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December 2024 – Season roundup.
Well, that’s the end of my 3rd year in National Ministox, and it’s safe to say that side of things sucked.
We started the year without an engine after lots of internal damage caused us to require SMMC to do another full rebuild after the major work carried out part way through 2023.
After we got the engine back the car was looking immaculate with a new paintjob and stickers with a completely new design. Then we went to Kings Lynn…
Half a lap in and the body was trashed and I had a massive dent in the new side panel. Then hallway through the race the bonnet flew off but luckily didn’t get run over by anyone.
However, despite the damage I managed a 10th, 4th and 5th place finishes. So can’t grumble too much.
Next up was Mildenhall where I got turned into the outside fence ripping off the front corner bar, and moving things around in the engine bay and damaging the radiator. Next race was a flat tyre and the last race the engine started smoking, but it turned out it was the radiator leaking. So, 3 DNF’s.
Then there was my favourite track Northampton. I didn’t even make it ontrack for the first race as the new coil we’d fitted at Mildenhall decided to break in the pits! Then I had an ok race finishing 15th before being squashed into the fence in the meeting Final breaking the gear linkage. Dammit.
Back to Northampton for the British Championship meeting. Having got the engine checked out and tuned I was hopeful for some good racing and results. With a 15th in race 1 after some self inflicted damage, and then a 10th in heat 2 after a good solid race, I was on the grid for the Championship race, and despite having gear issues managed to finish in 20th out of 28.
First trip to Skegness next, but it wasn’t great as gearbox issues meant we only finished 21st in the Grand National having locked it into 2nd gear.
Next was a new track to me, and one that Dad had never been to either – Aldershot. What an amazing little facility, but with issues with the gears, still, after practice we loaded up and spectated instead. Looking forward to hopefully going back here though as it’s a great place.
Then came Ipswich. One word. Ouch. Practice was great and it was amazing being in a fast and reliable car again having sorted out everything, including the gear linkage. Heat one finished early after I got slapped into the fence sideways and it broke the rotor arm – however, good speed. Heat two and all was going well until I got involved with someone else’s accident and got tipped into the fence head-on at 40mph. Funnily enough it hurt – a lot, and not just me. Sadly the car was written off as everything in front of the rollcage was bent and twisted out of shape. The hunt for a new car didn’t take long and although I missed a couple of meetings I was soon back behind the wheel.
Then the side project came along. Peter Daly of Daly Systems had entered me for the Fiesta Junior Championship Scholarship later in the year, but during the summer holidays Dad had arranged for me to get some practice in a Fiesta at Mallory Park. Wow was it fun. Twice the speed of my Ministox due to the circuit, but it felt less dramatic due to windows and servo assisted brakes! Greta fun, and many thanks.
So, first time out in my new Ministox was at Buxton. And it did nothing but rain. However, practice was good and the car worked with me perfectly, especially considering the conditions! First race and I got 14th despite being spun and losing visibility for a short while due to fogging up. Heat 2 was a DNF as my rear view mirror fell off and blocked my pedals. Oops. Last race of the day and I brought it home in 17th from the back of the grid. So with no damage, first time out in the new car, and in torrential rain I’ll take that as a successful meeting.
Back to Northampton for the World of Shale Championship and I started 23rd of 28, bringing it home in 18th with the new car dancing around on a wet shale track and thoroughly enjoying myself. Next up was probably one of my favourite races I’ve competed in, bringing it home in 10th place after a battle with 5 of us crossing the line in 0.6 of a second. Loving it! Race 3 was a 20th place finish after a heart-stopping moment onto the infield barely missing the tractors, photographers and pace car! However, a congratulations from race control was nice! Last race of the day and a 12th for a very successful day and loving my preferred surface of shale.
My last meeting (although three more were planned but curtailed due to damage) was Buxton for the big one – The National Championship. A very long day, loads of good practice, but I broke the gear linkage in the main race with a stupid mistake so DNF. Then in race 2 I got steam trained into the turn 1 fence on lap 1 damaging the car – a lot as it turned out, moving the engine, damaging the clutch cover, engine mounts and numerous other things. So we called it quits to regroup for 2025. Damage has now been fixed though.
However, back to the side project and we were up to Blyton on a couple of occasions. First time was for a test day prior to the Scholarship. An amazing day, and although it didn’t all go my way it was brilliant. Then, back up there a couple of weeks later for the main event. What an amazing experience. And once again many thanks to Peter and Dalys for their support from the very beginning.
As a very humble (yes really) 13yr old girl I cannot thank everyone enough for their help and support from even before I started racing. I know it sounds cliched, but it is genuinely meant when I say that this wouldn’t be possible without you all and I find it truly awe inspiring that you are so generous with your time and sponsorship. Many, many thanks.
So, the car needs spraying, new stickers, new bumpers/nerfs (if we get time) and then it’ll be ready for 2025. Thanks for coming along with me for the ride. Who knows what fun and games it will entail?!
