VF-Racing @ Pembrey
02 August 2011, 10:40 AM
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VF-Racing @ Pembrey
Pembrey 30th/31st July 2011 “Classic Thunder” Round 7 & 8
Vaughan Fletcher: No:16 Class A4 Subaru Impreza
Situated on the site of a former WW2 RAF airfield and latterly a disused chicken farm, the circuit at Pembrey came about in the early 1980’s.
The first race meeting was held on the 21st May 1989, and in 1990 the BARC signed a 50 year lease on the circuit, securing its future.
During the following two years race administration buildings and a restaurant were erected, and 1992 saw the first visit of British Formula 3 and British Touring Car Championships to the circuit.
Perched a few miles inland from the coast, and close to the famous Pendine Sands of land speed record fame, the circuit of Pembrey offers a variety of track conditions, from the fast sectors of “Park Straight” and “Woodlands” to the slow complex corners of “Hatchet” and “Brooklands”.
Pre Race:
It’s been over 2 years since we last ventured to Pembrey, and those memories aren’t fond ones.
Coming to the 2nd round of the 2009 Nippon Challenge, we had a freshly built engine to bed in. With a test day booked on the Friday before, all began well until mechanical gremlins crept in which meant we were unable to race. So apart from a few laps on the test day, we were yet to confront the track in anger.
Following a great weekend at Mallory, we’ve spent some time reviewing the information from the data logger, and we were able to see that the oil temperature was above where we’d like at 118°C.
To help rectify this, the air feed to the oil cooler has been removed and the bumper has been opened up to provide maximum airflow to the oil cooler and the air filter on the opposite side. Short of removing the bumper altogether, we won’t be able to get any more cold air to either, so hopefully this will have done the trick.
In addition to this, it was just a case of changing all the fluids in readiness for race day.
It was a 200 mile trip from home to Pembrey, which meant we headed off on Friday morning in order to arrive in plenty of time and allow for any hold ups.
Race Day:
With no data to work from, it was a case of setting up the car in the way we thought best.
With feedback from the driver, and by checking the condition and heat of the tyres after qualifying, we would see if any changes were needed.
Qualifying:
Class A4 was made up of:
16. Vaughan Fletcher Subaru Impreza RA
32. Martin Davies Ford Sierra Cosworth
With scrutineering carried out, everyone was waved out on to the circuit for the allotted 20 minutes of track time.
Not really knowing the circuit, it was all about becoming familiar with the layout and the levels of grip available.
Coming into “Dibeni” on lap 2, it became apparent that grip was still a bit scarce, and despite Vaughan’s best efforts to hold the slide, the Subaru spun and came to rest on the outside of the circuit.
Back on track, and allowing for a few more progressively quicker laps, soon everything was ready for setting the qualifying times.
With the exception of the early spin, the rest of the session was trouble free, and the car ran well.
When the results came in we were really pleased to see that we had qualified well with:
Qualified 1st in class
Qualified 3rd overall
Fastest lap: 1.02.607 sec on lap 15 of 18
Back in the paddock, the tyre temperatures and pressures indicated the need for some fine tuning, but worryingly there was some play in the passenger side front hub.
With the wheels removed, the fault was found to be due to a problem with the front strut and not the hub. A simple fix, that once rectified, meant it was just a case of topping up the fuel and adding some more camber to both sides to try and get the car turning in a bit better.
The data from the logger was reviewed to see what had been happening during the session, and it was pleasing to see that the oil and water temperatures were positive, with a good safety margin before any limits were reached.
Round 7:
Placed in 3rd on the inside of the grid, Vaughan needed a good start to capitalise on the excellent result in qualifying.
With the hairpin of “Hatchets” being the first corner at the end of the long start/finish straight, it serves as a “pinch point” for the fast approaching racers.
With everyone jostling for position, it would be a close run thing to get everyone through unscathed.
When everyone was assembled on the grid, the course car led the pack around the circuit in preparation for the rolling start.
