Kaeng Krachan (Hua Hin) Honda one Make Race "round 5 & 6 5th - new lap record of 1:33.60" 1-2 August 2009 Qualifying I knew I had a better chance than anyone else because I was consistently half a second faster than everyone else. So I just concentrated on getting in one good lap. On my best lap I got blocked by another car but it was still good enough to get 1:33.9 and that put me in pole position for the first race. The second place driver, Narasak was in the middle 1:34's. (If I had not been blocked I think I could have achieved a time in the middle 33's but a pole position is a pole position no matter how far ahead you are.) Race 1 Pole position is on the dirty side of the track, this makes it hard to get a clean start from the line. (This was evident in the other classes as the 1st pole guy would always seem to be slow off the start.) I got off to a reasonable start but Narasak managed to get along beside me, so I just played hardball and didn't give him any room. (He did try to take me out which made me quite angry but I managed to hold on to the car.) I had by the second last lap, pulled about 10 second lead (nearly half a lap) which was huge but on the last lap my engine broke a con rod and expired just on the start finish line. So all the hard work was lost, the rest of the field passed me to complete the final lap and leaving me in last place. Engine Change Vattana Motor Sport kindly lent us an engine so that we could be in the final race (I would like to extend my thanks to Vattana Motor Sport for their very generous assistance) and the mechanics worked very hard in the heat to replace the engine in time for the start of race 2. Race 2 As a result of the engine change I had to start second from almost last on the grid. I had a good start but because of the new engine and gearbox set up couldn't seem to find 2nd gear until I had mastered its location and as a result I was now the proud holder of last place! Now this track is very difficult to overtake on unless you drive very aggressively. So after many battles, bumping and being bumped by the other slower cars I managed to get up to 4th overall and 2nd in my class. I was catching the leaders by 1 second per lap! The leading three cars were too far away and I had to settle for my final position I was very happy with the result although it was not a win (After the race it seemed like everyone clapped and cheered me and that felt really great.) In the race I set a new lap record of 1:33.60. I have now been informed that they will open my engine and check it (because I was to fast. typical... ) I would like to thank Ocean 1 Racing, Ocean 1 Tower, Siam Best Enterprise, Bamboo Beer Bar and The Singha Racing School for their support at the race meeting :) I am looking forward to the next race and hope you will all be able to come and watch. Bira Supercar Thailand "The Thai driver took the chequered flag ahead of the TURBO" 11-12 July 2009 Jack Lemvard won both races last weekend during the Supercar Club Thailand races at the Bira International Circuit in Pattaya on 11-12 July 2009. The Thai driver took the chequered flag ahead of the TURBO cars in the race. Lemvard took part in the SUPERCARTHAILAND N/A meaning non turbo with the Toyota Team Thailand and claimed both wins over the weekend. There was an estimated 150 cars participating over the weekend in the various race categories set. Saturday's race went well, despite a difficult start where Lemvard dropped down a few places in the start, but he managed a climb up the ranks to finish 6 overall and 1st in the non turbo class further extending his lead. Sunday’s race was flagged off with a rolling start which gave Lemvard the added advantage against the 4 wheel and rear wheel drive cars but because of jacks underpowered car Lemvard lost four places but he managed to regain the race in the end. "I just wanted a little bit of a change of scenery and a little bit more challenge" jokes Lemvard. "The race was great, I had a lot of fun and Toyota Team Thailand were great in giving me the opportunity to race this weekend. I hope I have done them proud". Thanks to Siam best enterprise, Lipovitan, K45, Toyota team Thailand, and Hankook for supporting the tires and pit girls :-) Sakao Supercar Thailand N/A means no Turbo, and if its just Supercar means its with Turbo 2-3 May 2009(2 races,one weekend) Qualifying : 2 laps per car was the rule for qualifying and if you made a mistake on your qualifying laps then you would have a problem in the race! But I was used to hot laps from the first year I raced Toyota vios one make race so I managed to get 2 good laps in. But it wasn't enough because the Toyota Altis I was driving has about 300HP, but my competitor has new porsche with over 400 hp so it was tough to beat him, so I qualied 2nd. Race 1 It was a standing start and the rear wheel drive always has a big advantage over the front wheel drive in the starts, especially if its a 4 wheel drive 700 hp Mitsubishi Evolution! I started about 10th Overall and by the end of the straight i was about 16th which was about last. I had no chance to beat them, but all i knew was I had to beat the blue Porsche that Khun Sontoya was driving because he was my