Laters,
Sarah #18.
28th October – Blyton
Time for the official side project to start, and so on Monday the 28th of October we went back up to Blyton for the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship Day. Peter Daly (Daly Systems) sponsored me to be able to do this and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities he has given me. The scholarship is done over three days, with 20+ drivers assessed each day, the top 6 being chosen from each day progressing to the Final Shootout on day three.
An alarm call at 4.45am is not a nice thing, but we had to be at the track for 7.30am!
There were three main parts. Driving, fitness and media. The briefing was at 8:00, which introduced us to the day, what kind of things we’d be doing, where to be etc.
My first driving session was at 9:00. It had started to chuck it down about 30mins from the circuit, and continued upon our arrival. However, by the time the briefing took place it had stopped, the sky was starting to clear, but the track was horrendous with big puddles all over the place. So, on track and the car was sliding about all over the place. Fun, but nerves alight as I didn’t want a repeat of my incident last time out! The curbs were slippery as wet painted surfaces don’t offer any grip, and it felt like at every available opportunity the back end of the car tried to step out. However, I managed to keep the car pointing in the right direction this time, thoroughly enjoying myself in the process, so I'll take that as a win! At the end of the session, my instructor complimented my car control and told me a better line to take in the wet but that was all he had to criticize. I’ll take that win too!
My second driving session was at 10:30 and by now a dry line was appearing, but it was more or less the same when it came to dodging the puddles, and the fact that the track was greasier, with possibly less grip than when it was full wet, meaning the car wanted to spin no matter what I wanted it to do. However, I managed to keep it pointed in the right direction again and my instructor was more than happy with the standard of my driving.
Next up was fitness. The first part of the fitness was a bleep test to check our stamina. Then there was a core workout, during which we had to hold the plank position for as long as we could and do as many sit-ups as we could. Then there was a leg workout, during which we worked with several weights and did different exercises. After they had made everybody's limbs feel like jelly (or perhaps that was just me?!?), I went back to the garage and waited for them to call me through for my media session, for which I had to prepare a speech to read out loud to the judges.
About an hour later, I was called through to my media session. Reading the speech wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and both Judges (one of them being Richard John Neal, the well respected race commentator) complimented me on the way I delivered it and the emotion I conveyed. They both asked me some questions and then that was it. It was over, I had completed all the tasks and survived them! Now another two hour wait before they announce the finalists. Yay!
After what felt like forever, we were called back to the meeting room for the final six to be announced. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. However, congratulations to those that did go through, and I wish the eventual winner of the Scholarship (Lewis Islin) all the best for his future career in the BRSCC Fiesta Juniors.
Thanks again to Peter and this fabulous opportunity he has given me and the experience that came with it. Until next time,
Laters,
Sarah #18.
15th October – Blyton
Well, let’s get this side project started! Tazzing round in a Mk6 Fiesta in prep for the Fiesta Junior Scholarship in a couple of weeks time.
On Tuesday the 15th of October, Peter Daly (from Daly Systems) offered to take me up to Blyton Park to get some practice in. Of course I wasn’t going to turn this offer down, so on the morning of Tuesday, Peter and Alex came to pick us up and off we went on the two hour trek up north to a track I’d never seen, let alone raced on.
We arrived at about 10am, signed in, met with the instructor (Max Coates, no less) and then decided who was going to go first, as Alex and I were sharing a car. She let me go first and it was soon off for the guidance laps, where the instructor drove to introduce us to the circuit. On the first lap round, my instructor told me about the gearing, when to change up, down and the best gear for each section, the other two laps were all about lines, when to clip curbs, how tight or wide to go in, and when I could floor it. After we returned back to the pits, I did a quick seat and helmet swap with Alex before she went out for some guidance laps as well. Before I knew it, it was my turn to drive and my goodness what a difference a car makes!
To start with, the gap I had to slide myself through in order to get into the car was... small to say the least. Even slightly smaller than my Ministox due to the side impact bars. Then the pedals, the accelerator was so easy to press it was unreal and the brake and clutch were nice and positive. The amount of clutch I had to release in order to get the car moving was so much more than in the mini and I only had to raise the revs a little bit to get going at a walking pace.
Blyton has a traffic light system before leaving the pits, red if it’s not safe to pull out and green if it is. The first time out, I pulled up to the lights on red and barely a second later, they changed to green which for some reason, caused me to floor it which sent the car firing forward onto the track.
