Saxmax Championship Round 6 - 13th August 2006 - Brands Hatch
With the season now past the
halfway point and as we have been very fortunate with weather
conditions so far this year, it was inevitable that we were going to
have another wet race meeting. Round 6 out of 10 at Brands Hatch was
going to be very interesting as even though most of us had raced
here before, a lot had not faced the circuit in the wet including
myself.
Free
Practice was not an accurate test for the car or myself in the wet
conditions as the car was not set up to its full capability. This
meant that I came off a few times but it was pleasing to see that it
was not only me coming off the track and finding the conditions
difficult, especially through the Graham Hill corner. After making a
few adjustments to the car’s handling, it was not long before we
were back out on track in timed practice.
Although, my
luck didn’t seemed to have changed during qualifying and for some
reason I was unable to keep the car on the track despite changing my
driving style various times to try and set a quicker lap time. This
left me with a heart breaking 20th on the grid. Before
the race I then studied the track carefully to try and work out
whether the problem was with the car or myself and I made sure that
I was fully prepared for the race. The overhead clouds had now
disappeared for a short while and had allowed the track to dry up so
this prompted a change to dry tyres.
On the start
line, my car crawled off the line and by Druids bend I had been left
behind. For 2 laps my car struggled round very slowly until I pulled
into the pit lane. There we tried to figure out what the problem was
and at first there were suspicions I had left the handbrake on. At
first when I rejoined the track this seemed true as my car was
travelling a lot faster, but then I found a problem with the rear
brakes and from my point of view they seemed to be sticking or
staying on. All I could do for the rest of the race was to test how
the car was going and learn more about the other competitors on the
track. The result was that I finished 2 laps down and I was
extremely disappointed, as it will set back all the progress I was
starting to make in the championship. This problem seems to be
another mystery, but it may have been the reason why I kept coming
off the track when entering corners in the wet conditions. All I
know is that I am extremely determined to perform well at
Silverstone in a fortnight and I will drive the best race of my life
to ensure I get a decent result.
Final thanks
go to our friends Tom and Verena who watched me at both race
meetings at Brands Hatch this season and supported and encouraged me
even though I have had difficulties at Brands Hatch this year. All i
can hope for is that my luck will turn around.
Amy Scarisbrick
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