only real competitor for this race. Its a 24 lap race so I knew I had my time and it was very hot so I just knew I just had to make consistent times and keep my head down. Around lap 12 I noticed I was catching the Blue Porsche. On lap 15 I was right behind him and then of course my luck, the gears broke down so I had to run in 4th gear all the way through the race and I already knew the chance for winning this race over so I just tried to finish the race to get some points. Finished 3rd in the end. Race 2 Race 2 : I have been driving gokarts for 10 years of my life, and in karts they use rolling starts to start the races. For this Supercar race they decided to start the race using a rolling start so it was perfect for me. I started around 10th overall (2nd in my class) again right behind the porsche, but at the end of the straight I was around 7th overall, and managed to pass many of the Turbo cars and was leading in my class. I was very far ahead from the porsche but around 4 laps into the race he was right behind me already! I couldn't believe it, I knew he was going to catch me at some point of the race but I didn't expect it to be so fast. So I really had to work to hold on to my 1st position because every time we would come onto the straight he would try and pass me on the inside. So I would wait until he made his move to go for the inside then I would move so he would have to move to the outside. It makes him have to move the steering wheel more which makes the straight longer for him, and shorter for me giving me a better chance of holding on to the position. But its like comparing a normal Toyota vios against a Ferreri almost! It was extremely difficult to keep him behind me because at the end of the straight the porsche was already ahead of me. The only reason I managed to keep him back was because I would just brake super late and if he didn't move I probably would have damaged his expensive porsche with my cheap toyota! But after sweating 2 kg's of sweat out and pushing/blocking hard for 12 laps straight he finally got passed me down the straight. There was a car we were lapping and I got unlucky. After 2 laps he was gone, so i knew i had no chance of keeping up or winning, so i settled into 2nd place because there was no one else behind me. Then 3 laps later I see a blue porshe parked on the side of the road! So i was leading again! So all that fighting and blocking for nothing! But it was still a great race and hats off to Khun Sontoya for a fair race. Now team Ocean1-Hankook racing is leading the championship with 6 races to go. Honda Civic One make race 16-17 May 2009 (4 races, one weekend) Qualifying : It was raining 20 minutes before qualifying so I wasn't sure if we should run with full rain set up or dry setup. So I decided to go half dry and half wet. It was a 30 minute qualifying session which I think in my opinion is too long. Went out and first lap I was 1st already but it kept on swapping around because the track would dry up more and more while we were driving. So who would get the last lap would probably be the fastest unless he would make a mistake. I was 1st all the way through until there was 3 minutes to go. I was running 16.1's for the last 3 laps and I knew i couldn't go any faster so I decided to come in and cool down my tires. By that time I have already fell down to 4th. I only had 1 lap left to make it, so I really had to concentrate. By coming in and cooling down the tires was a really good idea because I managed to get the last lap 5 tenths faster than the laps I was running before so I qualified 1st by 3 tenths, and was 1 kg over the weight limit so we were cutting it close, but all that doesn't matter since we were going to start from pole. Saturday: Round 1 : It was very wet so I decided to run full wet setup. I had a perfect start and pulled around 3 seconds on the first lap! But coming up on the u-turn, (turn 2) I locked up the brakes and went on to the gravel. I still came out first but I had so much gravel and sand on my wheels that it was almost impossible to drive because of the unbalance from the wheels. Thomas Raldorf came up and was just going to follow me but I let him pass because the car was shaking so much from the sand/gravel on the wheels, and i knew that we weren't in the same class. We were so far ahead of everyone I just decided to take it easy and finish the race because I was already in 1st. Round 2 : We all decided to chance the exhaust pipe and muffler because everyone was saying it was much faster but we only had 1 hour to do it. I started from 4th place and had a perfect start again and by the end of the straight was I almost in 1st but I had to settle into 2nd because I didn't want to risk to much. I now just had to pass Apathorn (Last years champion) and I was over a second faster than him so I just took my time. But by the 3rd lap my engine started to stall, I wasn't sure what was wrong so I fell down to 4th. After that my engine came back so I started to push again. But then on the 6th lap the engine started to stall again, and it never came back so I had to DNF and stop by the side of the track. When the car came back we found out it was the new exhaust pipe that was