April 14th and time for the 2nd round of the classic car championship. With the first round being officially declared null and void due to administrative issues I am not sure of how this is yet to all play out in the end. What I do know is that slowly but surely its becoming more and more difficult to compete in an ever declining field let alone the personal costs associated with it all, yet I choose to continue for as long as I possibly can, making every sacrifice I can to do what I love and more importantly to spend time with my brother. This weekend would be no different although in some ways it was. My Datti was made race ready as ever which included having to obtain a spare piston (yes times are tough), new rings, bearings and such like after yet another engine failure in March. In between the SSS was made race ready as well and taken to the track but was eventually decided not to be raced for personal reasons. I tested on the Friday in somewhat unusual very hot berg wind conditions which resulted in a rather high temp at first and also proved a very sluggish session. A few minor changes were made to the Datti and by late afternoon the air temperature had cooled and better results were seen. We left it as such and ended off the day with our traditional braai which lasted into the night along with some dear friends and racers as company. All weather sites forecast rain for Saturday, something I personally dislike on any given race day.
Up early as is now customary we were greeted by cool and overcast conditions with a good chance of rain but for now it was still at bay. We prepped the Datti as best as we could and qualified 9th out of a poor 18 car field, yip as I said earlier, an ever declining field. Our first race was off at 11h00 and was behind the Escort GT of Jaco Lambert with his dad Arnold in the RS2000 on my inside. With the rain still holding off we were underway and at lights out I kept the RS2000 at bay while I concentrated on the Escort GT in front of me. By halfway heading up to turn 2 I managed to outbreak Jaco going into T2 and held on with a very tail happy Datti showing a pair of heels to the Escort GT. With no further action I held on this position only managing to post a best 1:30.5 and for a brief half a lap was rattling a Perana V8 on its debut outing but he managed to pass me effortlessly on the back straight which left me out alone and finished some 6 seconds ahead of my closest rival at the flag. I do undoubtedly believe the 2 Blue Ovals were not at full cry at any stage of the race.
Race 2 had all the signs of rain and yet it still held off. I was now starting behind the Sirocco of Biccari and at light out briefly held onto his bumper but proved too strong on the straights. Two laps latter it stated raining. I had been caught out in that as the weather had further cooled I adjusted the tyre pressure 0.5bar higher than the first race to compensate for the cooler track and this would prove disastrous in the wet. Initially the times although slower were still OK but by lap 5 it had started to rain even harder bringing all the road muck to the surface which simply became an ice rink. Competitors were either going on straight or spinning in corners. Soon the tides turned and the FWD feast began. Knowing my only real competition had only survived 2 laps in the first heat I was assured of a class win no matter where I finished and instead I tried my level best to keep this ice skate on the ice rink without spinning off at any stage. Admittedly there were even class C cars who managed to pass me, spin and regain onto the track and finish ahead of me but I was in a different thinking pattern.
And so ended another day at the race track. My real concern is when is it going to end. I mean this literally as I cannot see an ever declining category being afforded track time with so few cars without some form of concern at higher echelons. Either a major change is going to have to take place so as to have fuller grids else I suspect that the writing may be on the wall. At least this is what I personally suspect could still happen. That is something which I unfortunately have no control of and can only hope that change is sooner rather than later or even never.
Although the Datsun SSS was not raced by my brother it still had to do duty as our fellow friend and racer in yet another Blue Oval broke a crankshaft during the first heat. The Datsun SSS was kindly made available for him to drive in the second heat. Unfortunately rain, a wet track and a unfamiliar race car are not a good combination on track and Trevor in his wisdom decided to play cautious and pulled it in before any mishaps could occur. What a good heart and kind gesture boet!!
As ever the Datti lived up to it former performances albeit one tooth out on the camshaft and in slippery and wet conditions. Mr 'Datsun' will make the small adjustments for the next race and we expect an even stronger performance with the provision its remains dry.
My sincere thanks for the all the dedicated efforts go to my boet to ensure that I have never ever arrived to find my race car not ready to race. Give that man a Bells!!
Thanks 'Boet'
