ON
TRACK WITH RICK PEARSON
By Rick Pearson
Welcome to the fifth of my weekly articles about the National racing scene and my journey through it over the past few years. I hope that in light of events at Brands Hatch last weekend, you will forgive me if, just this once, I indulge in the sort of "I came, I saw, I got a pot" journalism I previously promised to avoid.
I was brought up in Canterbury, in the Kentish heartland, so it was at Brands Hatch that I saw my first motor race: The last ever Formula 2 round with Thackwell and Gugelmin racing the dominant Ralt-Hondas (I think!!) headed the race card. For me though, the highlight of the day was the rare visit to the UK of the Renault Europa Cup, held in that year for the Renault 5 Turbo 2 mid- engined machines. The field consisted mainly of mad Italians and even madder Frenchmen, with a lone Brit., Jonathon Palmer in the guest car. The race was frenetic, memorable (and now all sounds strangely familiar); Jan Lammers won (but was later disqualified for cheating), the local hero was used for target practice by all and sundry and Renault sold a lot of body panels...But it hooked me totally and utterly on motorsport and from that day on, all I wanted to do was return to Brands to race, win and (more sadly), ride past the South Bank on the podium truck as everyone tooted their horns and flashed their lights. Give me a break, I was only 10.
Before last weekend's TOCA round, I had two days of testing in my ActiveShop-sponsored Renault Clio and had learnt a couple of things. The first was that I was one of the quicker drivers around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. The second was that Surtees corner was not possible with the accelerator flat to the floor... I had thought it might be, but an attempt at the end of the first session of the second days testing had seen me bury the car in the tyre wall at around sixty mph. (A swift rebuild saw me out for the next session but a foolish attempt to make up for lost time meant I threw the car straight into the gravel at Paddock Hill. Cue an extended period of gravel removal for my mechanics and an extended period of skulking in the truck for Rick.)
Going into qualifying, we were in pretty good shape having finished testing fourth fastest overall, but with some tricks up our sleeves for the race weekend. So, I knew sitting in the assembly area before going out to qualify that the car was more than capable of pole, it was a going to be down to me. The weekend got off to a great start, as on my first flying lap I disgraced myself totally by spinning through 720 degrees down Paddock Hill. However, the red flags were out quickly to retrieve the sister ActiveShop car that Paul Lomax had dumped on its side on the exit of Surtees. I took the opportunity to collect my thoughts so when qualifying recommenced, I put in a good early lap and claimed pole, which I held until I pitted for fresh front tyres.
On rejoining, I was temporarily down to fourth fastest until my second flying lap saw me post a 52.8 and retake the pole. Since this was nearly two tenths quicker than anyone had managed in testing, I was pretty convinced this would be good enough to claim the first starting spot and so it proved to be. My Mark Fish motorsport team mate (and Championship leader) Jim Edwards Jnr ran me pretty close at the end though, getting within 9 hundredths of my time!
Race day dawned bright and sunny (as it always seems to in this sort of report) but two hours before we were due on track the weather broke and the two races preceding ours were run on a wet track, but with a dry line emerging. Blind panic ensued as in the whole of two days testing we had had only one session of wet running. During this, I had lapped easily on wet tyres and dry settings and so I gambled on leaving the car on dry settings with slick tyres hoping to convert pole position into the lead and then hog the dry line.
My teammate, Jim took a completely different option so we had it pretty much covered as we went to the start line. The race has been heavily documented elsewhere, but suffice to say that despite throwing the lead away twice, I finally managed to take Surtees with the throttle flat to the bulkhead to pass Henry Taylor and claim the victory by a tenth of a second.
My first outright (as opposed to a class) victory, on my home track, in front of my family, a great crowd and a large number of 10 Tenths members.
Who could ask for more?
And yes, I finally got to ride on the podium truck and everyone tooted their car horns and flashed their lights as we passed the South Bank!
Mission Accomplished.
On a more somber note, I was devastated to learn this weekend of the death of an old teammate of mine, Tim Miller. Tim and I raced together in Caterhams a few years ago and Tim unfortunately succumbed to injuries he sustained whilst racing his Caterham at Oulton Park recently. Tim was a true gentleman both on and off the track and for a young driver, he was an exemplary example of the true meaning of courtesy and sportsmanship. His is a tragic loss and my condolences go out to his family and team.