Diary of a Local Racing Star

  14.05.2016 Sports & Leisure

Last year we nicknamed the car the Bat Mobile. We were navigating in the unknown with the new car, not knowing what to call it, but it is now official: The Black Panther! We went to Brands Hatch this weekend as a training/testing ground for Silverstone's race next weekend, to understand/change/modify the required procedures, such as which engine maps to use at particular stages, how to disable the Full Course Yellow, etc.  So how did it go?

Free practice: It was a 40 minute session to understand the intricacies of the circuit - you need to understand that Brands Hatch is an OLD, but typical British circuit in all its glamour and prestige - bumpy, blind corners, and incredibly undulating. You need to see it to believe it. We were blessed with the weather. It went OKAY, but I was very slow, six seconds off the pace.

Qualifying: A very quick 20 minute session. I was fortunate enough that my race engineer found one of his drivers who knew the track very, very well and gave me a number of tips. The end result: Only 1.7 seconds from pole, but 8th overall.

Qualifying race: This is the race that determines the starting grid of the main race. Starting 8th, I was given a couple of tips in passing - taking an outside line for both the first and second corner. At the start I was able to pass one car on the first corner and a second car at the second corner - both cars from the outside. By the first lap I was 6th. I kept pushing and by the 5th lap passed another contender. One driver was pushed out, so then I was 4th. Then on the last lap the 3rd place car lost it at the 1st corner and I passed him, finishing 3rd.  We ended on the podium and it allowed me to start 3rd for the main race.

Main race: It was going to be tough to keep the position at the start, as I knew that I would be squeezed between the pole position and 4th place car. I let the 4th car go by, knowing that he would ruin his tires very quickly. I just waited, like a good old Panther!  For some reason the windshield wipers came up and up, and finished in the middle of the windshield. I had to manipulate the wipers for a while to get them back down!  On the 11th lap, the Corvette (in 3rd place), made a mistake on the first corner, his tires were gone. I passed him and never saw him again. My next prey was the 2nd place car. I was catching up to him a second a lap, but overtaking was going to be very difficult.  Suddenly a Full Course Yellow (FCY) was enabled - all cars had to reduce their speed to 80 km/h. This requires a specific procedure in the following sequence for the driver: Map 5, Gear 2, Pit limiter. Generally when this happens, something major has occurred on the track requiring assistance and time. However, for some reason the FCY only lasted 25 seconds and the green flag was given. I took my chances, accelerated, switched back to Map 1 and caught the 2nd car by surprise and passed him.  It was then a matter of keeping the concentration and bringing the car to the finish. The lead car was too far ahead. End result: 2nd and the fastest lap of the race!!

All the objectives were met this weekend.  The Panther is generally not an animal you tame.  But with hard work, patience, planning and tenderness, it can work.  So Silverstone, be wary, here comes the Black Panther. 

Last small detail for the sponsors: The car got a lot of live TV coverage especially towards the end - so their sponsorship was definitely monetized!


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