In 4th place alongside us, was the RS500 of Craig Davies, and with the absence of Martin Davies behind us in his Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, Joss Ronchetti had a clear run at us when racing began.
With the course car peeled off into the safety of the pits, the racing could get underway. As soon as the precession rounded “Honda Curve” the Sierra of “Davies” was on full chat and chasing down the lead pair of “Butcher” and “Whittaker” before the lights had gone out to signal the start of the race.
With “Ronchetti” nipping at our heels, it was going to be a hard race to stay ahead. Already the local supremeo “Butcher” in his Nissan Primera ST was pulling out a commanding lead, closely followed by Garrie in his BMW M3.
The battle to hold off Ronchetti came to an end between the “Esses” and the “Brooklands Hairpin” around lap 5, when the black and orange Sunbeam got up the inside Vaughan and took 4th place.
On lap 7, the “Esses” claimed the Sierra of “Davies”, when the back end of the Cosworth got sideways exiting the long left hander. The resulting spin sent the duo on a ride into the tyre wall, which ended up with a hard impact and a heavy repair bill.
This left Joss ahead, and Piers Grange in the XR8 hunting us down for the rest of the race. From about half distance the car was beginning to suffer with handling and cornering issues. The tyres were beginning to loose grip, meaning the car was under steering heavily and washing out on the corners due to the lack of grip.
Driving to try and conserve the tyres as best as possible, and not risk going off track meant it was a challenge to hold off the fast closing “Grange”.
With the last lap board shown, it looked like it would be possible to hold on to 4th, but a massive lock up going into “Hatchets” allowed the Sierra to nip through while Vaughan corrected his mistake.
It was then impossible to close back up on the Sierra in such short time, and he held on to 4th.
Finished 1st in class
Finished 5th overall
Fastest lap: 1.03.658 on lap 6 of 20
Upon inspection, the tyres had run their last race. Heavy wear was apparent across all 4 corners, with the outside edge wearing to the canvas on both front wheels. The pressures and temperatures also showed that there was some work to do with the settings.
It was decided that we would run fresh tyres all round, and try and dial out some of the handling issues with a revised set up.
In addition to fitting the tyres, it was decided to bleed the brakes for peace of mind, and check over the brake pads front and rear.
Round 8:
Despite the fine rain falling minutes before the start of race 2, it was decided that we would run with slick tyre choice.
Placed in 5th on the inside of the grid, Vaughan was directly behind Ronchetti, with Denis Bassom and his Toyota Corolla on his left.
Rounding the “Honda Curve”, the XR8 of Grange began misfiring badly which led to his race ending before it had begun.
Chasing hard to “Hatchets” the BMW of Whittaker spun, allowing Vaughan to take the 3rd place and follow the lead pair of Butcher and Ronchetti around the first lap.
Already recovering, Whittaker was carving his way back through the field and was back up to 2nd by lap 5, dispatching Vaughan and Joss in the process.
Having missed race 1, the Sierra of local racer Martin Davies was also on a charge, and by lap 8 had caught and passed Vaughan.
For the rest of the race, it was a good honest contest between Vaughan and Joss for 4th place.
Again from the mid-race point, the car had gone past its prime, with the tyres loosing grip and not providing the required confidence to allow the car to be thrown hard into the corners.
Not being able to push hard for fear of an off track excursion, it was a case of driving to get to the finish, rather than for position.
Finished 2nd in class
Finished 5th overall
Fastest lap: 1.03.857 on lap 9 of 20
Again all four tyres were showing signs of hard use, which meant we didn’t get the set up correct for this technical circuit.
Both race’s had been hard fought, and had close battles. The main thing being the car was in one piece (Unlike quite a few from the weekend’s event)
Summary
With only two weeks until the next event at Thruxton, (which is known for destroying tyres) there is some work to do on the car in order to get the best possible set up, and give Vaughan and the car the best chance to do well.
Thanks to Ben Jones for the additional photographs.
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