Setting
the pace at Croft, but an opportunity lost
Anthony,
Barry & the Chevron racing team put on their best performance
of the season in round 7 of the VdeV UK Championship at
Croft.
After
a difficult couple of rounds at Brands Hatch & Assen,
the team were determined to get closer to the pace. A good
test at Donington in the week before the event allowed them
to find a better setup on the car and the pace showed when
they got to Croft. Anthony was immediately a pace setter
in the practice sessions and lined up 3rd in qualifying,
missing pole by just a tenth of a second in the most competitive
grid to date. In fact, the top 5 were covered by only 15
hundredths of a second!
Barry
took the opening stint and despite making a slightly shakey
start, was gradually getting into his rythm when an electrical
problem hit the car. The Ligier ground to a halt right at
the start of the pitlane, but Barry managed to recover it
into the garage and the team set about finding the cause.
A master switch problem was diagnosed and although quickly
replaced, they had lost a good bit of time and Barry rejoined
11 laps down on the leaders.
However,
he got his head down and used 3rd place Ally McKever as
a carrot - who was just ahead on the road. He gradually
closed the gap to McKever and went past as the Scot made
a mistake. He then settled into a pace that soon saw him
as the 2nd fastest car on track - even quicker than the
eventual winner Gareth Howell.
Anthony
took the helm at the 1 hour 45 minute distance and quickly
set about a charge that saw him as the fastest car on track
by between 1-2 seconds per lap for almost the entire remainder
of the race. He passed every front runner, unlapping himself
twice from the leader Phil Quaife (who had now taken over
from Howell) in the process, although a quick trip to the
grass at Sunny In - and then to the pitlane to clear
the resultant blocked radiators - meant he actually had
to overtake Quaife three times!
Despite
the effort, the pair finished in 9th place, 8 laps down
from the winner.
"It
was frustrating to once again have a problem, but good to
have such pace. I feel we've gone in the right direction
with the car and I'm actually quite proud of the work we've
done, even though on paper we can't show it.
I
think it bodes well for the remaining race at Silverstone.
Barry drove brilliantly to lap faster than some of the Pro's
and we'll all just keep pushing to get the result we know
we can"
said Anthony.