hitting the fuel tank which made it leak so I ran out of fuel. Shame because It should have been an easy 1st place. Sunday: Round 3 : Here they use the second best time from qualifying and I started 2nd. I got a good start but by the end of the first corner I was in 8th! And I could feel the engine had no power at all. I fell back to around 15 place and just stayed there. I wasn't sure what was wrong with the engine but I still finished the race to get as many points as possible. After the race we decided to change the spark plugs and then the engine worked fine! Apparently the rain had messed up the spark plugs and they weren't working properly. Round 4 : This was a really fun race because I knew I was fastest out of the whole grid but I had to start 15th because of the engine problems from round 3. By the end of the 1st lap I had already muscled my way passed 6 cars. 4 laps into the race I was already in 3rd! But I made a mistake at the end of the straight by locking up the brakes so I fell back down to 6th. So I had to pass back up again which was quite tough because all the drivers are really experienced. I managed to get up to 2nd place and I saw 1st place was just to far away to keep on pushing 100% so I decided to settle for 2nd place. We have learned a lot from this race and the last remaining races we are all confident that we will win. xxx 5th event Honda racing festival at Bira international circuit. 14th December Was going to race two classes this event, the Honda pro cup and Honda onemake race. In the honda pro cup we only had one engine for the entire weekend so Iwanted to makesure that I didn't do to much testing. In the past events we have been tolucky with the enginesand they have kept on breaking down. Every time I went out to try to do aquick lap time theclutch would engage by itself. After trying to fix it all day friday wewere sure that it was gone by qualifying.I went out and did the best time with a 1:10.58. I was surprised that Imanaged to put it on pole becausethe clutch was still engaging so I think the time would have been in the low1:09's. In the warm up on sunday morning I went out to try to see if the mechanicshad fixed the clutch.I did one fast lap and it felt good, I slowly cruised back to the pits. After the engine suddenly overheatedand there was already something wrong. We had about 2 hours to fix theproblem, so we changed the gasketof the cylinder head, hoping that would fix the problem. The first racestarted and I knew I couldn't push theengine to hard because it already had a problem in the morning, so I decidedto change the gears earlier than normalto keep the revs down. But on lap 3 the engine started to loose power so Idecided to let 2 cars pass me becauseI just wanted to finish the race. After 2 more laps the engine reallystarted to suffer and white smoke would puff outof the exhaust pipe every time I changed gears. Around lap 7 the enginefinally decided to die, so I had to stop.I knew we only had one engine so I wasn't going to race the 2nd race eventhough I had best lap time of the race. Honda one make race I qualified 1st for the first race but only by 0.047 seconds faster than 2ndplace, and 0.058 faster than 3rd, so I knewit was going to be tough. I had a good start and managed to hold everyoneoff for the first lap. After a few laps I foundout that 2nd (Narasak) place was faster than me, especially coming out ofthe last corner so he would be much faster than me on the straight.Because of his higher top speed Narasak would always try to make his move atthe end of the straight but I managed to hold himfor 10 out of 12 laps. This was really close racing, so close thatwe bumped and rubbed each other several times, getting damage on ourcars. On the 10th lap he finally got past me and then I just let 3rd placepass as well because we were in different classes.So finished 2nd in the first race. Second race I started 2nd place because I had the second best lap time ofthe first race.I had a very good start, but Narasak had the inside for the first corner, soI couldn't do anythingexcept maybe try for the next corner. The next corner was completely shutoff as well, so I decided to wait.Before the race I wanted to do what he did to me, and that was just dive forthe inside and hoping everything would be OK,but I decided to be fair and just to try to pass him cleanly instead ofdirty. After the first lap he would pull away every time we would comeon to the straight, out of the first corner coming up the hill, and afterthe long right hander coming up the hill. I just couldn't understand itbecause I had 0 kg's of success ballast and Narasak had 30 kg's of successballast, and when the cars are all one make, then it should be opposite. Ipushed all I could for 15 laps, but still couldn't keep up, even when hemade mistakes he still managed to pull away from me. So I just had tosettle for 2nd place for this race. We did manage to win the championshipof the year so that was good. ADAC Procar 2008 Salzburgring/A (FIA ETCC) 17 Oct. 2008 ADAC Procar 2008 Sachsenring 25 Sept. 2008 ADAC Procar 2008 Oscherseleben 31 Aug. 2008 Thai winning in Europe! :D There were 2 practice sessions. I have never been to this track