by Conti_rowland » Sat Apr 27, 2019 11:58 pm
GP practice
In the hot afternoon sun of the Easter bank holiday, as the Voiturette race finished the GP class cars began to practice. The air was beginning to cool but the track was now super clean and remained hot and sticky.
The cars went out in random order and following the same format set the best single lap out of a 10 lap charge.
First out was Gerry Fitzsimons in his Bugatti T50B. The car looked more solid than in the first race but he was to comment "the tyres had too much grip this afternoon. I couldn't get the car to slide at all, it just dug in and that caused me to understeer at the corners". As a result he had a few spins and lock ups, not getting the maximum out of the car. The single lap time of 5.91s was at least comparable with the Voiturettes but would the overall time of 67.87s be sufficient for the race.
Next out was Thomas Dietrich. As he flew out of the pits in his Mercedes W125 it was clear he had the a free running car with strong acceleration. He ran well and was later to say "the only thing that limited my lap times was my tyres.... the thin tread and hard edge meant that I couldn't judge when they were going to slide which meant the car felt like it was going to tip over." In fact as he reached the limit of adhesion the car could be seen to be juddering under acceleration through and out of the corner. He also span a couple of times as a result. His time of 6.47s and a total for ten laps of 71.31s did not compare well to the Voiturettes and so he did not appear competitive although as first out it wasn't clear yet how the track was going to be for the rest of the session.
Third out was Keith Rollerston in his Mercedes W125. "The car felt great today" he said, "it ran smoothly and we had no scary moments at all!" Watching him slide effortlessly around the corners absolutely on the limit of adhesion it was clear he had the right level of grip for this circuit. A single lap of 5.97s and a total of 61.23s for the session looked reasonable for long run pace.
Monte Saager's Mercedes W154 was clearly not having such an easy time of it instead. His engine was down on power or his ratios were wrong for this circuit. Slightly annoyed he said "I wasn't able to accelerate well and at the end of the straights I had no brakes so I had to adopt a sort of 'rolling' style". A couple of spins late in the session meant the overall time was high as he also failed to get the car to drift. Over a single lap he could only muster 6.04s. At least the overall time of 66.77s was consistent.
After the three Mercedes the Auto Union A Type took to the track with Mike Dove at the wheel. The car felt light as it danced around. Mike seemed to have the opposite issue of insufficient grip. After practice his words were "it feels really consistent and not having any spins meant I could really understand the flow of the circuit. I could do with more weight to give me more grip but at least I didn't have understeer like most...". With a single lap time of 5.67s and a total of 59.59 he looked like a good contender at this stage.
What was clear was that given the tight turns of Manor Park these long wheelbase cars and powerful motors weren't necessarily going to yield faster lap times.
Next up was the stunning Delahaye of David Mitcham. He explained excitedly after the race " the car had great acceleration and braking, really what you need here, i'm really happy with my 5.67 to equal Mike D's time" however his long run pace of 63.6 was due to a couple of spins. He felt that "the track is a bit narrow for the weight so the car has a tendency to tip". A strong starting position should be guaranteed though with that single lap time.
Max Rossmassler had also entered his Auto Union A Type. However his engine was clearly underpowered and so he was lacking both acceleration and brakes. The car felt solid so it may run well in the race for consistency reasons. He did a 6.04s lap and overall ten laps took him 64.47s.
The second Bugatti, this time the T35B of Matt McDonough was next up. His gearbox sounded very rough from the outset but despite the mechanics poring over it they couldn't see anything wrong except excessive flex. It wasn't a happy car being somewhat underpowered but at least the brakes were strong. Second from last at this stage he managed a 6.44s single lap and 78.55 overall the longest time of the day so far.
At its home track Andi Rowland's Gulf Miller was met by the cheers of an expectant crowd. Naturally suited to the track on which it was designed the driver commented "it has super fast acceleration and all those gears meshing gives it strong brakes. The tyres were a little less grippy than I would have liked but at least it slides predictably". A lap time of 5.57s put him on provisional pole at this stage but more than that the 10 lap pace of 57.46s looked strong for the race ahead.
Peter Seager-Thomas's sparkling red Bugatti T59B was next out, fitted with the ling range tank in the cockpit next to the driver. It looked the part but a loose and shallow guide meant it had huge understeer, regularly going straight on at the hair pin. It was also fishtailing under both acceleration and deceleration which suggested an imbalance somewhere although the guide and tyres might have been the culprit. 6.44s was the fastest lap and the ten laps were achieved in 73.84s suggesting the race might be an arduous affair for this car.
Eleventh out was Steve Morrow in his Auto Union D Type. After the session he said "it feels quite heavy which impedes acceleration however it felt really consistent." The single lap pace was scintillating and he achieved a 5.54, finally outpacing the Voiturettes. However on longer run pace he had a couple of excursions at the hairpin and only achieved 60.33s.
One of the series favourites was next up, Mac in his Maserati 8CTF. The car felt "solid with decent acceleration" however it soon became clear that the solidity from its weight meant that "she had a complete lack of brakes so I had to accelerate at the start of the straight and then lift almost immediately with pot luck as to whether I would make it round the next bend!" The time of 5.87s and 62.63s overall was only good enough for mid field at this stage.
Penultimate was Dan Crowley in another Auto Union D Type. Slow acceleration low power and soft brakes caused him issues although the car had the right balance of weight to grip to form a smooth drive. Times were 6.17s and 65.17s.
Finally out came Dave Capelen in the third Auto Union D Type. He felt really good after the session, commenting that "the power to weight ration felt just right.... the car accelerates real well and slides just right through the corners". The car did however obviously have soft brakes as Dave couldn't quite brake late enough in some of the fast corners. As last man out he managed to grab third though with a 5.64s and 57.62s time.
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