Kumho BMW Round 3 - Brands Hatch

By Thorney Motorsport

Kumho BMW Championship
Round 3 - Brands Hatch
7th / 8th June 2008

We were full of good intentions after Pembrey for the M3. The plan was to convert the car completely to Kumho specifications and see how we fared in a fully prepared car; my how wrong were we. Only a handful of parts turned up in time, from Perspex glass to different bodywork. In fact the only thing we did manage to change was the front camber, thanks to KW adjustable front top mounts. We also increased the rear camber using adjustable rear arms. These aside, the car was exactly the same as it ran at Pembrey. With this in mind and the fact that the race coincided with the Performance Vauxhall Show at Santa Pod (which we always attend) I was left on my own for the Brands race.

As it turned out, being on my tod was quite nice. Esme and the family came down to watch and we turned it into a family weekend away to some extent, sadly the time on track wasn’t quite as nice.

Qualifying

We knew from practice that we were nicely on the pace in low 54 second laps, however  qualifying somehow felt different. It could have been due to traffic on circuit, with 27 cars out on the short Brands Hatch circuit or due to the weather being warmer than Fridays practice. We ended up 7^th on the grid, which was a little disappointing for some reason. However, perusal of the times showed just how close it was; less than 6 tenths of a second covered the top 8 places – should make for an interesting race.

Race 1

Well, ‘interesting’ is a word for it I guess. My start was its customary crap-self but we managed to skirt round the outside of Paddock to be in 5^th place at the entry to Druids. Sat behind the orange E30 M3, I move across to cover the inside line when, Bang! Ian Curry slams into my bumper and rear wing. Such was the force of the impact the rear bumper is smashed, the rear wing torn like tissue paper and for good measure he carries on down the side of the car with two wheels on the bodywork ripping open the door, front wing and finally the front bumper.  I manage to keep away from the gravel but end up in 16^th place – sod it.

I managed to get round to Clearways and it’s pretty obvious that the car is a bit worse for wear. I have smoke pouring off the near side front wheel where the front bumper is tearing into the tyre, the rear bumper is dragging on the track and the steering is shaking like an alcoholic with the DT’s from the damage to the offside front wheel. Despite this I’m keen to make the best of it (I like Brands) and set about collecting up as many cars as I can.

Half way through the race I come round Graham Hill bend and I see someone’s bumper in the middle of the track, “Tssk, whose is that? Oh its mine!” How no-one hit it I’ll never know, at one point it helps me overtake another car as I duck inside the now prone bumper to get the inside line in the run up to Clearways – thanks bumper.

After a brief fight with some of the class B cars I manage to catch and take Tom Webb right at the end to collect 8^th place – not bad seeing where I was in lap one.

Surprisingly after the race Ian held me responsible for the incident, seeing as my rear bumper and wing took the hit I find that hard to stomach, however a bollocking for both of us from the Kumho committee (me for moving off line and Ian for basically ramming me) and we put it down to experience although Ians refusal to shake hands does suggest that he doesn’t see it that way. Oh well.

The damage to the car is severe, rear bumper is truly knackered, partly from being hit and partly from being hit by other cars whilst it undertook its adopted role of chicane. The rear wing will knock out but the tear will need welding to make sure the razor sharp edges are taken car of. The door now opens with a soothing creak of something badly hurt and the front wing is dead. One Rays wheel is damaged beyond repair and we’ve knackered three tyres – great. Being on my own I replace what I can, duck tape up the front and rear bodywork (pretty it aint) and wait for the second race the next day.

Race 2

Well if race 1 was disappointing then race 2 was worse. 8^th on the grid was OK and I got a good start this time but as soon as I hit Graham Hill bend I got hideous understeer, looks like we got something else damaged in the incident. There follows quite a fun race, somehow driving a car that handled like it was trying to kill me (maybe Ian was controlling it with his thoughts) actually made it fun. Tom was behind me again but was only a matter of time before he got past and once he did I settled in behind him to see if we could catch the leading group and strangely enough we were. Sadly Ian Munns and Joachim Ritter have a coming together at Paddock and the race is red flagged at just over half distance – shame. Net result was a 7^th and an 8^th which in the circumstances isn’t bad.

What’s next?

Well, we have a 7 week gap to get the car ready for the next round at Donington Park and I’m determined to get it ready in full Kumho spec. We’re over 100kg’s too heavy and there is a list as long as your arm that we can do to the car to make it more competitive. I’ve not raced Donington Park before but I love the circuit so with a bit of luck we can start to show what we can do.

That is of course if we have time, eep.

 

John