before, only played it on playstation so everything was new to me. I got Franz Engstler's car from last year, the champion car of Asia 2006, and ADAC pro car 2006 so the car was really good. we had 2 practice sessions, so not much time to learn the new track. I walked the track a couple of times to try learn it, looked at the data etc... first practice session I was fastest of 35 cars! everyone was like "who is this guy?" second practice my tires finished so we didn't get a good time. qualifying was not so good because they let out 35 cars at the same time and i only could get 1 clear lap so i managed get 3rd place in time trial. First race i started 3rd, Got a perfect start, into the first corner i was first, but then the Honda behind hit me in the back, as you can see in the picture, and i went wide so he passed me back. After then i followed him, and on lap 5 i out braked him coming into the first corner. from then on i just stayed in first place all the way till the chequered flag. But it was tough because i had to block, my teammate was faster than me in this race so i blocked him for 8 laps but still managed. On the last lap after the chequered flag the bmw broke down! so it took really long time for it to get to the pits, and they have different rules here. You are not allowed to touch the car until told so, and repair time is 15 minutes. When our car got back we had 10 minutes to change something normally would take 1 hour, but we managed to do it in 8 mins. With the wtcc drivers, Franz Engstler and Andrei Romanov changing the tires, and everyone helping out it was amazing. 20 people working on 1 car at the same time. First race only determines where you start second race. I really have to thank the team for preparing the car so fast! we have it on video, it looks amazing. we were lucky to get back on the grid because between the races there is only 15 mins break time. I started first, got a perfect start, and held my position into the first corner. After that I pulled around 2 tenths a lap on 2nd place, and after 10 laps i had a 5 second lead, so I decided I didn´t need to push anymore. After that just cruised to victory, and this is the first time a Thai driver has won in Germany. Everyone was so surprised an Asian driver did so well. On the podium the Thai National Anthem was playing, it was beautiful. End of a perfect weekend. Thanks ! Jack ATCS, Bira 18-20 Jul. 2008 Super Car Thailand 17 august 2008 This weekend we tried our new and improved Honda civic EK with a K20 engine that was supposed to be real fast and powerful. After testing it for 3 laps it was not what we expected and it was so slow that we decided to use the spare Honda Integra DC2 with the new KW suspensions. We went out and tested the car and it was much better than we had ever imagined, so we decided to use it for the race. In qualifying we broke the lap record with a time of 1:06.4 seconds around Bira and it put me on pole for both races. The first race started and I got a good start, and Turk was right behind me for 2, 3 laps pushing me hard making me take the defensive line until my tires heated up to optimum temperature. Then I started to pull away and but on lap 4 there was a big incident so the race flag came out, so we all stopped on the start/finish line to wait for the restart. At the restart Turk got right behind me again and I managed to hold him off for the first few laps again. I started to pull away on lap 4, and from then onwards I just maintained my lead, and short shifted the gears early to save the engine. On around lap 7 I was coming out of the first corner coming up to the u-turn which is a blind corner in the beginning there was a huge pool of oil. I tried to brake but there was not enough time so I slid on the oil went of into the gravel. I somehow managed to get the car back on the road again, but the clutch didn’t work anymore so I had to retire. Such a shame as we had the quickest car that day. Sunday race I was still going to start in 1st place because they use the 2nd best time in qualifying. I got a bad start the first time round, so I lost my position in the start and fell back into 2nd. I didn’t give up because I knew I had the faster car so I just dove for it into the first corner to retain my lead, and I managed to get it back. On the first lap I pulled 20 meters from the pack. On the second lap I think I pulled 40 meters. But while I was trying to pull away there was huge cloud of smoke coming from the front left tire. I almost knew it was engine oil because of the smell and the white smoke. When it came I already knew that I was going to have a hard time finishing the race because there were still 17 laps to go. On Lap 16 the red flags where shown because of a big crash at one of the corners. So we stopped on the grid and the mechanics managed to fix the oil leak problem from the engine. The restart went again, and I got a perfect start this time. I pulled away so much that I was driving in a league of my own. But 2 laps later the engine slowly died down, and half way through the lap the engine blew while leading the race. Again… So mixed results for this weekend, winning the ATCS championship but also loosing the Thai championship. ATCS, Sentul 18-20 Jul. 2008 FRIDAY practice session 1 and 2. 