First Race

[Shaun_E]

After 10 years of sprinting and hillclimbing my 7, at the weekend I took part in my first circuit race.

I entered the BARC SE Sevenesque series at Brands Hatch on Saturday 30th July. The classes are based on power to weight ratios meaning pretty much any type of 7 can compete. The cars are mostly C400 racecars, R400/SLR or big power Duratecs so my car fitted neatly into class 4 (385 to 435bhp per tonne - weight is car plus driver). It's taken me a while to make the changes to the car required for racing including plumbing in a fire extinguisher, fitting a rain light, sealing the boot area (I chose to fit an aluminium tonneau) and sealing the front bulkhead but at last the car was ready. I had already bought a FHR which required a new helmet as well since I needed this for the sprint season.

I would be in the first qualifying session (09:00) so we stayed at the circuit Friday night to avoid a really early start. Sign on was at 07:30 and scrutineering for my class at 07:35 which all seemed a bit rushed but in the end sign-on was open early and I was first in the scrutineering bay leaving me time to have a cup of tea before qualifying. There were only 12 cars on our grid which was shared with an "Allcomers" class incluing a WRC escort, a mega-power Impreza and a 1970's Mach 1 Mustang. The track was dry but still a bit green and me being used to super-soft compound tyres rather than the mediums I was now running, my first couple of laps were a bit lairy but I soon settled down and quickly got into the 53s. One of the more experienced drivers caught and overtook me and by hanging onto his tail for a couple of laps I managed to clock a 52.643s lap to put me 8th on the grid.

Race 1 was at 12:35. It rained quite heavily mid morning and the track was pretty wet with the cars throwing up rooster tails. thankfully it stopped raining about 1/2 hour before we were called to the assembly area and the track began to clear. The green flag lap showed that it was still pretty damp out which is not what I'd hoped for on my first ever race  . Lined up on the grid, the one minute board came out and my heart rate suddenly increased as I realised that this was it, I was actually going to be in a race! The 30s board appeared and then the red lights were on - I raised the revs a bit but not much and then the lights were out - another car shot past me as it got a much better start than I managed and then we're all piling into Paddock Hill bend. The track was still really slippery and for the first half of the race I was just concentrating on not spinning off but gradually a dry line appeared and I started to gain a bit of confidence. Although I did start to get closer to the pack in front, my lack of confidence in the early part of my race meant I was never going to catch them and I finished in 9th.

Race 2 was at 16:15, the rain had stayed away for the rest of the day and the track was dry. Waiting in the assembly area, a few drops appeared on my visor but it didn't materialise - "psychological rain"  . Lined up on the grid I was on the inside this time and was determined to make the most of my sprinting experience and at least get a good start. Red lights on, I dialled in a few thousand rpm and as soon as the lights went out I was off the clutch and planting the throttle - it was a great start and I dived between the 2 cars ahead of me on the grid and hung onto 8th place into Paddock Hill. From there it was pretty uneventful but a couple of spinners and retirements meant I ended up in 5th place. As I was packing the car up the BARC SE co-ordinator came up to me with a trophy in his hands - it turned out I had got second in class  .

The day was a great introduction to racing and I'm looking forward to doing some more events. Sadly the next Sevenesque race clashes with Curborough so I'm looking at maybe entering some MSVR all-comers races to get some more experience and try and lose my novice cross. Due to a new regulation for next year about power to weight, I'll need a National A licence to compete so I need 6 signatures by the end of this year!

Heres the in-car video from my 2nd race: 

Results here.

​Finally, I'd just like to thank Mark Durrant and Rob Jacobs for getting to the circuit early and being pit crew, my wife for letting me do this (and making lunch  ) and to my fellow sprinters who came to watch and give support.

[Simon.Rogers]

[700newtons]

Thanks for sharing that - an interesting read (and video).

[robmar]

Shaun - good stuff...

[Superwhite R283]

  

[OliW]

Well done Shaun, I'm really pleased for you.  I am quite envious but couldn't commit to circuit racing, I don't think.  I'll check the video later.

[OliW]

And thanks for doing a write up too.

[johnpbransfield]

Excellent, well done Shaun.

[Tony Smith]

Well done and thanks for a great excuse for spending an afternoon at Brands Hatch.

  

[Drumster]

Nice one Shaun  I'm sure the next sevenesque race is far more exciting than Curbs 

[Geoff Corker]

Well done Shaun.  Would have loved to have been there, but Brands is a long way from "Up North".

[Shaun_E]

For completeness I've now uploaded my 

. 

[IanJ]

Wow, that looked exciting!

Nice one, Shaun

[john aston]

That Mustang looked bigger than my house...

[Shaun_E]

It did take up more than it's fair share of track 

The owner used to race clubmans cars but in his words "as my swansong I wanted to find out what having 500bhp under your right foot is like"