Snetterton 300 20/21 July 2013 - Ford Fiesta ST and Fiesta Junior
We are concentrating on Geri for the time being, so will not be entering the Class C adult races for the foreseeable future.
Fiesta Junior:
We had picked up the Fiesta from Auto Integrale the weekend before, the Fiesta looking as good as new after a pair of bumpers and a front wing (among the major parts) had been fitted. Better than new indeed, the missing bottom Martini stripe was also in place down both sides.
We figured with a 9:30 sign-on time, we could drive up to Snetterton on the Saturday morning, but we still needed to pick up the hire trailer on Friday afternoon. And there was the first drama of the weekend - on arrival at Helpful Hirings there was something missing - the trailer! A mistake had been made and the trailer we had booked and been loaded out, it wasn't coming back until 8pm. Cue loads of stress, mind working overtime to see where we could hire an alternative at such a late time, or how Geri would miss the practice session if we couldn't find one until the morning. In the end, it all turned out OK, the trailer arrived back and was delivered to us, so we had the Fiesta loaded up by 9:15pm.
An early morning start ensured we arrived at Snetterton in good time to sign on and get the Fiesta through scrutineering. What it didn't do was help us find somewhere to park, the paddock was full and the outer area full all the way back to the Bridge over Bentley Straight! So we parked the tow car and trailer way out there, cue lots of walking over the weekend.
Practice
Practice was just after 11am, Geri's first thought was that Snetterton looked nothing like it did on YouTube. Didn't stock him setting the third fastest outlap once again. But he was consistently 7 seconds of front running pace until his final lap where he suddenly found a couple of seconds. He finished 7th in session of the same 9 drivers present at Cadwell Park, but Aaron had gear linkage problems, Natasha had brake problems. Geri couldn't get Murrays right, the long fourth gear sweep round Coram and then changing down to second for the chicane proving too much in a short space of time. He also seemed to have issues with Agostini, running round in second gear was a constant on-off-on throttle battle as he fought off the understeer and then ran wide every lap. Until the last where he tried it in third gear.
Back in the pits, David Abbott had a chat with Geri and then made some adjustments to the rear suspension to cut the understeer. The payback would be a looser rear of course so Geri was warned to be careful on cold tyres the first time he came into Riches.
Qualifying
A long wait until the afternoon qualifying session. The improvement in Geri's times was immediate, another two seconds off his lap time and now he was only 3 seconds off the front. 2 laps stood out as being slower - both about 1.5 seconds slower than the rest. Midway through the session Geri moved over to let Michael go past - he had been following Geri closely but seemed unable to get by - and then Geri let Ben go by on the final lap, although Ben was quick enough he would probably have made a pass anyway. A lesson learned and a talking to back in the paddock - qualifying was only 8 laps for Geri and he had given up 25% of them. It won't happen again!
Geri qualified in 8th place, Michael and Aaron were 1.6 and 1 second faster, Natasha was still plagued with braking problems and not setting representative times.
We retired to the Angel at Larling, just a mile down the road and absolutely in the middle of nowhere! But a very popular pub, lucky we were advised to book for dinner as they were soon full. The surprise came in the morning, it had been raining and still was, if very lightly. More fun with tyre changing to come?
First order of the day was the media work! Geri had been selected for interview for the Motors TV programme that will be shown on August 8th. Geri was asked a bout the last round at Cadwell Park and his hopes for this round. He said he hoped to compete for 6th place, the front 5 are currently that bit faster than the other 4, more recently joined, drivers. Media duties done, it was time to race.
All photographs on this page courtesy of Tracey Harper
Whatever the weather was doing, the tarmac in the paddock was bone dry and so was the tarmac on the track. Down in the assembly area we were to have more fire extinguisher woes, the marshal wondered whether Geri could reach the internal pull while strapped in - and of course we had to demonstrate. And he couldn't. A pair of cable ties were hastily formed into an extra loop which Geri could now reach from the comfort of his seat. And finally the cars went out to the track.
Geri was lined up 7th on the grid, Natasha was missing, her car still had brake woes, and so was Michael, who should have been 6th, 2 places ahead of Geri. Michael shares his car with Joe Ferguson who races in the senior class, they had complained the Fiesta was down on power on Saturday so there was an overnight engine change which didn't quite complete on time. If the morning had run to schedule maybe Michael would have made the grid, but the cars went out 10 minutes early.
Race 1
Geri took full advantage and made a blinding start passing Aaron into Riches and then taking the inside line into Montreal to cover off any attempt by Aaron to take the place back. Coming out of Montreal Rob seemed to miss a gear, Geri got a good exit and found himself level with Rob approaching Palmer, but Rob had the inside line and Geri was more concerned about Aaron, so let Rob take the line and tucked in behind. Geri tried to stay in touch with the leading pack
but already there was a gap between 5th placed Rob and 6th placed Geri. Aaron seemed to be a safe distance back as they raced down Bentley, but Geri turned in late and wide, then went across into the Esses as Aaron attempted a pass on the inside. Geri was tipped into a spin, he had the presence of mind to dip the clutch so was able to instantly drive back onto the track, watching Aaron in front get to the track first. Aaron was crawling, broken steering causing him to limp to the pits. But Geri was crawling too - the engine just would not rev. Unknown to Geri, the engine had dropped into "safe mode" and he could barely manage 20mph as he too crawled round Coram and back to the pits.
