A bit of updating required here. The second round of the Future Classics series was two weeks ago on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Things didn't go entirely to plan, with neither of us having driven the circuit and being well off the pace in qualifying, which ended with Brett putting the car in the gravel at Paddock Hill. By race time, we'd got a bit closer to finding our way round the circuit, but were struggling to keep up with the more powerful cars out of the corners, and the car wasn't feeling entirely planted going into them. Power and handling issues to resolve!
On the plus side, I had a bit of a scrap with a Ferrari 308, sneaking past him under blue flags as the leaders came through; the track itself was good fun to drive despite being rather crowded, and our pitstop driver change handing over to Brett was far slicker than our abysmal efforts at Snetterton. On the downside, other than the DNFs, only the aforementioned Ferrari was behind us on track position. We knew we wouldn't be immediately on the pace without testing, but it would be nice to have more people to race against!
So, on to Anglesey. Again we were unable to test before the race, but I did spend a long time watching YouTube videos of the new Coastal circuit, including the lairy Crokscrew which cuts the extra loop out of the International circuit. Looked like fun and, arriving on Friday evening, a walk of the circuit emphasised just how blind Rocket is, and just how steep the hills are. Not exactly Eau Rouge, but as least as gradient-filled as Brands. It's a nice wide circuit too, so it does inspire plenty of confidence attacking corners, and means there's more space for passing.
The extra width was especially useful in qualifying because we were bundled together with the CSCC Magnificent Sevens which were vastly quicker and buzzed about the Future Classics cars like wasps. Since Brands, the car had been set up and corner-weighted, and felt much nimbler as a result, but still felt way down on power, with less pull down the straights than even our relatively modest power output suggested. There also appeared to be exhaust fumes getting into the car which can't have helped! We both achieved similar times, but having safely dodged the Sevens, we ended the session second to last on the time sheets and worse still, the XJS behind us only completed four laps and wouldn't start the race.
It was Brett's turn to start and he was soon in battle with John Cellier in his Fiesta XR2, but after reeling him in, and momentarily passing, was back behind. 20 minutes passed quickly and we were ready for the pitstop. Not quite as polished as Brands this time - getting into the car is an area we need more practice in - but I was soon back out and enjoying the sweeping circuit. Some fettling after qualifying on a discovered split in the intake pipe, meant that the engine didn't feel quite as flat as before, but the long sweep from The Banking, through Church and right up to Rocket left us really feeling our power defecit. Cellier's XR2 was again in our sights, but after reeling him in, the was never enough punch to actually make a move to pass. An over exuberant and wildly sideways turn through Rocket did us no favours, but in the heat of the chase, we were lapping consistently faster than an MR2 and Astra on track, finishing ahead of both to take 19th of 25 starters. Most importantly, it was a really enjoyable weekend and Anglesey Coastal is possibly my new second-favourite track! Also spent quite a lot of time milling about the paddock meeting fellow competitors, enjoying the sunshine and the racing which is what it's all about.
