Photo Credit Jonathan Elsey Photography
June saw us take to the tarmac once again after the long drive down to Snetterton circuit for our next round of Club Enduro. This time with high motivation to bring Audrey home with a podium after such a strong performance last time out. Despite never driving this circuit in the Audi I was confident I could hit the ground running after my result in the BMW last year. This endurance race was again scheduled to be 2 hours, and we were hopeful that the Audi would be as well suited here as it was for Brands Hatch GP where we came so painfully close to clinching a Class victory.
We arrived rather late on Friday night after the long drive, huge thanks to Adam Kluj transport for delivering Audrey down at the circuit safely for the weekend. Due to Saturday not having any Club Enduro sessions we used the day to get everything in order, with my dad and Ryan preparing and checking over Audrey, and mum and Poppy setting Jackie’s (Bobby's Mum) special birthday celebrations up and preparing food for us all. Thanks to Jez for stopping by after their own days racing had ended and setting up our Racecar Radios kit, after which we got the car and our equipment around to our garage ready for Sunday.
Early the following morning we took Audrey down to scrutineering... it was bright and early too... 7am and already warming up to be a sunny day. The qualifying would start at 9:45am so the team had a while afterwards to prep the car and discuss race strategy with TeamBRITs JJ. It was decided that I would start the race this time and so we would use my best lap for our position on the grid. I was pretty pleased with my run out at qualifying, I got 6 good laps in clear air and placed the car p17 out of 31 cars, and 4th in class. An experienced Bobby very quickly posted a similar time getting his three mandatory laps in.
The wait to race time seemed long, which was good in one way because it allows for studying telemetry and debriefing, although I was a little nervous about starting from P17, 9 rows back on a 31 car multiclass grid, with my main class B rivals just in front. Was great to see our friends Ayrton and his dad again also, and pass a bit of time with them, (thanks for your support, and sporting the S19 merch) ... and I also had the opportunity for a quick interview on camera as the broadcast crew were taking a closer look at the activity in our garage. (Video link at end of blog)
It was soon time to go racing on the 2 mile Norfolk circuit. The race start wasn't the most straight forward with someone having a car issue leading to what seemed like a very long wait on the grid in the heat.... but when the lights went out went pretty smoothly for me, I stayed out of trouble and gained a place around the outside of turn one. A few more moves made during my stint and I found myself P2 in class and P10 overall, posting my fastest lap of 2:10.515 on lap 13.
I really enjoyed driving my stint and the hour in the car passed very quickly. We had planned to make our mandatory 3min stop around the 30 lap mark but then the safety car came out, meaning no one could pit and the strategy needed a quick rethink. Luckily the issue that caused it was resolved relatively quickly but after the safety car pulled in we had to complete one full racing lap before pitting. This meant that it was super busy when I came in, and with so much activity in the pit lane I missed our pit box and to my embarrassment drove past our garage...., thinking quickly I realised my mistake and decided to keep rolling to the exit and do another lap, keeping the time lost to a minimum and bringing the car back into the pitlane on lap 32. The crew did another amazing, smooth pitstop which allowed us to leave the pits still in p14 overall, Bobby’s stint would now take us to the end of the race, and Ryan cooled me down with the leaf blower. Lol.
Bobby’s experienced drive got the car back into a class B podium position, and back in the top 10 overall. Luckily we had also built a comfortable gap to P3, as nearing the end of the two hours Audrey gave us an issue meaning that Bobby had to nurse her home to the finish..., but not before beating my fastest lap by just three tenths...once a racing driver.....lol. But I am very pleased to get be so close to his pace, with our consistency we make a strong driver pairing. So after a tense last few laps, to our relief Audrey took the chequered flag in 8th place and 2nd in class giving us our first ever team podium.
It was a great reward for all the hard work put in this year and a great way to bounce back from the disappointment of the previous round. It has taken the help of many people to pull this season together and we are truly grateful to everyone who has played any part large or small. Huge thanks to Aston from Nurburgring Tours on the pit wall keeping all in check, Ryan from Critical Power Installations for being hands on with the car prep with dad, TeamBrit and JJ for their technical support, Adam Kluj Transport and Mike for getting Audrey to and from the circuit for the weekend, Jez at Racecar Radios for the comms setup. Also thanks for the support from Autism Supergood, JPC Specialist Motorsports, Teamkarting, Shaw Tyres and Exhausts, Questmead, and everyone who has put their name on the car, especially Ayrton and David who came along to watch and show their support.
We are now at the midpoint of our race season and this latest result puts us currently in 3rd place in the Class B championship. We will be making use of the short summer break to come back strong for the second half of the season. Starting with an extra busy run up to our next race at Silverstone on 18th August, as I have been asked to appear at the Youth in Motorsport display section of The British Motor Show. This 4 day event in Farnborough opens on 15th August. It promises to be a great day out for all the family, tickets are available now on their website, www.thebritishmotorshow.live
Can't wait, hope to see you there.
Sandro#19
#AudreyTheAudi will be on display as in the photos below from JPC Specialist Motorsport event at Croft
750 Motor Club Interview
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