The first bit is a straight road with a long, left hander and then a short, abrupt right turn before the back straight. Before the long, left turn there was a board with an arrow telling you about said long, left turn. This was the marker board for braking before the corner. Again, around the longer circuits you have to brake harder to get the car mobile and then you can plough through. In this instance, I had to brake hard and point the car to the left before turning hard right, clipping the curb with the outside tires, and balancing the steering and the speed, before letting rip on the accelerator and changing to fourth gear (yes fourth, a bit different to my usual two!) before the straight. Next came the hard part, I had to brake, downshift into third, swing the car round to the left again and then open it up for the next corner which was down a little straight road and, yet again, another left hander, before a bumpy bit, and, yes, you guessed it, another left hander. Now this left hander in particular was my favourite, because it is right before a chicane that you change into fourth for and just floor it through and out. You can plough through at 95 + mph and have a great time. Then comes a hard brake, downshift, and a right turn round the corner onto the pit entrance straight, before dabbing on the brakes and round another little left hander. Phew! That was a lot. But it was a full lap. So here we go again! After what feels like 5 minutes, but was actually 10 laps, I’m told to pull back into the pits and give Alex a turn.
Quick helmet swap and she ready to get in and go. She manages to not make a huge fuss about pulling out onto the track and gets up to a nice pace. By this time, it's starting to think about raining, meaning the track is at that damp stage where it sucks, and you spin off no matter what you try and do to counter it. Alex managed to get round fairly incident free the first time round, but it was obvious that the car was struggling for grip as we only had dry tires on. Having had more driving experience on the track now, it was fairly safe to say she was flying. However, before I knew it, they were coming back into the pits to swap over again.
Having raced in this sort of condition before and knowing how much it sucks; I decided to take it easy on the first lap back out. Somehow, I still managed to spin after the car clipped the curb. OK, so that was a no go – wet paint upsets the car, let’s try again. Back around and this time I was looking out for any signs from the car that this wasn’t going to work. Around the corner we go, clip the curb, hold your breath, and... we made it! OK. Push through the rest of the lap and we come back around. Around the corner, clip the curb and around the rear end of the car goes. Great. First gear, pull off and away we go again. Luckily, we made it round the rest of the laps incident free.
Back to the pits, helmet swap with Alex and off she goes. This time round it’s obvious that the cars have zero grip as pretty much everyone on track is spinning out at some point. However Alex only spun out once and came back to the pits with a massive grin on her face.
Lunchtime and a chance to refuel both the cars and the drivers, then possibly think about changing to intermediate tyres. However, it didn’t rain any more and a dryline was starting to appear, so we kept them on the dry tyres, but with a wariness at certain parts of the track.
First corner of the first lap and the car was feeling good. Hop the curb and away we go. Down the straight, bang into fourth gear and accelerate for as long as possible. Brake, bang it down a gear, steer it round the corners and off we go. Down the next straight and... brake, turn it in and back on the power. Over the bumpy bit, brake, turn and off we go. Around the curve and accelerate, up to fourth and barely lift for the chicane. Down to the finishing straight, dab on the brakes and away we go. Repeat a few more times and we’re done.
We carried on like this with Alex and I learning more each time we went round, both of us returning each time with grins to rival a Cheshire cat.
The penultimate time I was on track we had a slight mishap as I was overtaking another car, I left the car too much room and went into the corner too wide, the car was unsettled and as I clipped the second curb, the rear end of the car started to come round and before I could regain control we had spun and hit the tire wall, passenger side first – Oops, sorry Max. However, this clearly didn’t put him off as he still agreed to take me out on my last laps of the day!
What a fantastic experience! A thoroughly enjoyable day that Alex and I talked about all the way home. A massive thanks to Pete and Alex for this opportunity and for accompanying me on the day, we will wait and see what happens in a couple of weeks at the scholarship assessments day!
Laters,
Sarah #18.
5th October – Buxton (National Championship)
Hi All.
It’s fairly safe to say that was an experience!
Buxton this time out for our major championship race of the year – the National Championship.
Originally when I booked in I was going to have to try to get in via the last chance qualifier again, like last year at Bradford, but on the Thursday before we got an updated grid and I was on it. Outside row 14 of 15 rows, but I was on the grid – woohoo! It’s what we all strive for, and with having to miss a few meetings due to writing the car off at Ipswich and then setting up a new one for me I was very surprised, but extremely happy. Then the race day orders came in and I found out I had to be at the track for no later than 9:30am. On a Saturday. When it’s cold. Oh well, we loaded up the car the night before and set off at 7, arriving at about 9.
Buxton is also known as High-Edge raceway, and it really is up high in the Derbyshire hills. Put it this way, driving in you’re above the cloud line for some of it! And so, as you can see in the gallery we were joined by a cloud hovering in the pits!
The reason behind the early start is that we had dedicated practice on track from 10 til 12, then the scrutineering began, with 30 cars to weigh, adjust if necessary, then drain the fuel tanks, check over the car and driver safety equipment, refuel with supplied fuel so no tampering, and random cars also having to have engine items sealed - head to block, gearbox to block and differential. Wow, I never knew just how much work was required.
I was actually the first car to go through the stages, so took a bit of extra time as people were setting up to suit, but eventually it was done by about 1.30, so plenty of time before the main meeting started at 5pm.
