Jun
30
Howard Fuller: Snetterton review
A hot dry weather forecast , two qualifying sessions and four races on one set of tyres this was likely to be a tough weekend.
First and second practice at Snetterton seemed to go very well and I acheived 6th and 7th fastest as I tried out different set ups for the car for this very fast track. After looking though data I knew where to make up the last few tenths of a second to get a good qualifying position for the first two races.
Q1 – didn’t seem to start too well as I couldn’t get the space I needed to get a fast lap. So an early pit-stop for tyre pressures and straight back out proved helpful as I missed the pit lane rush. I was in P11 for a while but in the last 10 minutes I managed a string of fast laps and achieved my best ever FPA grid spot of 4th for race one and my second fastest lap got me 5th for race two.
Race one from 4th on the grid got under way and a poor start lost a position but despite that we managed to pull a gap from the other drivers behind. Unfortunately I braked too late for Riches on lap 2 and was off onto the grass causing me to drop back to 9th . I went off again at Sear and when returning onto the track a car didn’t give me space and I spun while taking avoiding action, consequently putting me last - a fast recovery got me back up to 14th.
Race two from 5th went slightly smoother with a good start keeping my position off the line. Saving my boosts for the latter part of the race paid off as I managed to retake a few positions for my best ever FPA finish of 6th.
Q2 – was set to be very tense as I was struggling with the car and seemed to be having problems stopping the car under heavy braking. I was sitting in P9 until the very last lap when it all came together and i managed a very creditable 4th position for race three, and 9th for race four.
Race three from 4th didn’t start off too well with too much wheel spin off the line. I lost two spots before the first corner, but managed to keep 6th for most of the race but after using all my boosts defending I had no reply on the last lap and lost another spot finishing 7th.
Race Four I knew I needed to work hard to get an improvement on my 9th grid position. After some contact from one of the recovering front runners I ended up on the grass at Riches. As in race one I got my head down and pulled back a few places to finish up 14th.
All in all a positive weekend which saw some high qualifying positions and then some hard fought finishes adding valuable championship points.
See you all at Oulton Park 24th July for rounds 8 and 9
Howard Fuller