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Saturday Practice
Its pouring
cats and dogs in the usual waves that occur at
Wallerfield at this time of year - a hard shower,
followed by a lull, followed by another hard
shower. The previous Sunday I'd spent a hot, dry
day at the circuit with three young guys who all
seriously wanted to race in the series, even at
this late point. They had been the driving force
behind the largest single group of supporters for
the whole series, situating themselves with their
friends behind the wall at the entrance to the
straight at each event. Now it was time to cross
that wall and become part of the show. We had
driven the Carib car all day, the first sessions
with each sitting next to me as I showed how I
drive the circuit, followed by me sitting next to
each of them as they took the wheel. The day ended
with each doing five laps alone in the car with
surprisingly good results, the fastest almost
getting into the 55-second bracket at 56.03
seconds. Today as I arrived in the rain-soaked
pits, they had already been there a couple of hours
with the three cars they had been allotted. In my
first foray onto the very wet track I'm unable to
catch Christian Hospedales, on of the new guys and
my nephew. We exchange cars and its the same... I
can't make any headway on him. These young fellas
are obviously serious about their driving. It takes
a new pair of front tyres on the Carib car to get
me ahead of him.
Race Day
The rain
comes early and several drivers take to the track
to check their cars. Jimmy has a persistent misfire
from 5700 RPM which won't go away. At the drivers'
meeting the race director Rawlins Amar decides,
without giving a reason, to go back on his original
agreement with the drivers to have a 2-2 grid and
instead start the cars in a 3-2-3 arrangement. We
had asked for the 2-2 grid which was used the
previous event under race director Vishnu
Mungalsingh to reduce the likelihood of accidents
due to congestion at the first corner. I think we
need a Stock Car Drivers Union. My car feels OK in
the wet but not great, with neutral to understeer
handling. I'd like to be able to get the back to
come around a bit but decide to avoid anything too
drastic like running very low rear tyre pressures
as a few of the other drivers have tried. Something
like this could easily backfire and result in a
slow handful of a car.
Race 1
The track
is still quite wet. As we wait to be gridded,
Rawlins announces on the PA system that he's
decided to revert to the 2-2 grid in view of the
wet conditions. I'm beginning to think that these
TTASA guys do things simply to disagree. The net
result of this so far as I am concerned is that I'm
in 4th spot on the grid, outside the second row and
right next to Franklyn Boodram in his first outing
in Silbourne's Sikkens car. Silbourne is happily
attending the US Formula 1 Grand Prix at
Indianapolis, USA and has asked Franklyn to drive
it in his absence. Franklyn is a very quick and
aggressive driver and I'm happy to get to drive in
a race with him. Ahead of us on the grid is A.
Mustapha in the General Diesel car, starting his
first ever race in the series alongside Rishi
Sooknarine. Two rookies on the front row. I know
Franklyn will go inside the General Diesel car at
the start and I plan to go around the outside of
Rishi. As the flag goes up I see the Sikkens car
creep forward slightly. The race director sees it
too and puts him back in place. I always start a
wet race about 1,000 RPM lower than in the dry and
hold the tach at exactly 3,000 RPM to avoid
excessive wheelspin, the clutch just at the point
before engaging. Both Franklyn and I make good
starts and go by the front row like it wasn't
there, but I'm just ahead at top corner and take
the lead. Entering the straight on lap two I see
the Tampico car of newcomer David Coelho parked
backwards off on the left of the straightaway, its
rear apparently on top the retaining wall and I
wonder how the heck that has happened. In these
conditions I'm having to turn into top corner and
Da Costa Jones a bit harshly, at the same time not
touching the throttle, all in an effort to force
the back out a bit. I also find that I can't get
back on the gas as early or as hard as I'd like,
but its the only way to avoid bad understeer.
Traction is so bad that I also find that I'm having
to drop into second where I'd normally leave it in
third. I just have to go slower to keep it on the
right line. Several times I'm all over the curb on
Da Costa Jones - not very tidy. Over the course of
the twelve laps Franklyn and I move away from the
rest. I come away with a real appreciation for his
competitiveness and driving ability. He wasn't
champion driver so many times for no reason and it
shows. Ravi completes the top three while my main
rival Tanko manages fifth from a last row start. At
the end I've lapped three cars on this rainsoaked
surface and now have five wins under my belt.
Starting at the front, a win is almost expected.
Next race I'll be one row from the back and I know
it won't be as easy - Tanko will start from the
front row.
Race 2
I'm on the
inside of row seven with just one more row behind
and everyone else ahead. The 2-2 grid spacing works
because cars start off two abreast instead of three
and because they are spaced further back, front to
rear; however from this position the start line
looks some 200 meters up the road. We have been
warned not to cross the white line on the right
side of the track or risk disqualification. This
cancels any plans I may have to go by anyone on the
inside. I get another good start but its of little
use since I'm trapped behind the 95.1 car of Jason
Fletcher without the option to go by on the right.
Two or three times heading up to top corner I have
to float the gas to avoid running into him. We go
into top, Da Costa Jones, the lefthander and enter
the following righthander two abreast in very close
company, spray flying every which way. I back off
and tap the brakes to avoid running into Jason who
himself has had to avoid the same as cars ahead
struggle for room. As I touch the brakes I feel a
hard bounce in the rear which pushes me into Jason.
This time I'm sure that the back end of the Carib
car has been crunched, but quickly dismiss the
thought as I continue the battle for position,
still two abreast going into the fourth-gear
righthander before the hairpin. The track is wetter
this time and I can feel the car oversteer a bit
more than slightly where it would normally be quite
neutral. I know some of these guys will want to
back off here the next time around - we're doing
somewhere between 70 and 80 MPH at this point - so
that should help me move up. Halfway up the
straight at the end of lap one its almost deja-vu
as I spot the Max Meyer car in the same situation
as was the Tampico car the previous race, just
further up the straightaway this time. The driver
for this race is Frankie Boodram, the man who
conceived the whole stock car series, having his
first race with us and he's only lasted one lap. I
learn afterwards that he's had a Tanko experience.
Much of the next several laps are a blur once
again. I can recall certain moments - driving
inside David Coelho's Tampico car as it went very
sideways midway through top corner; a very loose
rear end in the fast righthander; ragged driving on
the curbs as in the first race; seeing that I just
had Tanko (I think) and Gary ahead left to pass.
For a few laps I follow Gary. His driving seems to
have matured quite well, closing the door and
driving defensively when called for, but conceding
the line when I eventually am able to get inside
him approaching the hairpin. The only way to pull
off a pass like this is to hold a tight line and
not drift wide midway through the turn, so I slow
to almost a crawl and absorb two small bumps in the
rear as Gary, who's taken the wide-entry, faster
line, gets surprised by my lack of speed. It works
however and I lead to the end to make it my second
two-race victory in succession and my sixth Carib
stock car race win. The surprise of the race is
rookie Daniel Ramoutarsingh who makes his first
podium by placing third behind Gary. Tanko is
classified eighth.
Post Mortem
Surprisingly, my car has only suffered
slight scuffing on the rear bumper and not the
dents I'd expected. The four new drivers and even
Frankie have had their baptism of fire, my nephew
Christian coming out the best amongst them. I've
managed to completely close Tanko's gap in the
championship, making it a tie in points, but
technically taking the lead on race wins. It will
come down to the final round on October 29th before
we know the champion driver in the series. I also
can't wait to have my car stripped and checked...
by now almost everyone believes that it has more
power than any of the others. I'm one of the few
remaining that knows it doesn't.
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