Snetterton 300 Race June 2011

(by Chris Shackle)

The Snetterton weekend would be interesting for a number reasons. I class it as my home track so all my family, friends and marshalling chums would be there. Also, it would be the first time I would turn a wheel on the new 300 layout, and as such, would also be taking part in my very first Nippon race to get a few extra minutes of track time. I had previously qualified with the Nippons but this was the first time I was officially entering as a Nippon entrant.

So Saturday morning, and typically for Snetteron, the weather wouldn’t make its mind up. On the way to the circuit in the morning it was damp and spitting in places. But by the time we got on track for quail, it was begining to dry, or at least, stopped raining. I decided to put new boots on the car to help scrub them in for the rest of the weekend. I was treating the Nippon as a test session and was mixing up tyre pressures and ARB settings.

Nippon Qualifying

Quail went well up until about lap 2 when a miss fire had made itself apparent. Although it was hurting my performance down the straight (I was down to 2, even 1 cylinder at one point!) I decided to stay to get some track knowledge. In the end, I qualified 7^th in class and was by no means the last on the grid. Back in the paddock we whipped the spark plugs out, gave them a good clean and she was running sweet again!

Nippon Race 1

Not much of note here. Kept it clean, out of trouble and managed to finish 4^th in class.

Nippon Race 2

I got a great start down the outside of everyone and by the end of the first lap I was leading GT150! I was chasing a Celica, using it to try and keep pace as I had An MGF and a few MR2’s chasing me down. By the end of the 3^rd lap, I had cooked my tyres and they were spent. This meant 2 things - 1, I had to tip toe round the long corners to stop the rear stepping out and 2, lots of drifting fun round Montreal! Thankfully, the MGF seemed to be keeping the MR2’s at bay who were snapping at his heels. By the time the 5^th lap came by, Dave Hemingway had managed to slip past and was catching me hand over fist. We exchanged places for a while until he got the upper hand and maintained a gap until the end. Overall, a good learning curve and a 2^nd in class in only my second ever Nippon race!!

MR2 Qualifying

The next day was for MR2’s. Feeling confident from yesterdays action I went out in quail in high hopes and managed to qualify 5^th, beating my personal best from the previous day. I started on the inside and everything looked set for a cracking race!

MR2 Race 1

As the race started, I got a great start down the inside and was third by the second corner and hunting down Simon Lockey in Second. After that it all went to pot really! Everyone else seemed to have more straight line speed then me (the reason why has since become clear!). Trying hard to make up for this, I was giving it all round the corners. Until, the inevitable happened. As I rounded Montreal for the 5^th time, the back end stepped out and, instead of lifting, I kept my foot nailed to the throttle and she went into a half spin, right in front of where my marshal gang were! I was now back in 7^th place and desperate to make places up. In traffic, I went round Hamilton, where the car in front span; I panicked, and followed him off! To cut a long story short, after the race had finished, we had a look and the inside rear tyre was literally shredded to pieces!! OOPPSSS!! Still, remembered to bring a scrubbed spare with me so we swapped the tyres over.

MR2 Race 2

From 10^th, I was keen to make amends for my crap performance in race 1. All was going OK, I managed to get up to 9^th until the 5^th lap. I was chasing Avery and Hemingway into Murrays when Avery went wide onto the grass. Trying to avoid him, DH lost momentum and I got a run at him down the outside along the start/finish straight. As we approached Ritches, we were still neck-and-neck. We both gave each other room but Neil Hurren, went inside of DH, jumping over the curb bumping into him, which in turn sent him into me. This caused me to get a huge tank-slapper and sent me towards the tyre wall. Nothing I could do except wait for the inevitable! Thankful the car hit the tyre wall side on so the impact was spread. Hopefully to be back better at Brands!!