Before making the long drive up to Scotland, the boost control solenoid that caused so many issues at Brands Hatch had to be resolved. This was soon fixed as we also had a side quest at Oulton Park to contend with between rounds. We had been invited to attend MSV’s VauxValves event were the car would be on display throughout the day before completing some demo runs in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather was horrendous with heavy rain the story of the day. Because of this I was unable to test the new boost control valve. However, it did highlight another issue, my heated Windscreen had decided it no longer wanted to work, not ideal knowing Knockhill is located in an often wet part of the UK. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to get a new windscreen delivered and fitted in time we searched for another solution. A temporary fix to help us should the weather take a turn for the worse. We settled on a Pitking film, designed to prevent the screen steaming up.
As the day started there was a few little surprises to mark my 100th Time Attack event. Firstly, a huge banner for the gazebo and some new JF 64 branded hoodies commemorating the day. I was also given a one-off windscreen banner to celebrate my 100th event that I produly wore on the car for the rest of the day. It was then time to head to the briefing where I thought I would be safe from any more surprises but I was very wrong! At the end of the briefing Andy Barnes, the owner of Time Attack, thanked me for the continued support of the championship, followed by a gift from him, his brother and a round of applause.
Warm Up
This would be the most unique warm up of the year for me, even though I have been to Knockhill before it was 11 years ago now and in that time the car has changed significantly. On top of getting 3 laps on the board to secure the 1 point available, it was a session to allow me to re-learn the track. The plan was simple, stay out on track and get in as many laps as possible, pushing a little more each lap. After 15 laps, in a session which included a stoppage due to a red flag, the session was over. The best of those 15 laps, a 57.493. This felt like a good starting point and already 1.5 seconds quicker than my previous best.
After warm up I had an interview with Time Attack for their live stream, during which I was presented with a Canvas from the guys at Direnza who have supported me for so many years. Another big surprise to mark my 100th Time Attack event. All I can say is thank you for the continued support. I was told that would be the last of the surprises for the day so I could concentrate on driving.
Attack 1
It was time to get down to business, trying to improve on the time I set during the first session. Aiming to rack up as many points as possible over the day, I had also gone with the same tactic with the tyres as previous rounds, rotating three pairs throughout the day to optimize performance as the sessions progress. As per warm up, I decided the best plan was to drive, completing as many laps as the session allowed, more track time means more knowledge and increased confidence. We ended the session with a 55.960, a time good enough for P2 in class. A new PB, just over a tenth off P1. After reviewing the data there was clearly a lot more time to be found by tidying my lines, braking later and being braver into most corners. P1 was up for grabs.
Attack 2
Attack 1 went in the right direction so I began Attack 2 with a lot of confidence. 20 minutes and 19 laps later the session was over and I had managed to secure P1 in class along with a new lap record for club 2WD, 55.674, 6 tenth quicker than P2. Over the session I had managed 4 individual laps good enough to secure P1, two of which were lap records. Confidence was high heading into Super Attack knowing there was still some time to be found after reviewing the data once again.
Super Attack
The game plan went straight out of the window for the final session of the day as the trusty Scottish weather decided to show up just before the green flag. After a full day of dry running we were going out into a wet session with no time to change setup. Luckily, I had a couple of things in the car I could adjust, including power settings and ABS changes. With the power dialed down and the ABS turned up, off we went into the unknown. As the session went on the rain got worse, making the track conditions extremely tricky but I was still managing to bring my lap times down as my confidence in the car was growing. The fastest lap ended up coming on lap 15, a 1:00.958, leaving me in P2 in class. I did attempt to go quicker on the following lap after but ended up going into the gravel backwards on the exit of Clarke. At this point I knew there wasn’t long left in the session so I took it as a sign to retreat back to the paddock and call it a day.
Overall I would call Round 100 a massive success, with the car running faultless all day, bringing back a nice haul of points and another podium finish. Once again, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this point over the last 15 seasons. Next up is the final round at Snetterton on the 200 layout in 3 weeks time on October 19th the championship decider!