Power Series Round 1: Racing and a dark comedy

New season new challenges. Where to begin?

Well, if last season taught me to stop making the same mistakes, this new season is teaching me that I still need to make many new mistakes. Thick and fast. But that is an experience for you, and providing you keep your eyes open, you can learn from other people's mistakes, too. Again, it's a reminder of just how much of an operation race car preparation is. Somewhat resembling a dark comedy my entire weekend was.

Let's rewind the clock to the end of last year first. With the move to GAP Motorsport and Greig Edwards, an old GTI Challenge stalwart and respected teacher in the game, I knew we were heading in the right direction. Success, though, is something that is not cut and dry just because of that. It will, however, take some time. Which I'm okay with despite the frustration. There are eyes on this that don't want me to succeed, but that is how life works. But then on the flip side, there are eyes that want to see me succeed, and again in life, it depends on what you focus your attention on.

Greig's changes were around stiffening the car up and changing the setup. I had driven the car previously on a track day and could notice the changes immediately. A sharper front end requires less input, which is the fastest way in any race car, letting the rear do the steering in a front wheel drive car. Speaking of the rear, we went stiffer, too, but encountered an issue with the rear shocks that needed an overhaul. That was three weeks before raceweek, with Koni saying that it would take two and a half weeks to get to and repair—the vacuum of lost development opportunities. Boy, oh boy, were their expectations managed to the final hour. It was two and a half weeks, which also coincided with race week, arriving a day before official practice. Not ideal.

So there we were going into the Friday, still waiting to drive the final product. Imagine! But with a run plan in play that consisted of some practice in the first session, build on in it the second session to get into the low 29-second lap time and then bed brakes and scrub tyres in the final session. But just like in life, motorsport always has a little kink in the road, and that kink came in the form of a braindead moment where bonnet pins were not appropriately secured, resulting in a flung bonnet smashing the windscreen in the second session. What an experience. Again, not ideal.

Alright, sh!t happens. I had called Nathaniel, who then became my emergency glass supplier after being my regular glass supplier the previous day, fitting new rear glass all-round, thanks to a rather draconian rule change affecting Class B cars (More on that another time). Twenty minutes later, I had a new front windscreen en route and a 3-hour wait for the sika to set. This meant that I'd miss the third session. While all this was happening, Daniel and I changed the front pads, with Daniel explaining the concept of the female condom. Speaking of rubber, I had new race tyres on to scrub and fit. Not ideal.

Then came the late delivery of stickers and a three-hour job of sticking them on alone in the pits. A job I loathe with a distinct passion but one made less unbearable by my mate Jono passing an ice cold beer over and keeping me company before Craig helped out to the late hours. Along with other prep, this meant I'd be getting to bed around 01:00 in the morning and needing to be at the track by 06:00 to use the 'Killarney Gardens test track' (aka some back public roads) to bed brakes in. No rest and being over-tired make for a great combo. This all meant qualifying would be used to scrub tyres and get a heat cycle in before pushing for a lap. Once more, say it with me this time…not ideal. But we managed to qualify P6 out of the 12 runners, given the circumstances I could live with. I almost felt content. Almost. Again, remember that I had an entirely new setup to get used to all this. Talk about juggling.

Race one was on, lights out, and there we were going until on lap 2, my exit out of turn two was somewhat compromised and entering turn three, there was a late lunge from a blind spot by the yellow car, resulting in contact mid-corner which sent me off farming. Somewhat saved, I was able to rejoin the circuit and race a recovery race. Despite everything, I was able to complete the race with minimal damage. A valve replacement is needed, with Gary from Magmaster saving the day, opening up for me on a Saturday afternoon. Talk about good service.

We needed to recover for race two, and my start was good. Both starts were decent, but then everyone else got decent starts, too. Another scene from that dark comedy. I found myself going into turn one behind the new Polo 6 of Marc with that yellow Polo 6 on the outside behind me. See no evil time. There was enough space, but the driver chose otherwise and tagged the right rear of my car, sending me into a spin, almost rolling. Racing incident or not, this is the furthest thing from ideal. In these instances, the best thing to do is just stand on the brakes to prevent the wheels from digging in. This piece of advice was given to me years back from Oom Nian Du Toit, but I remember it like yesterday.

A post-match review with Claudio from Race Driver SA meant we understood a new part of the on-track engagement. It's called restraint. I've always enjoyed a good fight. But understanding what can be done differently next time opened my eyes to paradigm shifts. Perhaps living to fight another day is something to consider. Again, chatting with Ernest Page on both days in two rather enthralling conversations was capped off by the oracle himself, Claudio, rationalising the situation and providing advice that is some utterly higher-grade teachings, the equivalent of a PhD in car combat. 'The Matrix' stuff. Excuse the blatant plug, but I cannot advise his services enough.

So there it was. P9 for the day out of twelve, but considering I could've written a car off, this is a success. This was, to date, one of the most character-building days I've had in my time (I say that every time). But at the end of it, we came out with a solid base to work from this year. P9 may not be the best result, but we know that there were improvements with every possible part of the overall package being tested in some ways comedic and with many less-than-ideal moments. Rose-tinted glasses, I think not.

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Power Series Round 1: Racing and a dark comedy