dbRacing - NSSCC Race Report Knockhill 25th April 2004

NSSCC Race Report Knockhill 25th April 2004

Car - 944 Turbo

Practice

Taking the 944 to Knockhill for the first round of the NSSCC championship showed that the handling was "interesting" In testing I almost lost control of the car on the bumpy straight as the car pitched and bounced around. Going over the crest at the start was also unusual in that the car seemed very underdamped. Adjusting some damper settings improved things, but the NSF damper didn't seem to respond to any rebound adjustment. The car felt quick, and I flew past other cars on the straights but didn't feel as though I was carrying enough speed in the corners. Still I was still over 2 seconds faster than with the 924 GT.

Practice took place on a sunny Sunday morning, with clear skies and no rain. A first for Knockhill perhaps when it isn't August ?

I was first out on track and made a break from the rest which lasted for about 4 laps. The first car through was Steven Ferguson, closely followed by Andrew Morrison. I tried in vain to stay with them but just couldn't commit to the entry speeds that they were using. When the grid came out I was 5th, behind Tony Caig in his 2.0 Fiesta, but well ahead of all the following cars.

Race 1

From the red lights dimming I set off from the line while Fergie rocketed off into the distance. Tony Caig got a good start too though I almost nipped up the inside into Duffus Dip. Incredibly by the time I exited Glenvarigill the group of 4 leading cars had managed to pull out about 40 yards on me. To say I was surprised was an understatement, I tried pushing hard on the second lap and managed to limit the growth in the gap to 10 yards but from that point forward all I could do was try to peg the distance to Tony up ahead.

On lap 6 I came upon the first car that I had to lap. Perhaps I would be fortunate with the traffic and regain some of the gap. Maybe that would have been possible, but I had a problem because the visor on my helmet kept dropping down. Now I know this sounds like a really lousy excuse, and it probably is, but after every corner the edge of the visor was over my eyes and I had to use one hand to knock it back up again. After lapping some more cars, almost outbraking myself at Taylors passing Ryan Upson, and lapping again the cars at the back of the field the race came to an end and I finished where I started, 4th in class and 5th overall. Not quite the result I was hoping for, but post race we discovered that one of the front dampers had no fluid so perhaps I shouldn't be too self critical..............