3rd practice session not drive, no more tires. some parts of the track has been resurfaced so it was difficult to choose the right line. and the track surface is really rough, and just eats away on the tires. last year the BMW E90 drove the race, and on the last lap the tire blew up because the surface is so rough. so we have to be careful this race, because on the old tires we could only test around 8 laps and it was finished to the metal wires. 3 sessions today, but we decided to do only 2 sessions. our best time was 1:38.05 seconds on old tires. Melvin Choo yesterday and today used new tires _every_ session and came up with a best time of 1:40:8. The second session he didn't go out, so we asked why, and he said he had overrevved his engine, and that a valve and something else was broken, so he said that he was not able to race this weekend. If he does not race it should be a walk in the park :D Saturday race 1 Started from pole, got good start, pulled a lead, and maintened a big enough gap so that 2nd place was in my mirrors the whole way through race. Just made sure I saved the tires so we could use them again for testing for next race at bira. Sunday race 2 Started from 6th position because of the reverse grid. got a normal start, at the first corner everyone was trying too hard so i backed off and waited in case there would be an accident. I was right and on turn 2 they had a come together and one car spun of, and as he spun off i had to take avoiding action and almost hitting him. Luckily I did not hit him and got away clean. I started to slowly pass everyone and by the end of lap 2 I was already in 1st place and from there I just cruised to victory. Now leading the championship with 99 points, a good 33 points lead from 2nd place. Supercar Thailand 28-29 June 2008 ATCS, Sepang 15 June 2008 Lemvard Takes Round 5 Win and Championship Lead 15/6/2008   Jack Lemvard took the chequered flag in a hot and action packed Round 5 Asian Touring Car Series race at Sepang International Circuit today. The Thai driver reclaimed the lead in the Championship points table after being on equal points with his great rival, Melvin Choo, going into this race.   As the lights went off for the start of the race, the 20 car grid got off the lines clean and with the top six being positioned in a reverse grid order, with Daniel Amante Gomes in pole, there was a great rush to the first turn.   Following the reverse grid start, Lemvard got to the leading bunch at the first turn and continued to make his way past the leading cars of Henry Ho and Mak Ka Lok before getting Gomes at turns three and four. From there, he pulled a gap away from Choo, who was stuck in the middle of the three Macau drivers before being able to get a clean path.   “My start was good and I think Melvin had a great start as well but he got boxed in. I went on the outside and I passed three cars at the first corner and I was in second. I was lucky because I broke away from Melvin, he was stuck behind all the Hondas.   “By turn 4, I passed into first and pulled out quite a big lead with a seven second gap. Then Melvin started to chase me down. I saw he was quite far behind so I just kept a consistent 1 minute 10.5 and 10.4 seconds so it was quite good. Then we had the back markers and that’s where he caught me quite a lot” said Lemvard during the post race press conference.    Choo managed to catch up to the race leader as the duo began to pass back markers. The Singaporean began to close in on Lemvard at lap 16 and was on his tail at lap 17. He then tried twice to make his move, overtaking once at the first corner and then again at turn three on the next lap, but Choo could not make the moves stick.   “The start for me was good but I was unfortunately boxed in by the cars in front of me, which gave Jack a chance to pull away.   “I worked really hard and I knew we would come up to the back markers, so I was hoping the back markers would affect him more than me. In the end I had a chance to make a couple of moves, it didn’t stick though. At the end, everyone got home safe and it was good racing” said Choo.    Third placed finisher, Henry Ho had a tough time during the race, after managing to overtake the front starting cars, he had a spin on lap three at the last turn. The spin allowed five cars to pass him dropping him down to eighth. He then fought his way back up the ranks to finally finish the race in third.   “At the start, the two cars behind me were really quick, they were two seconds faster than me and the cars in front were on the 15inch tyres giving them a better start. It is a short circuit so it was pretty hard to overtake them. I managed to get to third and then the BMW of Melvin overtook me. I tried to chase him but couldn’t so I just maintained my pace and tried to beat myself by clocking faster times.   “Then I made a mistake at the last corner. I spun and a few cars passed me so I had to give chase. It took me quite a few laps before I managed to claim back my third place” said Ho in closing.    In Division 2, Macau driver Lui Man Kit claimed the win ahead of Malaysian Eric Yeo and Adrian Henry D’Silva.

