out to see people scurrying over and looked at the car. It was horribly familiar: “Rear body work torn up, rear chassis tubes out of shape, wing off, tyre torn of wheel, rear right upright shattered, petrol tank dented…” Ahh hang on, the petrol tank looks OK, that’s a small mercy. At that point the incident vehicle turned up with the doctor. No, he said, I wasn’t going to stay to assist in recovering the car. Go directly to the medical centre. Now. Do not pass Go. So we did. And very impressive it was too. New, modern, clean and shiny with very good, professional staff. I got checked over, my details were noted, my helmet was very carefully checked before being returned to me. (When a similar but bigger incident occurred to Kevin Williams in race 2, his helmet was condemned – done its job, get a new one.) And finally I was released. Once again, you just don’t get in-depth first hand reporting of race track medical facilities like this anywhere else. The lengths I go to… I got back to the pits to find the crew & my co-driver inspecting the wreckage. There were a few helpful comments along the lines of “couldn’t I have done the other rear corner this time” and then the repairs started. Just about everything could be pushed and hammered back into shape over the afternoon – not pretty but functional. All the important parts of the chassis were OK although the guys thought it would be wise to replace the upper wishbone. Very tough cars, these CSR's. The smashed upright was a problem as no one had a spare. After some feverish telephoning it was arranged that Simon Lambert would bring a whole load of spares up from Caterham the next day. He duly arrived early on the Saturday morning and the car was out for qualifying only a couple of minutes late. Thank you Hyperion – this is where top quality support really pays dividends. And a big Thank You to Caterham & Simon Lambert too. After that the racing was really quite undramatic – for me, anyway – but still good fun. I hadn’t really learnt the circuit having lost part of the test day so it seemed wise not to take too many further risks with life, limb and wallet and just to go out and enjoy the drive. So I did. My co-driver went rather faster but kept it on the black stuff. Most of the other cars went faster too but some didn’t keep it on the black stuff and we finished 9th in the first race and 10th in the second. Net result is that, as a team, we are 6th in the championship which is hardly a reflection of our outright speed and talent but that’s racing ! Luke Stevens & Jon Barnes won both races so there was considerable rejoicing in the Hyperion pits. This was slightly tempered by Kevin William’s huge shunt in the closing laps of the second race. He and Dan Mitchell had given Hyperion a double podium in the first race when they drove their socks off to take third place. Everyone was very relieved when Kevin walked out of the medical centre under his own steam. One or two beers were drunk that evening. On balance, a good weekend, certainly an interesting one ! A chance to drive a new circuit – good. Met up with Martin Richards, (Hi Mav) – good. First big shunt – bad. Marshalls and medical people very efficient – good. There’s going to be another large bill – bad. But I haven’t received it yet – good. Roll on Spa ! Edited by - fatcat on 1 Aug 2005 08:24:13

[Allen Payne]

I can't believe this has only had 47 readings, so BTTT for anyone who missed it.

 

 

[Archie Procter]

Excellent write-up again Nigel, suggest putting a link to it from Chitchat, as I don't think many people come in here

 

Andrew

[stevefoster]

Wow Nigel. You're up in the big league!

 

Great report and what support they give (Biscuits and fruit indeed, not to mention crash repairs...) A shunt like that would be pack up and trail home tail between legs time, for most of us I reckon.

 

I think as you said learning the circuit slowly is best for some of us but in a very quick machine some mistakes may creep in anyway.

 

 

Hants (north) / Berkshire club here

Area meeting pics here

My Racing here

 

[MikeW]

Great report and really interesting to learn what it's like in the big league. .....but any chance of an executive summary next time

 

MikeW

Mega Grad Race No 22

[Steve Cragg]

Excellent report again Nigel - keep them coming. Glad you got out OK, sounds like a big one

 

Oh, and remind me not to buy a used car from you Actually it would probably be brand new irrespective of age 😬

 

Steve

Superlight #63

[RichardO]

I can also testify to the quality of the medical centre at Oulton. Unfortunately. ☹️

 

R

[fatcat]

Big league ? - well big bill anyway if the car keeps getting damaged, oops !

 

Mike - that IS the executive summary 😬

 

Steve F - about time you came out to play at Lydden again ?

 

Steve C - my cars are like my grandfathers cricket bat, absolutely original just had a couple of new blades and handles along the way...

 

Richard - sounds like there's a story ?

[mav]

FC,

 

Nice report. Think you could have made a bit more about the micky taking though *tongue*

 

Thanks for the ticket, the cheque is on its way to NTL...