Well it's been a long time since the last race of December 2008 and the wait had become almost unbearable. It finally arrived for me on the 6th February and boy was I eager. The arm joints needed some loosening up and the racing skills honed for the start of the 2009 season. Well during the off season absolutely nothing was really done to the Datti other than to repair the cylinder head which was damaged on the last race of 2008 and some re-greasing of the wheel bearings.
Fridays practice was slotted at various times during the day but I settled for my first one at 13h45 after sorting out the required documentation and then performing my usual routine checks on the car. The Datti made all the right noises at the right time but I soon discovered I was either VERY rusty having not been active for a while or the Datti was just not making power. No matter how hard I tried, I could not do sub 1:35. In fairness I did consider the slight wind as well as the temperature which was pushing towards the 30 degree mark. I settled for the latter as a reasonable assumption. The next practice slot again was at 16h15. Again I tried my damdest but faired even worse not being able to this time better 1:37's and became somewhat frustrated. By the time Martin had arrived I gave him my run down and told him I personally felt the car was simply just lazy out of the corners. We left it for then and headed home.
The next morning early we were back at the track and 1,2,3 Martin was in think tank mode. Off with the tappet cover and some adjustments were quickly made. Then it was out with the spark plugs and a new set of race plugs fitted. The timing light was hauled out and a quick adjustment and resetting of the timing was done. "Try that and let me know if it's better" he said.
Qualifying was at 10h35 and I was eager to see if I could post closer to my previous best times as in all fairness the track was near perfect with lots of rubber on the deck and temperatures were good. By the end of my first qualifying lap I could already feel and see the difference. The Datti was crisp again and that 'edge' had returned.
I qualified with a best of 1:33.1 again putting me on pole for class D. I was chuffed. Due to the very busy weekend race schedule my first race was only off at 17h00, so for the rest of the day I spent chatting to fellow racers and also sat in T3 watching the other various race categories.
My first race turned out to be an absolute blast and the pace was fast. I had got off to a bad start due to some sleepy race souls ahead of me in Class C and Mike (Napoli) got the gap and got ahead of me. We all managed to get through T1 OK and like a pack of hungry wolves we all stormed for T2 not anyone giving an inch. Mike was this time caught in traffic and I took him going through T2. He hung on to my rear for dear life but again traffic in T5 resulted in Mike coming off second best. I held him off for the rest of the race beating him by a comfortable 3.7 sec margin.
Race 2 was scheduled for 12h05 on the Sunday and temperatures were somewhat cooler while track conditions had improved even further with all the racing that had again taken place. A slight thunder shower on the Saturday evening was welcomed which somewhat brought down the temps just a tad. Race 2 was an absolute cracker with Mike this time 1 row behind me. Mike had a great start and beat me from a rolling start squarely getting by on the outside. We got away from the pack behind us but their cars were definitely quicker. English competitor Lee Moulden in the Gunston coloured Capri was eventually all over me finally taking me going into Turn 1 on lap 6 and splitting Mike and myself. We still raced on one another's bumpers as if we were glued to each other. Paul Ammann in the Scirrocco also got involved with him passing me down the straights only for me to out brake him again in the corners. Paul did eventually get passed and that’s how the 4 of us finished, nose to tail stuff with only 1.2 seconds separating the four places (Mike, Lee, Paul and myself). In the interim I also landed up posting my fastest time ever at a 1:32.57 thereby also incurring my first official breakout. (That I know of)
The last and final race 3 was off at 16h30 with a slight mist now having come in from the sea and bringing some cool relief. This time both Mike and I had good rolling starts and we soon were out on our own with Mike leading due to a 3 car start lead he had from the finish in the second race. Never once were we more than a cars length away from each other and it became a duel to the last lap. Having watched and observed for 5 laps being behind Mike I picked up on some weaknesses and I eventually made a move and took the lead from him going into T1 on the start of lap 6. It was door to door racing, never once touching and only allowing each other enough room to hold our lines. Mike tried all the tricks he had and on 2 occasions pulled next to me going down the back straight into T5 only for me to out brake him and hold my position ahead of him. Coming out of T5 for the last time it was bumper to bumper as we dragged each other to the finish line with the Datti taking the win by a mere 0.173 seconds and the closet other class D car behind Mike some 16 seconds behind. What a cracker it was and much to the joys and delight of the crowds. Thanks Mike for a great days racing between two classic cars.
That’s what racing is all about and I can only again say a BIG word of thanks to Martin who once again had the winning trick tucked up under his sleeve. I was just the nut behind the steering wheel throughout the whole weekend.
Thanks ‘Boet’
