May
20
Hi all
Apologies for not posting sooner but we’ve had a busy couple of weeks so thought I’d save the blog for after Adria.
As I said, it’s been a couple of weeks since I was last here and since then two FIA GT3 races have come and gone. The first was at Silverstone at the beginning of May and to be honest we weren’t as competitive there as we’d hoped.
The nature of the championship means that it’s important to have all the cars equalised. It’s intended to make for closer, action packed racing without the manufacturers getting involved in an arms race of sorts, which keeps grids packed, the costs low(er) and the result unpredictable.
CRS Racing’s pair of brand spanking new Ferrari’s 430 Scuderias didn’t arrive in Dover docks until the Wednesday prior to the race, meaning we had no time to test, set-up or explore the car’s limits. Not ideal. So we turned up at Silverstone just hoping to get some millage on the car. In qualifying it was clear that we were desperately short of testing with all the teams using the new Ferrari – including Kessel who build the cars – struggling.
To their credit, the FIA Performance Balancing Bureau recognised this and allowed the Scuderias to run larger restrictors, effectively increasing our power. It certainly helped but had the adverse effect of also increasing fuel consumption and we struggled with fuel pick-up issues throughout both races. Still, we were the first Ferrari crew home which boded well for the following round in Adria.
We’d tested at Silverstone the week after the race there and found a really good balance and plenty of extra pace. It was just what we needed and headed to Italy full of confidence. The results of the team’s hard work were instant, the car running much better in free practice where I was 5th and 3rd in the two sessions, despite this being my first visit there.
It set us up nicely for qualifying where we were again fast and I managed to put the car 3rd on the grid for the second race.
The opening race didn’t go exactly according to plan though. Robert Hissom, my team mate, had put in a decent first stint and we were well set as he came into the pits. We’d had a problem with the brakes for the entire weekend though and, thanks to the high temperatures in Italy, the brake fluid boiled as the car sat there. It was one of the only times I can remember seeing the disks glow in daylight. Anyway, I went out, turned into the first corner and sailed straight on despite my left foot and brake pedal hard to the floor. A lap later we were out for good after hitting a patch of oil and beaching the car in the gravel trap, along with a Porsche which had just done likewise in front.
Still, our pace was good and I felt confident starting from third in the second race which was to be run at night. I made a good start and maintained third for the first two laps, hustling the leaders. Then, on lap three, the car developed a misfire. It was minor at first but I could see from the dash read-out that the battery voltage was getting lower and lower. In a desperate bid to save the battery until the pitstop, I turned off the headlights, not something I’d normally recommend at 150mph but necessary to at least get us somewhere near the pit window. It did initially help but it wasn’t long before the volts continued to tumble and the train of cars behind continued to grow. 25 minutes in I had to pit to at least see what the team could do. Sadly it was terminal, the alternator having packed up and with it our chances of a solid points haul.
Now, you’d probably expect me to pretty glum about it all, but to tell you the truth it’s one of those occasions when you have to take the positives and move on. The car was competitive all weekend and we had the pace to qualify and race in the top five. The championship moves on to Oschersleben in mid-June where I’m confident we can trouble the podium again.
Phil.
