ON
TRACK WITH RICK PEARSON
By Rick Pearson
Welcome to the fourteenth of my weekly articles about the national racing scene and my journey through it over the past few years. This week, the second part of my race weekend description: "I showed up, I qualified, I went home Part II", sometimes known as "How to waste 3 days of your life for 20 laps in a racing car."
The race weekend never dawns dry and bright. It either dawns wet and miserable or dry and freezing. Before surfacing from the luxurious camp-bed-in-the-race-truck accommodation, a simple test of whether or not your breath freezes in the air around you will usually suffice to choose your tyres for qualifying.
Almost certainly I will have been woken by Radio 2, blaring out from the Renault Hospitality truck kitchen. This usually results in a significantly bad mood until they redeem themselves by serving some simply divine bacon and egg sarnies some hour or so later. Life revolves around the Renault hospitality centre for the weekend. Or at least the food element of it... once the morning ablutions are completed I tend to hunker down in the tent for the aforementioned sarnies and to try and hide from the early bird fans until my mood has improved a touch!
If we are qualifying early, I will be able to sign on with the Championship co-ordinator at the same time and we are often issued with a can of Red Bull, the stimulant-in-a-can which when drunk before a race by 28 Clio drivers can usually ensure a huge amount of carnage occurs. I've yet to prove it, but I have the distinct feeling that it's paid for by the Renault Parts Department...
The team will then try and gather all the drivers together for the first briefing of the weekend which will be to discuss qualifying strategy. A preliminary assumption will be made as to what the weather is going to do, settings will be decided and a compromise is reached between the drivers over what lap we are each going to pit. A typical Clio qualifying session will involve a tyre change and the limited amount of space (and mechanics) available means in an ideal world they only want one car needing to be serviced at a time. No matter what is discussed, come the qualifying session everyone will ignore what was agreed and all three Clios will pit as one as always!
Before this, the cars will be scrutineered, my contribution to which is ensuring my crash helmet and suit are present to be inspected. More importantly, I will also by this stage have been through the available tyres for the weekend to declare the six that we are going to use. This number is limited by the regulations and only two can be new so four have to be salvaged from the previous race weekend. Usually these will be the four you finished the previous race with but not always... a few lurid celebratory slides after my victory at Brands Hatch ensured these were shot to bits on arrival at Oulton Park and I was forced to cobble some together from previous race weekends...
About one hour before qualifying the final decision (assuming the weather looks settled), is taken on the set-up for qualifying and we climb into the race overalls and boots. Head down to the assembly area as swiftly as possible to ensure good track position when the session starts. And at the green flag head out, vigorously warming the tyres and brakes.
The car will always be quicker when cooler and the tyres obviously better when hotter, but not too hot... so a balance needs to be found. Three laps have to be completed to qualify for the race, so there are no prizes for throwing it in the gravel at this stage. Yet to pop in a hot lap early gives a significant psychological advantage... again, a balance needs to be found.
The thirty-minute qualifying session will usually allow about 15-17 laps, so pitting just before the halfway mark will leave you with a good run to the end of the session on the new tyres. Sadly, they are at their peak for just two laps, the first two fliers after you leave the pits. At this point, the mental stress is at its highest. You have a very good idea from testing what you are going to need to do to take pole position. You have a very good idea what the current pole is (or at least how far away you are from it!) because your mechanics wave it in your face each time you pass the pits.
You also have a very different handling car, as the grip from the hot rears will dominate the car until the fronts get up to temperature. It's time to take a few guesses about how much more grip you have on the front than the last time round and take a few chances with you and the car. If you get it all right, as you next cross the line, the time will flash up on your display and you will know that you've done enough to take pole. Else you immediately launch into your last chance flier. If the time was good, large quantities of screaming and punching the steering wheel will ensue and next time past the pits your pit board will be waving up and down as an overexcited mechanic tries to show you that magical combination: P1.
Now the real stress begins as you cruise around trying to save your tyres for one last attempt should someone go quicker, each lap praying that the Chequered Flag will be out. Even when you've taken it though, your pole still isn't safe as people behind you on the track may manage to go quicker, it is not until you are trundling down the pitlane and you see the mechanics dancing on the pitwall that you know for sure that you've been the fastest driver on the track for that qualifying session.
For me, the highlight of the weekend is now over, I find qualifying so pure compared to racing where a high degree of luck can come into it. After the session has finished, it will take me around three hours to wind down properly from the adrenaline and it will be early to bed once again hoping the mechanics don't snore too badly!
Next week, race day itself and all the fun of the TOCA show.