VF-Racing

TheGP circuit at Donington Park in Leicestershireplayed host to the latest rounds of the 2012 Nippon Challenge.



Runningat the same event as the “Superstars” races, the crowds were buzzing, andlooking forward to a great day.



Pre Race:



Followingthe issues in testing at Pembrey, the car’s bodywork looked a little secondhand, and in need of some attention by Scoobyclinic’s body shop.



Asthe car’s bodywork would need some work, it was an opportune moment toincorporate some more of the recommendations of aerodynamics expert SimonMcBeath, who had carried out a thorough investigation into the car before theseason began.






Workingwithin the technical regulations, the front splitter was reworked and extended,and cooling for the car’s brakes, air filter and oil cooler were alsore-designed.



Followingsome comments from scrutineers, a couple of other jobs were also ticked off thelist.





Race Day:

Weather: Cloudy



With scrutineering out of the way,Wayne and Dan set about checking the car over. Fuel, oil and water levels werechecked and topped up where needed. The suspension was set up according to thecircuit and the tyre pressures were dropped in readiness for qualifying.



Qualifying:



Super GT Class was made up of:



07- Kevin Middleton - Subaru Impreza

19- James Janicki - Nissan Skyline
25 - Mark Firth - Mitsubishi 3000GTO
42 - Danny Precious - Subaru Impreza

78- Steve Lawtey - Mitsubishi 3000GTO
97 - Andy McLennan - Suzuki Swift GTI

99- Jonathan Blake - Mazda MX 150-R

111- Martin Price - Subaru Impreza





Atthe home circuit of Martin Price in his evenly matched “Blob Eye” Impreza, itwas going to be a close run thing to see who would come out on top, and takepole position.



Afull grid of 37 cars meant a lot of traffic on the circuit, which isn’tconducive to a quick lap time.




Thankfullya clear track soon appeared which meant it was possible to focus on setting thequickest time possible.



Qualified2nd in class

Qualified2nd overall

Fastestlap: 1.49.700 sec



Anexcellent result and only a fraction off of Martin’s times.



Thecar was checked over, and small changes were made to the cars suspension andtyre pressures in order to maximise the handling for the race.



Race 1:



Drivingout of the assembly area at the bottom of the “Melbourne Loop”, everyone setoff on the green flag lap. Sat alongside Martin, the front row was locked outby a pair of Impreza’s, both of which would be competing in a drag race down to“Redgate” to take the racing line through the first corner of the race, whichis a sight of many an accident!



Withsuch a large grid, Danny was sat in grid position for around half a minute asthe back markers still set about getting in place.



Withthe waved green and yellow flags from the back of the grid signallingeverything was ready, the lights went red. With hearts pounding and nervesjangling, the lights went out and the race got underway. Danny timed a perfectstart and was soon streaking ahead of the blue Impreza of Price.






Cleanlythrough “Redgate” the train of cars dropped down through the “Craner Curves”and onto the “Old Hairpin”.



Already,Danny was pulling out a lead over the chasing pack, which was helped along bythe early retirement of Price on lap 3, suffering from a failed wheel bearingand loss of brakes.



GT300driver Jason West and James Jesses were now closing in on the Impreza, but aspin by Jason West at “Mcleans” again allowedthe Impreza to stretch its legs and its lead.



Withoutany serious contention from the rest of the grid, Danny continued to drive witha win in mind. Hard enough so as not to fall back into the clutches of West,but not too adventurous to make any mistakes.






Withthe session at an end, Danny crossed the line to take 1st in class,and a fantastic first overall!



Finished1st in class

Finished1st overall

Fastestlap: 1:49.754 sec on lap 6



Followingthe emotional scenes post race, the car was returned to the paddock, where onceagain the tyres and suspension were checked over and fine tuned using datagained during the race.






Race 2:



Onthe inside for “Redgate” the Impreza again scorched down to the opening corner,leaving the rest of the grid to play catch up. The Skyline of James Janicki hadmade a great start, closing up with Jason West, Jason Jesse and Adam Lockwood.



MartinPrice had repaired his Subaru after race 1, and started on the back row of thegrid. Already he had begun to make great progress on both the tarmac and grassas the cars loomed down the “Wheatcroft Straight”



Therace unfolded with Danny continuing to lead the way, with the rest of the gridfighting for position. Despite an early challenge for the lead from West in his200sx, the Impreza proved surefooted and Danny continued to dominate the race.






Ona continued charge Price closed up the gap to Danny on the last lap, but it wasnot enough to take the 2nd lights to flag victory away from the Yorkshire man.



Finished1st in class

Finished1st overall

Fastestlap: 1:51.024 sec on lap 3





Summary



Afantastic days racing with the best results possible!



Massivethanks go out to everyone involved:



Kevand the whole team at Scoobyclinic

RuislipTyres

DemonTweeks

OpieOils

APS

BritTyres

MOTORV8MEDIA



and



Estellafor her continuous support, and Dan and Wayne for looking after the car andhelping get everything ready.






Thenext event will be held at Castle Combe on the 17th June.





Words:Jonathan Fletcher

Pictures:Lindsey Bridger & Jonathan Fletcher