- 17
July 2004
Pictures by Phil Gravett
With
the excitement leading on from watching our friend Garry
Kennedy in the Caterham
Graduate racing club Phil Gravett and I decided to
hire one of BookaTrack's Caterham Superlights for the
day at Croft
Circuit. What a day it would turn out to be, the morning
being 100% wet and the afternoon being 100% dry!
The
BAT Caterhams were impressive. Neat and tidy with a wonderful
sounding engine ;) They are known to be very quick and
nimble cars which they certainly lived up to be! In the
wet it was very much a case of tip-toeing around with
plenty of rear-end drifting action to be found, I loved
drfting the car around the Complex! In the dry the car
was incredibly sure-footed and I felt very confident once
the smoothness and consistency came. I'll take you through
a full lap of Croft in the dry;
Down
the straight in 6th gear, the change lights on the dashboard
already starting to build, their bright LED's glaring
at me from the front of the cockpit, speeds well in excess
of 100mph. Picking the correct braking point for Clervaux
is essential with maximum braking effort being applied
in a straight line. Lifting slightly to trail brake into
the apex of Clervaux but very quickly back on the power
only stabbing at the brakes when straight-lining the chicane
on the entry to Hawthorn. Let the car drift wide, the
steering wheel can be held in the same position all the
way through this right hander with speed building as my
foot is planted to the floor. The car stays wide through
the entire corner only coming back for the exit and into
the Chicane which can still be taken completely flat,
bursting out onto the straight. In fact the only time
the throttle is lifted all the way from the entry to Hawthorn
to the entry of Tower Bend is to change gear! Another
braking point to get right is that for Tower Bend, another
great opportunity for trail-braking, a late entry and
apex with the power coming back on quite early and taking
as much of the exit kerb on the left sees us barelling
towards the Jim Clark Esses. Snatching 6th on the entry
to the first left hander of the esses with no lift on
the throttle, trying to keep the car as much to the left
after the apex to set up for the second part of the esses
when the exit again allows for plenty of room to the left.
A slight lift at Barcroft then sees maximum braking effort
happening in a straight line easing slightly to trail
brake into Sunny In. The steering wheel can be held in
the same position to complete a complete arc around the
apex to Sunny Out in 5th gear, throttle planted now for
the short dash into the first part of the Complex. A quick
stab of the brakes and 4th gear to take the left-hander,
staying out wide in order to come back in late after the
corner has ended to set us up for the right hand last
part of the Complex. A little kerb on the apex then squeeze
the throttle to the floor in 2nd and allow the car to
drift out wide allowing it to gather speed for the final
left hand hairpin. 3rd gear can be grabbed before the
braking point for the slowest corner on the circuit, a
very late and wide entry allows the apex to be clipped
and the power applied for the rush down the straight.
A fantastic lap of Croft!
