Nov
2
Earl around the world: First, something completely different
Hi Everyone,
September was a busy month travelling to Europe to commentate the Superleague Formula in Adria Italy. October was shaping up the same way when I got called to travel to China to commentate for the Series again. After a long flight I arrived in Beijing. We had to stay overnight in Beijing before we headed to Ordos in Inner Mongolia to a new circuit that had just been completed. After getting lost in Beijing we made it to the Beijing Military Air Base where we flew out to Ordos as a group. When I arrived at the track I saw Keith Thomas who promptly said” What are you doing here commentating your driving hasn’t anyone told you?” It had been a bit of a joke throughout the season that I should drive the car at some stage so I thought he was joking. By this time it was already 12.30 on Friday. I continued my normal job and found the commentary box. Next I got a tap on the back of the shoulder from someone from Superleague to say you better see Robin Webb ( Series Boss) you are driving. I went to see Robin he said you’re driving the PC Porto car for the weekend you better go see the team. I went and met the team but first problem was I didn’t bring my gear with me to China. Jess Golding a good friend of mine works for the team I was driving for so between us we had to beg, borrow and steal everyone else’s equipment in the paddock. I ended up with John Martin’s Boots and Helmet, Craig Dolby’s gloves, Adderley Fong’s suit and a touring car driver Hans for the weekend. It was a long first day arriving back to the hotel at 1am and China being china nothing ever works so when I arrived my room had been given away even though the booking had been confirmed. So I ended up staying in one of the massage rooms downstairs.
It was great to finally get back behind the wheel of a high horsepower, high downforce single seater. Qualifying went well making it into the quarter final in the knock out system of qualifying. This placed us 8th on the grid for the first race. We had a brilliant first race coming from 8th to 3rd to finish on the podium. This was a great result considering I hadn’t raced for 7 months and a car of this size for one and a half years. The second race was a full reverse grid of the finishing order so we had to start 17th. We finished 12th really struggling for tyre grip. At this point the top six on points for the weekend go through into the Super Final a 5 lap dash for 100,000 Euros. I didn’t think I was in the final and was about to get out and run upstairs and commentate the Super Final but then I got the word I was in the Super Final. Starting sixth off the start someone took my starting position so I made up my own place to start and nailed it on the limiter dropped the clutch and went for it. It was a great three way battle for the race lead. Even the T.V production was put on hold while everyone was yelling. We finished second on the road but the leader was penalized for a start infringement so we were declared the winner of the Super Final. I couldn’t believe it I was speechless. After arriving to commentate and coming away with a win it was a fairy tale ending to the weekend. The following week it was off to Beijing for the next race.
Because of my performance in Ordos the Atech Reid team decided to give me another chance the following weekend. This meant changing car but I didn’t mind, I never thought in my career I would drive a high power single seater again so it was great.
For the weekend I would drive for the PSV Eindhoven Club. We were racing at a street circuit which was interesting to say the least. We had some safety concerns about the track all the drivers did because of the last chicane which was meant to be 4th gear but ended up flat in 6th gear at 260kph. Practice went well but struggled the whole time with confidence braking but the car had a really nice balance. Qualifying was a struggle for us not getting a good lap in before getting caught with a red flag when Andy Souck crashed in the last chicane trying to go flat. Probably a good thing because I had decided no matter what I was going flat on my next lap and could have ended in a similar way.
After qualifying we did find our brake problem. The brakes had been glazed probably from the weekend before from a different driver. This was a positive finding the problem going into the race. Unfortunately we had to start the race dead last. We started our charge from 20th on the grid. We got by the first few cars pretty easily before an early safety car. Under the rules you can’t pit under safety car so the pit window was extended. We pitted first lap after the safety car was in. The team did a great job to jump me a few spots with a good stop to end the race 6th. Next mission was to gather enough points to make the Super Final again starting 9th. Once again we gained off the start and then settled in 7th position. It had become very dark and was looking like rain. I was struggling to see the curbs on track and started missing apex points. All of a sudden it started to rain and we started to rocket up the field passing cars in the slippery conditions. I would like to take credit for being fast but to be honest at the start when it was raining I didn’t know because I couldn’t see enough to know it was. I just drove to the grip I felt I had under me and it was fast. Once again my engineer and team were onto it and made a perfect call to change to wets at the right time. We were still a long way from the leader but gained four seconds in the first sector alone. Next minute there was a red flag because the leader had spun which put us into the lead. We waited on the start line as conditions got worse. Unfortunately the leader was allowed his position back into the lead something that I didn’t agree with. At the restart we were told to hold position so brought the car home 2nd. After the race I still wasn’t happy about the decision to let the leader back into the lead after causing the red flag. We got the grid for the Super Final and we had pole positions. This was great considering our pace in the wet, but before we could get back into the car they cancelled the Super Final due to conditions. This declared us the winner for the second weekend in a row. Once again I couldn’t believe it. The fairy tale story continued and you couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried. It was a great two weekends and great to be racing again. I have to say thank you to everyone involved that made it possible and from now on I always bring my gear with me to the track.
The next day it was time to leave China. Everyone couldn’t wait to leave two weeks in China is more than enough. I arrived back in New Zealand but not for long. The following weekend I was off to Surfers Paradise for the Gold Coast 600. V8 Supercars is where I want to end up racing in the next few years so took the time to watch the racing and learn more about the championship you can learn a lot from watching and is part of the reason for going so well in Superleague.
So what’s next? We have the first round of the New Zealand championship this weekend. We are still not confirmed to race but working flat out to try and get to the grid. I also have a very busy month with Downforce doing different events.
Look forward to catching you all next month.
Earl Bamber