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Saturday, 14th June, 2008

Asian Touring Car Series - Round 4 Location: Malaysia, Sepang F1 Circuit, North track Team: Liqui Molly Engstler/ Ocean1Tower Weather Condition: Sunny, 31 celcius Qualify Session Saturday 14:00 - 14:30 1st. Melvin Choo Kwok Ming 1:09.780 2nd. Jack Lemvard 1:09.902 3rd. Ho Wai Kun 1:12.235 4th. Lui Man Kit 1:13.695 5th. Daniel Amante Gomes 1:13.894 6th. Mak Ka Lok 1:13.994 7th Eric Yeo Tee Eong 1:14.126 8th Harry Chai Cheon Wooi 1:14.134 total 20 Drivers

Race Report

Jack qualified 2nd postion with his Bmw 320i E46 for this race right behind Melvin Choo in his Brand new Bmw320si E90.

Jack had a good start for the race and was able to pass Melvin in turn one to snatch the lead. By the end of lap 1 Jack had build a small gap from the rest of the field, but after the first few laps were gone Melvin started to catch Jack very fast. Already on lap 5 Jack had to start to drive defensive down the straight's. Melvin was extremely quick down the straight and was able to pull alongside Jack underbraking.

On lap 6 Melvin passed Jack on the end of the straight but Jack didn't give up and took Melvin back right away. Coming into turn 4, a tight right hander Melvin again was alongside Jack. This time Jack was unable to hold his position and had to settle into 2nd place. After that Jack pressured Melvin for the rest of race but because of the difference on the straights it made it really hard for Jack to get passed Melvin. Melvin drove a really good race and made no mistakes at all through the whole race.

In the end Melvin finished first and Jack second. Both driver's have the same amount of points in the championship so it should be an interesting year.

Race Result:
1st. Melvin Choo Kwok Ming, 20 Laps, total 23:44.261
2nd. Jack Lemvard, Diff.: 0.662
3rd. Ho Wai Kun, Diff.: 1:09.262

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Thursday, 15th May, 2008

Asian Touring Car Series - Sepang
Lemvard Takes Pole

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Saturday-Sunday, 10-11th May, 2008 Supercar Thailand Sakaew Qualifying: Last year we didn’t get to qualify for this race due to heavy rain but this year we did, and we did it well. First lap I went slow to save the new tires for when I was going to push. Next lap I pushed all I could but missed a gear coming into the chicane so that cost me a couple of tenths and on the last corner made a small mistake too so I knew that I could have gone a lot faster than I did. So I went slow one more lap to cool the car down to push the next lap again. Half way through the lap the engine started popping at 7000 rpm after that I couldn’t put together a proper lap time so I went into the pits. But luckily the first lap was good enough for pole position for the first race. First race: Got an amazing start and after the first 3 corners I was 5 car lengths in front of second place. I pushed for 3 laps and got a big lead and then the engine started to pop again at around 7000 rpm. When the engine pops it feels like the engine looses 50hp. So I started to really push to try pull away because I knew my engine was not working optimal. I thought that my competitors were going to catch me but they didn’t instead I started to pull away, even with a popping engine. 6 laps left and I decided not to push anymore and to save the car because I had built a big enough lead. 1st place by far. Second race: This race was one of the strangest races I have had. The on track fighting we had was great but unfortunately on there was an incident on the last lap that ruined the whole race. In this race they take the second best time from qualifying so I had to start in second place this race. I had an OK start but coming down the first corner I only had around 70% of my brakes working because of new brake pads. So I fell back to third position. Got my way back up into second and caught the guy in first place very fast. I was over a second quicker than him every lap. He managed to block me for around 15 laps and I tried everything to get past him, but he wouldn’t move and he made no mistakes. On the last lap I did see that he went wide in one corner so I decided that its now or never. So I went for the inside, but he closed the door on me and I tried to avoid him, but we collided causing him to spin out and me to continue the race and go on to win it. The stewards favored him a lot over our team so they decided to take the win away from us which I think is unfair since the collision could have been avoidable from his side. The only thing he had to do was give me one more meter on the inside of the corner and we both would have made it. So we won but didn’t…

