2021 Time Attack Championship Round 8 & 9: Snetterton
This years Time Attack Championship ends with a double header, weekend event at Snetterton.
For the last time in 2021, we make the trip to a race track to compete in the final round of the Time Attack Championship. After the last round at Brands Hatch, Jonny was left a little disappointed, scratching his head as to why the car didn’t perform as expected.
As a result, some fault finding was required before the Snetterton double header to bring the car back on form. We also had to resolve an oil leak that became apparent at brands. Luckily, a new oil line was all that was needed to fix the leak.
We also needed to remove all the remaining gravel from the car after Jonny’s off road excursions last time out. Apart from that, there wasn’t any obvious signs of damage so a quick spanner check and we where good to go.
Saturday Round 8 – Warm Up
The day, although forecast to be dry, started out damp and greasy. which meant for some tricky conditions out on track. Knowing it was likely to dry up there was no rush to head out and Jonny bided his time in the pits.
Towards the end of the session Jonny head out, just to give the car a once over and everything seemed good. The lap time set however was right on the money and a good indication of direction we where heading.
Practice
After some more running the track was beginning to dry out. Jonny could no push harder and focus on reducing his lap times. We eventually ended the session with a lap over 10 seconds quicker than what was achieved in the warm up and already better than the time Jonny achieved back in 2017.
Qualifying
Now it was time to get down to business, pushing as hard as possible to maximise championship points. But the more Jonny pushed, the more he struggled with the cars brake balance, finding the rears locking up into the big braking zones.
While trying to work around the balance issue Jonny improved his lap time ever so slightly with a 1:22.693. Back in the pits, we checked the brake bias which was the only likely cause. Unsurprisingly, we found the bias had wound itself to the rear. This was an easy fix ready for the final.
Final
For the penultimate time this year we headed out for the Final session. With a change in brake bias, Jonny spent the early parts of the session learning new braking points. Something normally sorted out much earlier in the day.
By lap 7 Jonny had got to grips with his new brake bias setup and had beat his previous best lap of the day. The very next lap we broke into the 1:20’s which at the time was good enough to challenge for a podium.
Jonny was still fractionally behind his PB and with 5 minutes to go made the final push to beat it. A few scruffy laps followed meaning Jonny now only had time to complete one cool down lap before going for it on the last lap of the session.
Almost inevitably Jonny nailed the lap and stormed across the line with a 1:20.567 sealing P3 in class and P3 in the session. It was Jonny’s third podium of the season but the lap still fell just short of his personal best.
Sunday Round 9 – Warm Up
Conditions on Sunday where much more favourable then those on Saturday and Jonny had a plan for the morning. Earlier in the season we had a coil pack fail at Brands Hatch and by changing all four, we never discovered which one was faulty. We spent some time in the morning swapping out each one to find the culprit.
You don’t usually have this luxury on a race weekend but as todays format mirrored Saturdays timetable there wasn’t much more to learn. We never set a lap time but our program for the session was complete.
Practice
Practice gave us a chance to gather some data rom the car following a long, hard season. We wanted as much info as possible at our disposal to help Jonny beat his PB in the later sessions. We only completed 6 laps but it was all that was needed to get the information required.
Qualifying
After a three hour break it was time to head out for qualifying. A couple of warm up laps later Jonny went hunting down the PB he wanted so badly! Setting a solid 1:21.595 on his first attempt. Unfortunately we then lost the selection of second gear, hindering Jonny massively when dropping down the gears.
Final
With second gear somewhat broken and being the final session of the year we decided to give it one last shot. The plan was to use third gear instead of second. It wasn’t easy, as the corner was too slow for third, making it difficult to get a strong exit.
Waiting for the turbo to spool in a higher gear was costing us lap time and going into the final stages, we had only managed a 1:21.033 which was completed on lap 4. With one lap left it was time to take risks we wouldn’t usually take.
Unbelievably, despite nursing a broken gearbox and the pressure put on himself, Jonny crossed the line with a 1:20.488. A new PB set on the last lap of the last session of the final event of the year! It wasn’t quite enough for a podium but what a way to end the season.
That lap completed a clean sweep of PB’s at every track this year in which conditions where dry. A clear indication of the progress made over the winter last year. In total, Jonny achieved three podiums and five personal bests.
It’s now time for Jonny to take a well deserved rest before starting with his plans for the winter. With the clear target for 2022 to compete for the championship!