Aaron's car could not continue, Geri drove up the pitlane to find the Daniels Motorsport guys guiding him in. Three laps were lost asthey checked over the car, lifted it and crawled underneath to check the exhaust was not damaged. During the course of this, the engine was switched off and back on - Geri was given the instruction to go back and and try a lap, and of course stay out of all was OK. Before he got out, Michael suddenly appeared and went out on track from the pitlane.
The far was running fine now, but Geri was 3 laps down from the leading pack and out of his own. He thought he was pushing hard but was about 0.5 seconds adrift of his pace the previous afternoon. He brought the car home in 6th place, his best finish of his 3 races, but when the results sheet came out we found he had not completed enough laps to be classified. So no points and no signature on his licence presumably - as the Junior licences are held by the BRSCC we shall have to wait until after the next round to enquire how many signatures Geri has.
Back in the paddock, we could check out the damage score for this race - the rear bumper was still intact, although the right side reflector had gone AWOL, just lots of black rubber on the bumper showing evidence of contact. Oh, and the driver's door, which had a Fiesta nose-shaped dent in it. The dor still opens and shuts fine, its just the outer door skin that is bent, so that will be another trip back to Auto Integrale before the next round.
Bumper all taped up, we were ready for the second race, held around 15:30pm. This time there would be a full complement of 9 cars, Aaron's car was fixed and Natasha was to use her father's car for the race. Down in the assembly area and there were more fire extinguisher dramas! This time, the (same) marshal noticed that the extinguisher cables were the wrong way round. Panic was about to set in, we were due on track any minute. The guys from Daniels Motorsport were called into action, some cool calm work switched the cables over and satisfied the marshal. Just as the cars were about to be released.
More drama, the engine would not start, the battery had gone flat! Geri was all strapped in, there wasn't time to get him out so he was given a quick lesson in how to jump start a car while the rest of us pushed. Credit to Geri, clutch dumped, engine fired up and caught in his first attempt. Under strict instruction not to turn off the engine or stall it, Geri joined the circuit and lined up in 6th place.
Race 2
Mindful of his instruction, Geri got caught napping from the start and went into Riches in 8th place. He managed to get to the inside of the track at Montreal and rounded the hairpin right on Michael's rear bumper - cloase enough to trade a little paint. And then "bang" as Geri was hit from behind and spun right round. Not so quick with the clutch this time, Geri was relieved that the engine started immediately - but he was plum last and by some distance. As he gave chase to Natasha, it was all happening up front. Geri had just joined the Bentley Straight just as Ben turned into the Esses maybe a fraction too fast. The ensuing tank-slapper resulted in Ben's car lying on its side on the track in the Esses. Geri turned after the bridge to see a loud of dust and assumed Natasha must have run wide before realising where Ben's car was. The safety car was brought out quickly and the race red flagged, but not before the leaders had crossed the start line.
Thankfully, Ben was OK. While no-one wishes bad luck on any of their fellow competitors, you should still take any advantage of such a situation. Geri had a chance to make amends for his second first lap drama of the day. A few minutes passed and then we were off again. Geri was now lined up in 5th place with Ben missing from the grid.
A much better start saw Geri pull clear of both Michael and Aaron and maintain his 5th place into the first corner, and indeed all the way round the first lap. Up front the leaders were in close formation coming into Murrays, Rory had a big tankslapper resulting in him being launched over the kerb and just brushed into the outer wall. Geri was 4th at the end of the first lap!
The front three were pulling clear of Geri, Aaron and Michael were a second or so behind, Rory got back on track and had soon caught up with Natasha. The big questions were, could Geri hold off Aaron and Michael, both of who had been quicker than him all weekend, and how far up the grid could Rory get.
Geri seemed to be maintaining the gap behind him to Aaron, Michael was slowly closing in on the pair of them. Geri was struggling at Murrays, one corner he was convinced he couldn't get right. Aaron would close within a couple of car lengths, Geri would take a defensive line through Murrays to protect his position, and then they would chase up the start-finish straight with Geri so slowly pulling another length or two clear. But with Michael closing in, surley Aaron would have to start concentrating on what was happening behind him, rather than in front of him?
Two laps to go and Michael got by Aaron into 5th place. Michael had been faster than Aaron all weekend, and a couple of seconds faster than Geri - the chase was on. Only it wasn't, Geri upped his game, posted his fastest lap of the weekend to extend the gap back to Michael, and then stretched it out again on the final lap to finisg in 4th place, 3 seconds clear of Michael. Up front, JJ had triumphed from Alex and Rob, the three of them less than a second apart, with Geri finishing 18 seconds off the lead over 20 minutes and 9 laps.
At the trophy presentation we thought Geri might win the cup for most improved driver, it is awarded to the driver with the best improvement in race 2 position compared to race 1 position. But it went to Michael, 7th to 5th being deemed better than 6th to 4th.
Geri's camp were not disappointed for long; Kevin Shortis, the organiser, introduced a new sponsor from Yeomans Group who were giving a cup for Rookie Driver of the Day - and this one went to Geri who picked up a cup much bigger than the winner did!
We've got 6 weeks until the next event at Brands Hatch, plenty of time to get the door replaced and other minor damage attended to.
Please see the official race report here.
Check out the Fiesta ST points and Fiesta Junior points standing.
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