 

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Saturday-Sunday, 26-27th April, 2008

Honda Civic One Make Race

Saturday morning practice went really great as we set the fastest lap time out of every team that was there so we were very confident about the qualifying. Out of all the teams we were the only one that was in the 1 minute 15’s, and every other was in the 16’s. But right before qualifying it started to rain heavily which made the track very tricky and slippery to drive. Good thing I like driving in the wet, so I didn’t mind. The qualifying is a 30 minute time trial and the organizers take the best lap out of the 30 minutes. I went out and did one quick lap and that already put me in first place. So for the next 29 minutes I decided to cruise around the track just in case someone would beat my time. And of course two laps left in the qualifying someone beat my time because the track was slowly drying up, so on the last lap I pushed really hard and managed to beat their time by over 2 seconds which put me back in first place. First race was a dry race and I was not worried because I know we were the quickest on the track dry or wet. Had a great start only blocked a little in the first corner and second corner to make sure no one would dive for the inside on me. After that I pulled about 5 tenth to a second every lap. At the middle of the race I started to cruise and take it easy because I was already a straight away in front of everyone else. Easy win. Second race was interesting because it rained really hard before the race. But before the race started the rain had already stopped and it was drying out fast. I still had a great start and a superb first lap because I was the only one warming up my tires hard on the rolling lap. The first few laps the person in second was keeping up, so I decided to push even harder, then I started to pull away. It was quite difficult because the track was drying up so we had to choose between wet and dry line, and somewhere in the middle of the race the dry line was quicker than the wet. So the driver who can find the fastest line around the track the quickest in considered a good driver. After around 6 laps I was so far ahead I couldn’t see them in the mirrors anymore so I decided to take it easy and no risk till the end of the race. Easy win again!

Honda Pro Cup Before coming into this race we had been testing for 4 weeks straight so we were confident that we were going to come away from this weekend with a win. But it never turns out the way you want it to. In qualifying it was raining and I came down the straight a little bit faster than I should. I locked the brakes and I couldn’t stop the car anymore and because the first corner is downhill I went even quicker when I locked the brakes into the tire wall. The car was quite damaged but because I did get one lap in I managed to get 6th position for the race. In the warm up lap before the race I went out the car was extremely difficult to drive and I was not confident with the car at all. The first race finally came around and I did not trust the car much. I had an amazing start, started from 6th and by the beginning of first corner I was already in 3rd. I held my position because I was 1st in my class. The car was still very hard to drive but I managed my way around. On lap 3 the engine started to pop and the torque went away by around 30%. 4th place started catching me and pressuring me. Then on lap 5 my steering wheel fell of in the middle of a chicane! I was lucky I didn’t hit the wall and managed to control it. I quickly went into the pits to fix it. Went out again on lap 10 and on lap 11 it fell off again, so I decided that I didn’t want to finish the race. Race two came around and I was dreading to get in the car. Right before the race it started to rain so I was a bit relieved because if it is dry I would have to push the car to its limit and I was afraid something might break of or fall off again. I started 6th had a really bad start, don’t know why but the front tires wouldn’t stop spinning. But finally got away from the grid, came down first corner and the car would not turn at all. 3 cars passed me by then, but I would not give up so I pushed all the way through the race. I had rain tires on the car but it felt like I was on slicks, it was extremely difficult to drive. In the end I managed to get top 5 so I was quite pleased with that. Next race when our car will be working we will be there on top again!