Practice had gone well, apart from when I clipped the inside kerb and punctured the inside front tyre – oops. But other than that it went really well, with the car feeling better and faster as the morning went on. Buxton is fairly unique, as it’s quite downhill into turns 1 and 2, so you have to break heavily, but then it’s a climb uphill to turns 3 and 4, so you have to brake really heavily downhill, but only brush them lightly into the other end. Dad asked me to push really hard in the corners as we’ve only got relatively new tyres with lots of tread, so by pushing too hard it’s possible to scrub off quite a bit of tread which obviously gives more grip once worn down (think slick racing tyres). You can actually feel the tyres working and smearing themselves to the track as we use quite soft Yokohama road tyres, and I did pretty much wear one down to zero tread, having started the meeting as a new one, at the start of the year, so it wasn’t long til the outside front was worn down a good amount ready for the big race.
Once practice and scrutineering was complete our cars were locked away in Parc Ferme so we couldn’t get to them or tweak them. That was it. How it ran last time out was how you were to run in the race. It felt weird not being able to access the car for a few hours, but hey.
During downtime I spent time snacking and catching up with the other drivers as there were quite a few of us racing in our first National, then I managed to catch up with some of my favourite BriSCA F1 drivers too, and eventually it was time for us.
We also had a driver’s parade, so needed a driver, and there’s no way Dad’s going to fit in my car 😊. Last year I was fortunate enough to get Superstar BriSCA F1 driver Catherine Harris to chauffeur my round, and this time I was lucky to have another superstar driver, but this time my racing bestie from the V8 Hotstox – stand up and take a bow Dannie Schoales #137. Many thanks for your continued support!
Walking on track to get back to the car and then being driven round whilst waving to the crowd is an amazing memory, and I am truly thankful to my parents and sponsors who help me do this. And I got a trophy. Thanks!
Lining up for the off and the nerves started to build, and with two slow formation laps behind the newly crowned BriSCA F2 Champion the tension was high, but then the flag man waved the green as we got it shouted through the radio into our ears and we were off. At the back with nothing to lose we all went for it, and going into turn 1 for the first time I dived up the inside of Keiran, spinning him to the inside kerb, out of 2 and there was already a car broadside across the track against the outside fence, but we kept going for another lap, all missing him, until a caution was called. Lining up in single file for the restart we all went down the back straight when suddenly everyone anchored up, and with so little space between us I hammered into the back of the car in front stalling my car. Refire, go to select gear to pull away with the pack and I couldn’t get a gear. It was as if the stick had locked solid. What the? No amount of pushing, pulling or smacking could get it to move, so that was it. I was out with only two laps complete. Dammit! I continued to try on the infield, but nothing, and so at the end of the race I was pushed back to the pits. Congrat’s to Archie Grindey #155 on winning what was a good race.
So, back to the pits and I explained to Dad what was wrong. He jacked it up and got underneath to have a look, and sure enough it was locked solid. On a Mini there’s a bracket on the back of the gearbox casing that holds a support bar to stabilise the gear selector rod that runs from the gearstick to the gearbox. The force of the impact had sheared the bracket and dropped the bar onto the gear selector rod, wedging it in place. Oops. It was decided to try and crowbar up the bar back into position and then tie it up out the way, but Dad ended up unbolting it as there wasn’t enough room to pry it up, and so with a couple of cable ties hanging it off the steering rack it was out of the way and gears were freed up again. I was supposed to be out in heat 2, so giving us some time, but whilst all this was going on it was decided the next two heats were going to be all in instead of split grids, so just as Dad finished we were told, and with seconds to spare the car was dropped back to Earth and the test drive to make sure it worked was on my way back to the track, but it did work. Thanks Dad (and Craig, Dannie and Matthew) for the quick work.
Back on track and we were off on the formation lap. Going into turn 1 and I got an almighty push from behind, firing me towards the fence flat out. I don’t even think I had time to really hit the brakes and brace for impact before clattering the fence in a massive shower of sparks, ricochetting around the turn repeatedly hitting the fence before coming out of turn 2 with no engine, but worse of all no steering (not that I knew this at the time). Pure momentum and a little bit of luck saw the car cross the track without being hit by anyone and I ended up on the infield trying to work out with the Hell had just happened! Trying to refire the car nothing happened, turning the steering wheel also did nothing. Now what? Sitting fuming and frustrated, with a massive headache, I could do nothing more that wait to be dragged off track again.
On return to the pits Dad and Craig helped drag me out the car as everything hurt, and I was so angry. Looking at the car and it didn’t look too bad, a few scuffs on the bumper, but considering the speed and impact I was amazed nothing was too bad. However, the force I put through the steering wheel I’d actually ripped off the bottom column fixing, so the column just hung down into the footwell. I went off to sulk and take some paracetamol, whilst Dad and Craig had a look at fixing it. The car wouldn’t refire, just clicking (yes that again), and whilst Craig dropped a charger onto the battery in case it was that again (it wasn’t) Dad sorted out the steering. Whilst I didn’t want to, as everything hurt, I was told to get in and try to get out for heat 2, but the car wouldn’t refire. We tried push starting too, but that didn’t work either, so with a heavy heart we loaded up ready to come home.
