Round 5 – Snetterton 300, July (3-hour race)

by Julian McBride in Race Report Posted on 14/11/2022 14:25

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Snetterton was originally built as an RAF base, and was operated by the 96th US Air Force Bomber Group between May 1943 and November 1948. In 1951 they created a circuit from leftover runway networks and held their first race event in same year for Aston Martin Owner’s Club. Today the track is host to the Kwik Fit British Touring Car, and Bennetts British Superbike Championships as well countless other club level events on both two wheels and four. Snetterton is a track I really enjoy. I first entered the M3 Cup there in 2017, when my best lap was 2:11 and then again in 2018, with coaching from Phil Keen who taught me how to be faster, managed a 2:07 lap and finishing in 5th overall in the Club Enduro race that season. This season, in my new car, I knew I had to find a good 3 seconds to have any kind of chance. Friday, test day. Testing racecars can be a challenging part of any race weekend. Drivers and teams are always looking for an edge, and testing provides an opportunity to try different components in a bid to gain valuable seconds. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But even when it doesn't work out, the information gathered during testing can be invaluable. It's all part of the process of trying to get the most out of your car. On the Friday we took the opportunity to experiment with different tyres, switching from our long-used Nankang AR-1s to Dunlop Direzzas. After several laps I managed to improve my best time but only from a 2:09 down to 2:07. Why, with my new twin turbo car, could I not get anywhere near the times I needed? It was time to stop for lunch. After lunch/refreshment/head scratching we tried a few more tweaks that included a change to both the front anti-roll bar and brake bias. Lap times improved again to a 2:04. Feeling like we had achieved all we could, we decided to call it a day and prepare for the race on Sunday. Sunday, Qualifying and Race day. With three hours of racing on Sunday afternoon, there would be plenty of action to keep spectators entertained with a grid of 49 cars – and indeed, there were plenty of incidents on track! But first, qualifying. Opening the curtains in the morning revealed rain, lots of it… OH CRAP! The qualifying session was a disaster in the rain. The wet tyres and softened front anti-roll bar made for an incredibly careful first lap, which saw me spin half way around! It wasn’t only me; all rear wheel drive cars were spinning and generally very slow, except for the Lotuses and the Porsche Boxster. I finished the session having qualified P24 out of 49. Some work to do in the race ahead. The race itself - the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Thankfully by lights out time it was a dry race. This meant we could switch back to our dry set up from testing which, after a clean get away allowed me to dive up to 22nd. A Mazda then hit me on my right, I couldn’t believe it. The impact bent my steering arm and I now had to drive a three-hour race with an under-steering car. Settling into the race my laps were considerably slower than Saturday testing but my pace was consistent and I was actually catching and passing many cars. Careful tactics and a bit of luck in the way of a safety car, allowed me to do both my mandatory pit stops close together. We have a limited pit window due to fuel consumption (1.2 litres per minute at full race speed with lighter cars like the Lotuses only sipping around half of that), so it was great to get them out of the way. Suddenly I now found myself fighting to get into the Top 10. Everything was coming together and after chasing down the next four cars I was now running 6th behind a Seat TCR. Another safety car restart saw me achieve my best safety car restart ever with a dive up the inside into turn one I was up to 5th. With only 25 minutes to go I was wondering if I could get a podium? Possibly not but 4th was certainly on the cards. A couple more laps I was right on the 4th place Seat TCR. I caught him on the Bentley Straight and followed round Corum, managed to get a great exit onto the start finish straight and dived past just before turn 1. I’d gone from 24th to 4th. I just had to bring it home. Then with just 16 minutes left of the 3 hour race, as I picked my braking point at the end of the Bentley Straight, my previously damaged front right steering arm finally decided enough was enough. With a loud crack the front wheel folded back sending me sliding off into the grass. Thankfully nobody was hurt but that was game over for me that weekend. Shortly after, more cars coming together brought out the safety car yet again but with just a few minutes left on the clock, that’s how the race finished. Overall I was happy with my performance despite the result not going my way. That’s racing! It's a sport that requires split-second decisions and there's always an element of risk involved. But that's what I love about it - it's exciting and challenging, and never boring. I'm looking forward to the next race and am determined to bounce back stronger than ever. Thanks for following my blog post and be sure to tune in for the next update.