60+ Racing Adventures-4th
Round at Brands Hatch
The 4th Round of the 60+ Racing Adventures
League for drivers age 60 and older ran Wednesday,7/5 at Brands Hatch, running
the Pro Mazda. 29 drivers participated. Almost
a repeat of the contest at Monza, the Group 1 race was dominated by Canada’s
Steven Carkner and the Netherland’s Jos van de Ven.
But unlike Monza where the two had a near photo finish,
Carkner asserted his dominance with clear authority, leading every lap and
finishing more than 10 seconds ahead. Carkner set a blistering pace with an average
lap time of only 1:19.76.
Carkner’s start was impressive as he pulled away from the
pack as soon as the pace car left the track.
One of the challenges at this iconic track is the use of
the track “extensions” in the track out areas of several turns. Carkner showed how it is done in T3 and T6.
(This is allowed—no “offtrack” incident penalties applied.)
A stab on the brakes entering T3, with a smooth on throttle
arc in 4th gear takes the car outside of the curbing—this is the
fast line.
Likewise in T6, a smooth, on throttle arc in 5th
gear takes the car outside of the curbing—this is the really fast line. It is a
bit scary as the track really challenges the car’s suspension here.
Too much of a good thing however can be dangerous. John
Unsbee goes “too far” exiting the Paddock Hill Bend, but expertly saves it.
Another critical corner here is T7. Jos van de Ven’s teammate, Rolf Just
perfectly executes the gentle curb contact using the fastest line thru here.
In the Group 1 race, Carkner and Jos van de Ven started on
the front row. Donald Strout, in P3 announced his strategy was to “take it easy
for the first three laps” expecting that a few drivers might over drive on cold
tires. So, John Unsbee in P4 and Mark Robertson in P5 passed Strout in Paddock
Hill Bend. Robertson asserted himself
and passed Unsbee. The pack of the above mentioned five, with the Floridian
John Morgan and the UK’s Andrew Fidler close behind, took off. Unsbee passed
Robertson the next lap, going into the high speed Paddock Hill Bend. Strout noticed that Carkner and van de Ven
were building a large lead and became impatient. He followed Robertson into T8
and they touched—Strout was able to continue, but with a damaged front wing,
but Robertson spun and lost several positions.
Strout and Unsbee would duel for the rest of the race,
fighting for P3, with Unsbee holding Strout off. The Podium for the first race
would be Carkner, van de Ven, and Unsbee.
Passing at Brands Hatch is a challenge. Here Unsbee (yellow
car) overtakes entering the Paddock Hill Bend. This is the “classic” passing maneuver
most often seen at this track.
Portugal’s Antonio Reis set the fastest qualifying lap of
the day in the second race-a time of 1:18.938. Team #1’s Bill Lawrence, missing
the first race because of computer problems, asserted himself in the second
race with the second fastest qualifying lap of the day-a blistering fast 1:19.048
lap.
Donald Strout’s warning and prediction in the first race about
“cold tires” being a factor proved true in the second race as Reis lost control
in the first turn.
Lawrence took the lead, closely followed by Strout and
Andrew Fidler. As mentioned, Team #1
teammates work closely together. Lawrence’s teammate Steven Carkner was on the
TeamSpeak radio spotting for Lawrence.
On lap 4, Lawrence went wide in Turn 8. (This is not the fast line.)
And, for much of the following laps, it was a duel between
Strout and Fidler. (Fidler is the winner of this season’s event at Watkins
Glen.) The duel was almost a repeat of
the one between Unsbee and Strout in the first race, except Strout was in front
in the second race.
As mentioned, passing at Brands Hatch is difficult. Below
is a shot of John Morgan attempting an overtake on Mark Lison at the end of the
long straight entering T5. It would end badly as the two cars touched.
The duel between Strout and Fidler was pretty intense,
especially as they approached slower traffic. Distracted, Strout made several mistakes. The first one
exiting T7, allowing Fidler a chance to try for an outside pass in T8.
The attempt would fail as Fidler slid out on exit and “high
sided” his car on the curb. (It takes skill to avoid a spin when this happens.)
Fidler would continue his pursuit.
With two laps to go, traffic provided another
opportunity. Fidler would attempt to
overtake going into T4, after Strout was forced to slow to avoid a car in T3.
Here they go three wide approaching the corner. Then Fidler decides to “go for
the gap”.
Strout did not “close the door” but also did not leave any
extra space. Filder lifted and briefly lost control, allowing Lawrence to take
P2.
Strout went on for the win. His 1:18.883 on lap 10 was the
fastest lap of the day. This was Strout’s third win for the season, but all of
them have been in the “second chance” Group 2 races. Steven Carkner has won two
Group 1 races. Jos van de Ven has won one Group 1 race. Andrew Fidler has won one
Group 1 race.
After four events, the Team #1 of Carkner, Lawrence and
Robertson still have a substantial lead over the Team #6 of John Unsbee, Jim
Oliver, Michael Key and P J Salley. Not
far behind in third place in the Team Championship is the Team #3 of Jos van de
Ven, Rolf Just, Mark Lison and Gerard Florissen. Team #7 of Bruce Poole, Joel
Martin and Jay Freels dropped to 4th.
Team #5 of Strout, Galloway and Baldwin maintained 5th
place. (Baldwin has been troubled by
ongoing computer/internet issues.)
The series maintains a Driver Championship and a Team
Championship. Team assignments are
determined by the League Organizer to pair up 3 or four drivers that together
have a “fair” chance compared to other teams.
In other words, less experienced or accomplished drivers are paired with
the more experienced so each team is deemed to have a “fair” chance to win the
Team Championship that pays $100 to the Winning Team, $50 to the 2nd
Place Team and $25 to the 3rd Place Team for the Season.
With his win here at Brands Hatch, Steven Carkner took back
the lead in the Driver’s Championship from Jos van de Ven. So far, this season
has pretty much been the Carkner vs van de Ven show!
The next event for the 60+ guys is at California’s Mazda
Laguna Seca Raceway. It is highly likely
that Team #1 will hold on to their substantial lead. Carkner, Lawrence and
Robertson again demonstrated the benefits of working closely together. —more
cohesive than any of the other teams. But Team #6’s Unsbee is fast at Laguna
and his teammate, Jim Oliver is also from the US West, so Team #6 might just
make a move at what might be called their “home track” and close the 49 point
lead held by Team #1.
The event at Laguna Seca will be broadcast live and
memoralized on YouTube by RaceSpot.TV.