And so that’s my recollection of my very first National Championship race (although I did get into the last chance qualifier last year). A very long day, with a damaged car after loads of successful practice laps but only a handful of racing laps. But hey, at least I got a trophy to be proud of, and family and friends equally proud of me for qualifying considering the (partly) rubbish year I’ve had with damage etc.
Onwards. Supposed to be at Skegness on Saturday, but don’t think the car’s going to be sorted by then, so probably spend the weekend working on it, hopefully sorting it, and then back out racing on 3rd November back at Buxton. However, in the meantime a massive thanks to Dalys as I have my practice day and Scholarship Day up at Blyton in the Fiesta. I am seriously looking forwards to that. So my next reports will be from something very different.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
September 28th - Northampton
​
Hi all.
You know when you get called up to the Headmasters office at school, but you don’t know what you’ve done? No, neither do I, but Dad said it was a good comparison… We have Stewards of the Meeting to answer to, and I got called up to the Steward’s box after my second heat last night to answer to them – anyway, more of that later!
So, first time out on shale in the new car, and we were back to one of my favourite tracks – Northampton International Shaleway. Having seen pictures of it from earlier in the week (Tuesday) when we were all going through the massive flood warnings and torrential downpours, the track was literally under about 250mm of water (that’s 10 inches to you old folk 😊), I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Deane Wood had posted a video on social media on Friday showing the track coming together nicely, so fingers crossed.
It was a bit of a weird one, as this weekend we were supposed to be racing at Mildenhall on the Saturday and Northampton on Sunday, but sadly Mildenhall suffered with a bad fire earlier in the year, and whilst it will be back, for the time being we’ve lost that circuit, so it had been decided to have two meetings on the Saturday at Northampton instead. Unfortunately Ministox were only racing in the evening and not the afternoon as well, but hey, a meeting is a meeting!
After a really enjoyable afternoon of meeting up with friends (thanks for the continued support Dannie), and spectating (not something you get to do when racing) it was down to the real deal.
Our first race of the day was our World of Shale Championship, with me being on the inside of row 12 of 14 rows, and with it being in qualifying order I was racing from the back with the people I normally bounce around with, but with some breathing space before the reds and superstars caught up with us by pushing from behind. I made a good start and was in an early battle with about four other cars, all jostling for position, and whilst we weren’t really gaining ground we were having a good race. About 4 laps in and a caution was called for someone embedded in the turn 2 fence, so at the restart I was in 21st place, having started 24th, battling with Olie and Ruby. I made a good start, but assume Ruby must have missed a gear as she was slow down the back straight, but I couldn’t get to the inside line as Charlie behind me got there first. Eventually I managed to get free of her, but being so far back from the main race I just spent the rest of the race enjoying myself and playing with the car, seeing what it did with different braking points and steering angles, eventually bringing it home in 18th place.
The next race was our heat one of the day with 28 starters, and I made a good start running the inside line into turn 1, but it was still damp from watering before the race and I had horrendous understeer, nearly clattering into 202 on the outside of me, but lost time coming out of 2 whilst trying to get it back under control, however at that point a caution was called as someone had tried to drive over the top of another car, ending up precariously balanced at 45deg on his front end!
Funnily enough this called for a full restart, so we lined up and set off again. This time 202 got a better start than me and as I chased him into turn 1 for the first time Tegan gave me a good punt from behind, but I rode the hit and came out of 2 still in 2nd place. I tried everything to gain on the leader, but could not make any ground on him. Soon enough we're 8 laps in and Mr Starter waved the Union flag to denote half way and I was still running in 2nd place. I could see the superstars gaining in my mirror, but kept my foot in trying to assure myself of a podium finish. With 5 to go I’d lost out to two of the star drivers, but was still in 4th place, then with 2 to go I got passed by Rogers. Still in 5th, can I make it? As we passed under the 1 lap to go board I had 4 superstars all ganging up on me, and I got punted wide into turns 1 and 2, but losing out to 3 of them, and then Cody had a last bend lunge on 2 more coming into 3 and 4 for the final time, with me again punted wide, but keeping it out of the fence to come home 10th. Five of us (7th to 11th) crossed the line in 0.6seconds! Well happy, and it's been a while since my preferred surface of shale, so over the moon, and great fun. Even inside my helmet you can tell the size of grin (photo in the gallery!).
