June 20th Brands Hatch double header

750 Motorclub MR2 Championship 20th June 2010

Words and opinions by car 36 chief tool bringer and tea drinker - Ben

Pre-thought - Castle Combe proved to us that the car was indeed at least good enough to be top 10, but maybe even in the mix for top 5 or even higher with a few more upgrades. That in mind Rob scraped some more pennies together and went shopping! The planned upgrades didn't all get on the car! Although Japanese cars are built to last they don't always like being pulled apart?! But we were still very hopeful of a truck load of points.

Qualifying - Brands Hatch was a double header event - meaning 2 races. The fastest lap time was grid slot for race 1 and second fastest grid slot for race 2. As a low budget team we don't do any testing so qualifying set-up is based on previous race set-ups and a lot of experience (best guess most of the time! -RB) from Barnett Jnr. and Snr. and a fair bit of guess work from me! We had some new tyres to scrub in and qualifying is the only real opportunity to do this. Rob's car with new tyres and a few upgrades that were untested, made for a nervous few minutes for team Barnett. Brands Hatch is a relatively short circuit (around 1 min a lap) and with 34 competitors finding clear track proved difficult, but Rob managed to qualify race 1 in 12th and race 2 in 10th. Everyone involved in team Barnett was just happy that the car came back unscathed, Rob was a little flat at being on the edge of the top ten but given that he always seems to get off the line well I was hopeful for some good points! After qualifying it was all a bit strange in the Barnett camp. The car seemed pretty good and there were no real problems to sort out bar a small repair to the front bumper, so change the wheels on with the tea drinking and talking about race set up.

Race 1 - 13 mins +1 lap

After a good start Rob had gained a few places and by the second lap a few more. Still running well he now found himself chasing down Dave Bryant for 5th position. Nearing the end of the 13 mins Dave reporting feeling a little vibration going into Paddock Hill bend that seemed to be coming from the rear axle. Into Druids (hairpin 2nd corner) it seemed okay then rounding Graham Hill the offside rear wheel seemed to (in Dave's words) exploded!! Everyone I spoke to had never come across it before so hopefully it was just a freak accident?! Either way Rob finished in 5th and Dave was unhurt so we were all really happy with that result in team Barnett! During The last 2 laps of race 1 Rob reported that the temperature gauge was floating very high then returning to its usual position so not only did this mean I had to push the car, we had some stuff to sort for race 2 - the cooling pipes of doom had returned!

Race 2 - 13 mins +1 lap

Starting in 10th spot we had hopes to repeat or better the finishing position from race 1, that's if we managed to cure the cooling system gremlins. Another good start from Rob saw a few places gained and a few more meant he was now battling it out with Dave Bryant for 5th again. This was alas to no avail, as an incident caused the red flags to come out meaning race stopped until the track is made safe ready for a restart - I personally was quite happy at this point - Rob had been starting well all day so to restart from 5th could only be a good thing..... Or so I thought..... The restart saw the cars line up in the original starting positions rather than count back to the last complete lap??? Back in 10th in front of the midfield pack again. A few laps later Rob had managed to get back nearer the front runners once again but then disaster! I was watching from near the main stands when he doesn't come past for that lap????. From where I was I could see a couple of cars stranded between Druids and Graham Hill bend and someone beached on the exit of Paddock Hill bend and with another couple of offs and crashes another red flag - I'm still looking for Rob's car at this point, I know it's in bad shape as it didn't come round last lap but maybe it's just an off and he can re-join down the order??? No such luck. I watched after the second restart (3rd start!) and after another lap of car 36 not coming round I'm thinking the worst so back to the paddock.

The walk back to the paddock is always a strange one, for many different reasons it is always carries many different emotions. A lot of the time it's the first time I get to speak to Rob after the race about how the car is and what needs to change so if its race 1 it can mean I'm either really busy or I can get straight on with the tea drinking, if its race 2 then its food for thought about what can be done for the next meet and a bit more research into possible upgrades?!?! If it's whilst the other cars are still going round then it's a world of difference. Firstly I'm looking to see if Rob is okay! The fact the race has carried on implies that he is in pretty good shape as the ambulance is not on track sorting him out! The few steps it's taken me to sum that up then has me looking for the car, I can just about make it out on the downward slope from the stand to our paddock area. All I can see is it's there parked up in our paddock spot , so I then conclude (in my ever growing optimism) that it can't be that bad as it must have made it back under its own steam so no tow truck involved?? First impressions are that it's not too bad (but as previous stated my glass tends to be not only full but overflowing). After looking at the onboard footage it became clear why Tanya (the name of car 36!) was looking a bit worse for wear. - Rob started lining up for an overtake, through Paddock Hill Rob took meters out of the car in front and he positioned Tanya on the outside line right behind for a move into Druids - car in front brakes a little early and still on the outside - Rob can't believe his luck! A massive gap and on the inside line - can't be better but then the car in front chops back to get to the inside to take the apex and in the process giving Rob no room and the inevitable happens - contact. The tyre looks a bit torn up and the whole front nearside quarter is mangled, I would use a more technical term but can't swear in these write ups! Between Rob's shed full of spare panels and a well known internet auction site I'm pretty confident we'll get it sorted for Silverstone, our next event.

After thought and a few thank yous....

To take part in motorsport requires the help and support of a lot of people. The sponsors help with the obvious but Rob has had support from his parents for a long long time during his motorsport outings so thanks to them and thanks to Sarah (Mrs. B.) for allowing (all married men will understand that it's a lot easier with the wife's support!) him to continue racing! Big thanks to Colin and Lee for getting the car there and keeping it nice and clean but the biggest thanks from me is definitely to Sarah M and Angie for making me tea all day without which I do not function!! Commiserations to Dave Bryant who seemed to have no luck over the weekend - running strong in both races then circumstances causing him to retire in both. Well done to Team Resinex for a pretty successful couple of races! And well done to Luke Austin in car 44 (next to us in the paddock) - qualifying saw the car to be well under powered then race 1 a bit better but still not cured then race 2 seemed to show that all the spannering in between paid off, car working strong!

Team Barnett - when we all entered into this championship we all wanted to do well and compete nearer the front, which everyone does! But lately I'm just happy to see Rob get back to the paddock and the car in one piece. Bumps and scrapes are all part of motorsport but nearly every car over the weekend seemed to have made contact with someone else's. Brands is a small-ish track and there were a lot of cars so hopefully future events will mean I can leave the tools in the car and get on with what I do best - drink tea and be sarcastic to everyone!

There is some hard work ahead, we were set to add some more upgrades but think we may have to spend our time repairing the car to get it anywhere on the grid let alone near the front runners!! As said we are a shoestring budget team so the car is upgraded as we have spare money and time (so if your reading this and know someone with a need for advertising and a love for close car racing point them in our direction!) so although the regs only allow a small amount of modification there is still some things that we need to change to make it easier for Rob to compete with the front runners - some things that you regard as consumable items are still the 16 year old, 90,000 mile originals. That said it has to be on the grid first so upgrade money will have to be spent on repairs. 2 steps forward and a 1 back but in the worlds of some Californian governor - we'll be back.

Full results available here: http://www.750mc.co.uk/images/uploaded/05_Brands_Hatch_19-20th_June_MR2.pdf