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This was always going to be a strange weekend. Martyn getting married on Friday 15th and not going racing, me having to get the car to Donnington to reserve
pit space and then getting back for scrutineering and qualifying on Saturday. Surprisingly everything went smoothly, took the race car to Donnington Thursday
afternoon behind the camper, put it into position and unloaded the race car to reserve pit space. Paul Taylor also arrived early, so we had a couple of beers
before retiring for the night. Friday morning we travelled back from Donnington in Paul’s road car to my place where we had a quick sandwich, put on our finery
and then headed to Basingstoke for Martyn’s wedding. The wedding went well and we headed to the reception at Camberley where we had a very good time meeting old
friends and family. We stayed the night in a Travel Lodge in Camberley and then headed back to Donnington in Paul’s car 1st thing Saturday morning. With no traffic
jams we arrived in plenty of time to set up the awnings, sort out the tools and prepare the race cars for scrutineering.
I did my usual pottering about during qualifying and only managed to be 21st out of 26 cars. At least that’s five cars I don’t have to overtake in race 1 if I get off the line quickly.
Race 1 turned out to be quite exciting as part way into the race I suddenly found myself without brakes going into Macleans. A lot of pedal pumping restored some pressure
and a very wobbly exit enabled me to keep going. I thought that maybe I had a bit of pad knock off from some earlier kerbs. Next bend, same thing. I decided that discretion
was the better part of valour and kept the speed down before pulling off into the pits.
To prepare for race 2 I checked out the brakes in the interval, no signs of leaking fluid or worn pads, so put everything back together and bled the system.
The rears bled ok, no air but the fronts especially the outer sections had air in them. After pumping it all out the pedal pressure was good and maintained it.
For race 2 I started on the back of the grid in 26th position, well at least things could not get any worse and I could have fun trying a few overtaking manoeuvres.
Having check the statistics from qualifying I realised my speed through the Craner Curves was too slow, so I resolved to try a bit of buttock clenching and go through them flat.
This worked quite well as I managed to steadily overtake a few cars, not losing much in the Craners and then taking advantage on other sections where I was better.
I finished in what I thought was quite a good 14th place and had fun getting there.
The British GTs finished their championship on Saturday so on the Sunday there was a fun race setup between the VW cars and an Alfa Romeo championship. We were put
into teams of 2 with our names being drawn out of a hat, like wise for our grid positions. The Alfas started nearest the pit wall and the VWs on the outside. At the start
my partner Mark ended up in the gravel on the outside of the first bend. Never mind, the idea was that with a mixture of cars and positions jumbled up with a mix of slow
and fast cars down the grid there would be a lot of overtaking. This there was and I was having a great time when the brake gremlin returned, again into Macleans as I was
just preparing to have a go at overtaking the Caddy van. Unluckily for the Caddy I was on the inside and with no brakes the Caddy and I had quite a coming together, me losing
a headlight, ripping my bumper and bending a wing, he losing his bumper and getting a big dent in the rear quarter. I am really sorry Simon! I am sure Simon realised I was going
to overtake in the next couple of bends and was watching me as he saw what was happening and had given me a bit more space than he would have otherwise. I ended up in the gravel
with a smoking nearside brake. At the end of the race the Vento was shipped back on a transporter to the scrutineering bay whilst I was summoned to the “Clerk of the Course” to
give an explanation for my errant driving. I was told that after reviewing the video of the incident with the Caddy that the accident was totally avoidable and I had better have
a good excuse. I said that the brakes had failed and was told by the “Clerk of the Course” not to leave the circuit without seeing him again as scrutineers were checking out my car
to see if I was telling the truth. Poor Liz had to pack everything up whilst I was marching back and forth between the scrutineering bay and control tower. On my next visit to
the “Clerk of the Course” he seemed a bit more placid. He announced that after checking the car and confirming my account of the brake failure that the accident was unavoidable
and I was free to go.
Well that’s the end of the season. Over the winter the Vento needs to have the engine checked as it was smoking a bit when cold, new headlight, wing and bits painted.
Of course the brakes will require refurbishing. It seems everything has expired the 5 year FIA approval at the same time with a new seat and seat belts being required
before it can compete in the championship again. Now we can also concentrate on straightening and repairing the Beetle. I have collected all the panels I need but still
have mechanical bits to get.
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