Two races later and we were all back out again for our next heat race. I made a great start and led into 1, but 202 gave me a good hit and I was pushed into the slippy stuff, losing time, but coming out alongside him. He got a better drive through 3 and 4 and slotted ahead. Coming down the start straight and 174 rejoined from the infield just where I needed to turn in, so once again I was on the slippy outside line and lost some ground. I tried to dive bomb him into 3, but a blue top behind beat me to the line, but we bumped and barged each other through and then down the straight where Mia joined the party going into 1. Going down the back straight and bouncing off each other and I got turned across her bows towards the infield. I left the track completely sideways, just missing the marker tyres at the end of the straight. Going sideways at about 40mph I entered the ‘safe area’ where photographers, tractors and pace car are kept. Somehow I managed to wrestle the car back under control, just missing everything and stomping with everything I had on the brake pedal, coming to rest about 6inches from the pace car. Holy hell that was close! A quick change of pants later (probably some of the track staff too) and I rejoined on the front straight. By now a lap down, but I set off and carried on playing, eventually bringing the car home with no damage in 20th. Getting back to the pits and Dad had a massive grin on his face and congratulated me on my near miss. And it was then that one of the breakdown drivers told us that the driver and a parent from car 18 (me) had been called to the Steward’s box.
First thought was ‘what had I done wrong?’, closed followed by ‘this can’t be good’. Like I said at the start of all this, it’s never a good thing to be called up.
Felling slightly elated that I’d not hit anything, but worried about what I might have done wrong, Dad and I set off. Entering the room and our presence was acknowledged. Then when Adam and Steve (the two meeting Stewards) turned around to us they had huge smiles. They explained that people normally go up to them for a rollocking (this I was very aware of), but on occasion they also congratulate, and due to my superb car control (and a huge heap of luck) I’d averted what could have been a major accident. So well done, keep up the good work. Wow.
Back down to Earth and our Final race was soon out, this one being the Northampton Championship, started in graded order, but with a closed grid meaning no spaces between grades – yay, the blues and reds will be pouncing early this time! By now we had a slightly depleted field of cars, with only 22 cars starting. I made a good start, but was on the outside line and entered turn 1 in 4th place, with Mia trying to get through on the inside and Taylor on the outside. Mia was pushing, whilst being pushed, and I ended up pushing Taylor broadside through the corner before she finally took the hint and exited stage right. By now in about 7th place as we came out of turn 2 about 5 wide and George had been spun in front of me, so I ended up punting him head on and backwards until he also took the hint and got out of the way! With cars littering the track a caution was called for a winded driver, so we all lined up for the restart. Off we went, and I was pushed right to the fence out of 4 even before the green flag, but held it together and set off with the pack. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful, but with a good few little battles throughout and I came home 12th.
So, 4 races, two points scoring finishes, a congratulations form the Stewards and no damage. I’ll take that.
As usual the gallery has a few new pics etc, including one with one of my long time supporters and F1 racer Mark Sargent, only wearing my teamwear – how cool, and massive thanks to Mark.
Next time out is at Buxton again on Saturday 5th October for the National Ministox National Championship. I’ll be having a go from the last chance qualifier race (assuming there is one), but good luck to the more likely to win drivers starting at the pointy end. See you there.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
8th September - Buxton
Hi all.
It’s good to be back!
Well, there’s been quite a lot of work done to get ready as the car’s had a full nut and bolt check, the seat’s been repositioned to suit me and my size, the gearstick location and the stick itself has also been sorted out in a position to suit me.
Unfortunately we ran late on vehicle spraying as the paint booth had gone down and caused a backlog, so the body was still black from the previous owner, but with the sides being big graphics and applied (with the rest of the printwork all done, just waiting for paint to be applied), the car looked pretty good, and was mechanically ready, so time to get going again.
So, first time out on track in my new car after my big accident, I don’t mind admitting I was a little nervous.
The weather forecast was for rain pretty much all day, and so it was. As we’d just finished loading up the car at home it started raining, and didn’t stop until about four races to go. Oh, and we had blue sky and sun on the way home – typical. It was that bad in the morning we even put covers on my seat for the journey so it didn’t end up being too soggy, although wearing my racing wetsuit (yes really) also helped! Dad had advised to perhaps take my shale helmet as traditional visors can get smeary, whereas the shale helmet has rip’n’roll goggles with a mechanically pulled protective screen – a bit like you see on Grand Prix F1 car onboard cameras – although I’d start off using my tarmac helmet.
We got there early for practice, and to make sure the scrutineer was happy with any work carried out, and with the track awash and continuing rain off I went for my first chance to drive the car in anger. It felt good, and it was great to be back behind the wheel. It was also nice to see Richard of RGD Engineering, and his son Sam at the meeting. Richard is my go to for structural welding (and believe me when I say I’ve needed his service quite a lot!) so it was great to spend some time with them. Your services are greatly appreciated!
There were some big puddles on track, but we splashed through them, and the car didn’t miss a beat. I even managed to hold a big slide when I was tipped into the corner without losing too much ground.
Back to the pits and we put the shale guard over the front of the engine to stop all the electrics on the front getting too soggy. We were already running full wet tyres (basically relatively fresh tyres without the tread worn down too much)
Back out for another practice and it was pretty much more of the same. At least the car and me were working well together, surviving the heavy rain and ontrack conditions.
