So the question was leading up to this round – was #Syril working again & back “in the game”
Well we approached this round after all of the rear end Subframe & differential bushes were changed to Superpro Bushes & no time for testing so it was a “do or die” situation…
We turned up to set up on the Thursday night as there was extra practice on the Friday (Thank
God) I thought and after seeing the track in the flesh it was “very” unforgiving with no run off was so ever as it was surrounded by concrete walls – EVERYWHERE!… We had a new member in the team for this weekend which was Brad he was my spotter & radio comms guy (Brad has many years of experience in this role) so we walked the track on the Thursday night & created a plan.
I had every intention of just driving a sighting lap on our first time out however after a few words from Brad on the start line which made me chuckle the go ahead from Malx the star line Marshall was given and I got rather excited & just went!
After our very first run all the team could hear was fantastic laughing & cheering down the radio from me “YES, YES, YES SYRIL IS BACK – HE’S WORKING & FEELS AMAZING!!!”
I received laughs back from the guys on the team & a BIG WELL DONE as I had only just missed 1 clipping point from all 8 clipping points on that very first lap.
We only managed to get 4 practice laps in on the open practice time on Friday but hey 4 was better than none!
Now knowing that Syril is back on form & I had the feel to put him where I needed to on the track & a working hydraulic handbrake (always a bonus) I came away from this 1st practice session quite literally on cloud 9 & bouncing around the pits!
I was once again a VERY happy Kirsty full of hope & hunger to do well this weekend & try my hardest to get a podium finish as so many other drivers in my class had been struggling with this track yet we gelled with it impressively quickly (in-fact on the very first lap!)
So after finally managing to get to sleep on the Friday night I was very excited to get back out drifting in Syril on the Saturday morning for the Pro-Am practice before our qualifying.
I was in the queue waiting to go out for my very first run of the day & checked my tyre pressures only to find one side lower in pressure compared to the other side – so I went back into the pits & straight to the tyre van not wanting to waste time we popped some air in & got back out into the queue on track.
I was given the go ahead & off the line I went however things were not going to plan & we were all over the track & not into the clipping points – after a quick talk on the radio to Brad & David I got out of the car, whilst scratching my head to figure out what went wrong I checked the tyre pressures again & then all became clear – We had a puncture on the N/S/R but no offending item to spot! Back into the pits we went for a tyre change…
Once in the pits we could clearly hear that there was a puncture with air hissing out of the tyre – on with a new set of wheels shod with Achilles tyres & I was off again!
It is amazing the difference that having equal tyre pressures makes… we was once again “cooking on gas” (well Shell V-Power actually) and flying around the track.
We finished our practice session with some great runs & feedback.
Whilst the team prepped Syril for qualifying I went & watched some of the pro practice to see if I could pick up some extra hints & tips.
A quick gluten free roll & a cup of tea & I was ready to rock!
Off to qualifying we went & rude not to get a few pictures of #Syril whilst waiting for our turn.
Qualifying lap 1 – felt really good & I was over the moon when Brad came onto the radio & advised me that I was sitting in P1, I asked him numerous time to clarify what he had just said & to make sure that I had not misheard him, to say I was bouncing around in Syril & happily screaming would have been a slight understatement – it was just such a relief to feel that I was giving something back to the team after all of their hard work in fixing Syril once we had figured out what was previously wrong with him & to sit in P1 just proved that all of the blood, sweat & tears were worth it!
Whilst we were waiting for Qualifying lap 2 in the queue I was speaking with the other drivers & also being regularly updated on the standings by Brad & how other drivers were doing & how deep into the clipping points they were going etc.
Our turn came & we were sitting on the start line, left leg shaking whilst down on the clutch pedal with Adrenaline through the roof – the lights changed and GO,GO,GO!
My intention was to go even harder & of course try to beat my previous qualifying run but sadly I was off of a clipping point or 2 and thus my first run was going to be the one that counted on this occasion…… an anxious wait for everyone to qualify & then came the results in the BDC Drivers page.
We had qualified in 9th position which I was thrilled about as there was over 60+ drivers battling for Top 32 qualifying. *small dance was carried out by myself I cannot deny*
So back into the pits and once again my fantastic team got to work fuelling Syril, changing wheels & giving him the once over - even supplying me with much needed juice due to the dehydration as it was a tad hot out there in that scorching heat & a 3 layer racesuit even with our Walero fire proof undergarments.
1st Battle with myself leading in Matt Walker.
2nd Battle with Matt Walker leading me in. My lead run was slightly off of clipping point 2 and a slight correction coming into clip 4 however Matt straightened slightly behind me on 2 occasions so this was fed back to me over the radio from Brad & I had the advantage in points so the chase run was all to play for. Sitting on the line ready to go & lights changed – We were off and again my plan was to be uber close to him so that I could win this battle however due to my mistake with mis-shifting on 3rd Matt managed to pull a sizeable gap on Syril & I… I attempted to catch up by cutting the corner between clip 1 & 2 but struggled to make this gap up & reel him in… We did manage to close the gap towards the end of the run. We sat waiting for the judges to deliberate on the scores which took (what felt like) an eternity & I was praying that they would send us one more time but sadly they deemed that my gap was too big vs Matt’s chase run where he straightened twice so Matt got the win & I drove into the pits & sat in Syril giving myself a VERY stern talking to for mis-shifting, even though it obviously was not intentional I was livid at myself! However after having a long discussion with the David & the team I realised that I had to take away the positives from this round and these were as follows: 1. Syril is fixed and back in “Top Form”
2. We CAN & WILL be a force to be reckoned with.
3. We need require more seat time. Kirsty "Kerbs" Widdrington
Team Racinglines Driver
2nd Battle with Matt Walker leading me in. My lead run was slightly off of clipping point 2 and a slight correction coming into clip 4 however Matt straightened slightly behind me on 2 occasions so this was fed back to me over the radio from Brad & I had the advantage in points so the chase run was all to play for. Sitting on the line ready to go & lights changed – We were off and again my plan was to be uber close to him so that I could win this battle however due to my mistake with mis-shifting on 3rd Matt managed to pull a sizeable gap on Syril & I… I attempted to catch up by cutting the corner between clip 1 & 2 but struggled to make this gap up & reel him in… We did manage to close the gap towards the end of the run. We sat waiting for the judges to deliberate on the scores which took (what felt like) an eternity & I was praying that they would send us one more time but sadly they deemed that my gap was too big vs Matt’s chase run where he straightened twice so Matt got the win & I drove into the pits & sat in Syril giving myself a VERY stern talking to for mis-shifting, even though it obviously was not intentional I was livid at myself! However after having a long discussion with the David & the team I realised that I had to take away the positives from this round and these were as follows: 1. Syril is fixed and back in “Top Form”
2. We CAN & WILL be a force to be reckoned with.
3. We need require more seat time. Kirsty "Kerbs" Widdrington
Team Racinglines Driver