UK Formula Ford Championship
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BRANDS_GP |  |
KNOCKHILL | |
SILVERSTONE | |
THRUXTON | |
COMBE |  | |
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OULTON | |
DONINGTON | |
SNETTERTON | |
BRANDS |  |
ROCKINGHAM |  |
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Graham's weblog: 14th August: Rockingham  The next round of the championship was at Rockingham where we had a big problem.
The paddock is miles from the pits and the converted sack barrow that I had been
using to transport the tools and spare wheels around was not going to be suitable.
We needed to make something to do the job so we decided to build a trolley and to
borrow a Quad to pull it around and, just to add to the pressure, I had one day to
build it. Luckily thanks to help from Simon and Sam I managed it just in time.
What can you say about Rockingham, what a place, all very fancy and new but right at the end of the queue for charisma. The facilities for the workers were terrible. No showers and hardly any toilets open for us in the overflow paddock. Mind you when they did open them they did keep them clean and tidy. It was also freezing. After the scorchers at Snetterton and Brands, Rockingham was rainy and wind swept. David went well on Friday but the practice ended abruptly when the clutch bearing packed in. This was a bit of a blow because Kenny had had it all apart at Brands to do the seals and now had to do it all again. Fortunately the bits were available and we fitted them on Friday evening. Qualifying was a disaster as the engine plug played up and stopped David after only 2 laps. Second last again but luck played its part as others also had problems and most of the Scholarship class were close together on the grid. Race one saw another second place and fastest lap achieved with few dramas for us. Race two was another thing altogether. Rain means wet tyres. Correct. Rains stops and local knowledge takes over. How quick does the track dry? Will it rain again? With no local knowledge we decided on wets. So did everyone else. Then one of the big teams changes to slicks and what happens? Panic. Everyone was at it. We waited till the last moment and made THE WRONG DECISION. We changed to slicks. Disaster, but as usual David got on with it, gaining another 2nd place and fastest lap. We were lucky and we knew it because a spin on the second last lap nearly put the car in the wall, which would have been a huge disaster. We got away with it and now lead the championship and are the only car in class to finish all the races. It was a strange event and despite two good results we were all a little subdued on the way home because we are desperate for that elusive win. Roll on Brands Hatch. Next race: BRANDS GP |
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