Once practice was complete, I took the decision to take Dad’s advise and use the shale helmet for visibility. And my wetsuit was doing it’s job well too, so I wasn’t getting too soggy and uncomfortable, although my gloves were another matter!
Soon enough it was time to go out for heat 1, and it was still chucking it down. The first start was jumped by the blues, reds and superstars going way too early, but it was called to caution and the next start was a bit better by them. Savannah got the jump on me at the start, but as we both had good visibility we stayed ahead with only the 300 of Coby gaining on us initially. Going into 3 & 4 for the 3rd time and the 300 car of Coby lunged up the inside just as I blocked him, punting me sideways across the track, just clipping the fence with the rear corner, but the lack of forwards air caused my goggles to instantly mist up, and although the car was still moving I literally couldn’t see anything, so I anchored up and smeared the inside of the lenses with my soggy gloves letting me have an idea of where I was, before rejoining at the back of the field. I carried on plugging away as I could see the cars ahead of me, but couldn’t really gain on them as we were all doing pretty similar lap times at the rear of the grid, and then when the front runners came through to lap it was a case of biding time and trying to keep momentum up without losing out too much ground to those I was in a race with, eventually coming home in 14th place. Not the best, but a finish is a finish, and it was a points finish, so that’ll do me.
There was an 8 race gap before my next race, so a bit of downtime, a quick check over on the car, and time to chat with some of the other drivers.
Next race out and it was pretty much the same – well, the on-track conditions were, although it had at least stopped raining briefly. There was another jump start by the higher grades, so again we went round on a second formation lap. This time round shall we say the blues were rather enthusiastic on their start and were pushing the yellows into the back of us whites entering turn 3 before the green. This time Savannah and myself only stayed ahead until the end of lap 2 before being trounced by the blues, but this time no trip to the wall, so I was still in it. With a fair bit of nudging and pushing going on throughout the pack at one point there was a decent size hit and my rear view mirror decided to throw itself on the floor of the car. Ok, no real problem, I prefer to see what’s around me, but let’s give it a go. That all worked out fine until about five laps later and it decided to shoot across under cornering and get stuck behind the pedals. I managed to kick it out of the way once, but it then decided to wedge itself behind the brake and accelerator, and despite my best efforts I couldn’t clear it, so not wanting to ram the fence at high speed with no brakes I pulled into the centre at racing speed, kicked it out of the way and jumped on the brakes. Scary, but necessary, and with no way of reaching the mirror to make sure it stayed out of the way, that was it for heat 2 and a DNF.
Meeting Final time was my next race, in 10 races time (I think there were 24 races total on the day), although there was another Ministox heat to watch in between, and it stayed a bit dryer for it. However, they had fun and games as at the first start they all piled into turn 1 and half the field made t to the fence as there was a dry line right on the inside edge of the track, but a slippy line once further out, or so it appeared. A restart was called and they tried again, but to the same effect, so another red flag was called with carnage on-track. This time the track was examined more closely, and it turns out the race before had dumped a load of oil on the approach to the corner. Oops. All cars were moved onto the centre green while the track crew tried an oil removing liquid, then the drivers were used to bed it in. It made it a bit better, but it was still slick, so everyone started driving it like shale, chucking it in and seeing what stuck. Some did, some didn’t, but the race ran and was good fun to watch.
Another 4 races to go and I was out in the Final, and with everyone scurrying around to change over to intermediate tyres (half worn tread) it was busy in the pits. However, we’d kept an eye open, and with one race to go it started to rain again, so everyone that had just been changing over was now changing back to wets again. By the time we were going out it had stopped, and although it wasn’t as wet as the first race, the dry line wasn’t really visible anymore.
As I hadn’t qualified for the main grid with my DNF I lined up at the back of the superstars along with four others for a grid of 24 cars (I think). Crossing under the green flag and off we all set, with what looked like a solid wall of about 2/3rds of the grid being red tops (or it looked like that from my viewpoint. Entering lap 2 and there was a spinner at the flag man, with another halfway through turns 1&2. Two laps later and about 4 cars had come together exiting turn 2, and I was running in 15th place on lap 6 – not bad from the back of the grid. However, with a near track blockage a caution was called. At the restart we carried on as before until about 4 to go and another caution. Still running in 15th, but by now in with the top 3 as I’d been lapped by them and I was put to the back of the grid, somehow dropping me to 18th. Dammit. At the restart we carried on our little battle at the back of the pack and there were four of us having a good little go, then as it came down to the last couple of laps it got serious with nudging and leaning going on. Entering 1&2 for the last time and two of the cars in front ran wide leaving me a nice little window on the inside line, but my exit speed was compromised as we came out 3 wide with me having to take the inside line but getting a wobble on the slick track. Entering turns 3&4, with me on the inside and Josh on the outside, and I could see what he was going to do, and he lunged at Ruby and Freddie ahead of us, pushing Ruby to the fence. I kept tight to the inside line, and came out almost alongside Freddie, who was actually a lap ahead, but with 0.6 of a second covering the three of us as we crossed the line, with me just staying ahead of Ruby, with Josh managing to keep his momentum and just beat me to the line. A finish of 17th. Again, that’ll do me.
So, 14th for 1 point, DNF and 17th for no points, but more importantly no damage to the car, or myself. I’m happy with that for a successful days racing.
The car now needs a good clean as the water we were racing in has left it mucky, and then a good check over. Hopefully he body shop gets a gap in their schedule and next time out it’ll be back to the beautiful Amaranth Purple it should be, and with the new stickers applied, we’ll be ready for Hednesford – the super-fast tarmac track just down the A5 from us.
In the meantime, good luck to all the BriSCA F1 drivers in their World Final at SkegVegas next weekend.
As usual the gallery has a few pics in, although no onboard footage as the remote for the cameras decided to pack up in the bad weather, but I’m sure Dad’ll get some external footage uploaded when he has time.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
1st September - Update
So, I bet you’re all wondering where I’ve been!! Well, between righting off old cars and sorting out new cars, I have a little side project😊. It’s been a secret up until now and since I hinted about it in my last report, I figured you’d all like to know about it.
At the beginning of June, one of my sponsors, Peter Daly of Daly Systems, gave me the opportunity to enter into the BRSCC Junior Fiesta Championship via scholarship. He offered to pay for my scholarship which, if I win, will give me the chance to have an all-expenses paid season in the BRSCC Junior Fiesta Championship. Me, being the destructive, speed loving 13-year-old that I am, accepted this offer. Thanks Peter!! This takes place at the end of October, so wish me luck!
In order to help me get used to the cars, today (28th August), I was chauffeured by my Dad down to Mallory Park to have a go at tazzing round in a Fiesta. Taught by somebody else who understands the ministox and the troubles I might have had adjusting to the gear changing, Jenson Brickley ex#246. Driving round for a couple of laps, he showed me the braking points I should be looking out for, how hard to brake, when to downshift going into corners and what kind of line I should be taking.
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After a couple of laps with him behind the wheel, we had a quick break and then it was back out to try and put some of the new knowledge I’d just learnt to good use. Starting off by just having a drive round the paddock to make sure I was happy with the gear change from second gear to third and then from third to fourth as these two gears don’t normally apply when racing the minis. Then we drove out the gates and onto the pit lane where, after a quick check in my mirrors, I accelerated from and onto the track.
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First lap round and the only thing I was struggling with was the downshift to third gear going round the hairpin. Whilst Jenson had told me to brake hard, downshift and release the clutch straight away, I didn't quite get the hang of it as it isn't something I’m used to doing. But with a bit of perseverance and a few more times round, I got the hang of it. Because I had just 20 minutes at a time in the car, it was soon time to pull off and take another breather. After being told that I need to brake harder on entering the hairpin, then downshift and release the clutch straight away, I was ready to go back out.
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Second time in the car and I was feeling a lot more confident in myself and the lines that I was taking. Again, checking the mirrors before pulling out of the pit lane, I pulled away and around Gerard’s (turn 1) we went. Looking all the way around for my apex, then bringing the car over to the left ready for the straight. Accelerating up to about 90mph, I looked ahead for my braking point. Easing off the accelerator, braking hard and through the Esses we go. Next point is the hair pin. First time round, I had been braking, downshifting to third, letting off the brakes and then coasting the car round with the clutch in. This time I braked hard, downshifted and immediately took my foot off the clutch and got round incident free. Back into fourth and ready to go through Devil’s Elbow. Not too tight in then accelerate back up to speed and down the home straight we go.
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Back around Gerard’s and this time I took a tighter exit and then forced the car out left. Down the straight and this time I made it to just over 90mph before braking hard for the Esses and bringing it back up to speed before braking hard again, downshifting, and then steering it round the hairpin. Through the Devil's Elbow and off we go down the home straight again. That lap felt better! Do that a few more times and before I knew it, that was the end of the session.
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Back in the car park and all parked up, we took a couple of photos with Jenson and headed back up the stairs. Having already seen the size of grin that was on my face, nobody needed to ask if I had enjoyed it as the answer was a definite yes 😊😊.
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Driving round Mallory was definitely the most unique experience I’ve ever had and to say that I am lucky is a huge understatement. I am hugely grateful to Peter Daly and the fabulous opportunity he has presented me with. I am also hugely grateful to the rest of my sponsors as well because without them, there would be no #18 in the ministox. Thanks Jenson for trusting me enough to drive you round Mallory, even after I told you I’d written my first car off, and thanks to the team at Mallory who made me feel welcome and like I belonged.
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See you out there on the long (and short oval) tracks in the future.
Laters,
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Sarah #18.