C1 Endurance series - Croft double header 17th & 18th August 2022
Autumn is looming now and with the nights coming in and the trees starting to turn RABsport racing made their way to the most northernly point of the 2022 C1 series at Croft Circuit.
The teams local track would see the RABsport racing #432 car have a new driver line up for the 2x3hr races of the weekend. Heading the team would be 16 year old Ethian Symonds, making the step up to senior car racing from his karting career. Alongside him, Gary Mitchell would provide Ethian a steady and experienced hand to guide him through the weekend, and to help extract as much as possible from his driving time.
Friday was a collective series test day and with 2.5 hours of track time Ethian would spend the day improving his laptime by over 6 seconds. Clutch control and use of the handbrake would feature heavily, the nuances of car driving taking precedence over his already apparent ability on track. The test day went well, and with improvements made we felt confident of a finish in both races.
Day two would start with qualifying, and Gary Mitchell setting the initial laps. A quick driver change to Ethian saw him head out to bag his 3 mandatory laps. The first lap went well, but a small mistake on lap two saw the #432 collected by another competitor, and subsequently a spin onto the grass. Ethian managed to nurse the car back to the pits, and the RABsport crew set about repairs, Ethian still needing another two laps to be able to race. Mechanics Tony and Andy worked at a furious pace, replacing a broken bottom arm, upright and track rod, getting the car trackworthy again in around 10 minutes. Ethian then went on to complete his laps, followed by another short stint by Gary which would see the team start in 32nd place.
Both races would be 3hr races with 3 mandatory pitstops.
Reprep underway after Qualifying
Race 1 - Saturday
Race one’s goal was to be a simple one - finish! 2 upgrade signatures were up for grabs on Ethians licence, and so the team set about the race with a steady vigour.
Gary was to take the first segment, and with a 30 minuite stint he gained a few places during his time behind the wheel, and kept the car out of trouble. Stop one came soon, and Ethian took the reins, understandably nervously!
Ethian had a steady first stint, guiding the car to be sat in 21st place by the end of his 1hr stint. A great mature drive. Gary then jumped back in, taking another 30 mins stint, and holding the fort.
The final pitstop was back to Ethian, and with fuel required the stop went smoothly, Ethian jumped back in and immediately managed to hold our position on track and doing a generally great job. About 15mins into the final hour a technical problem reared its head, and the #432 was forced to pit for an emergency repair. The RABsport crew set about it, and 6 laps down the crew managed to get the car back into the race to get that all important finish.
Ethian guided the car through the next 45 mins in expert fashion, and crossed the chequered flag in 32nd place - exactly where we started! A steady run for day one, but with much more potential!
Working through the video and data from race 1 to see where Ethian can improve
Race 2 - Sunday
Race 2 would be a different affair - the driver duo now accustomed to both the car and track, the plan was to push for the most performance we could get and thus the best result! Starting in 32nd it was to be a tall order, but not impossible.
Ethian would start the race this time, jumping in on a 1hr opening stint and the rolling start posing no problem to the former kart racer. One hour in and Ethian had shown an excellent ability to overtake, with the karting skills now transferring to the car, and thus he brought the car into his stop in P20!
Gary would take the second stint, and went on a charge, pushing through the field and placing P17 by the end of hour 2. Ethian would then be back in for the final stint. The 2nd pitstop went quick and cleanly, and Ethian headed out on track, immidiately taking on the BPC car at the 2nd chicane…… offering the BPC car a game of chicken which the RABsport driver thankfully won!
A few laps into Ethians stint, and having jumped to P15 he was chasing two other competitors, both battling and losing time to the young RABsport driver, and Ethian would be in prime place to pounce if and when mistakes came. Unfortunately it came into Hawthorne - the first chicane at Croft, a narrowing bottlneck of a corner, and saw Ethian faced with a car horizontal across his path! Not Ideal! The only option to avoid catastrophe was to hit the gravel, which unfortunately did little to slow the car and contact with the barrier ensued. A terrific shame to drop down the order like this but thats racing sometimes!
The car was live snatched by the excellent Croft marshalling team, recovered, and the RAB crew managed to repair it to finish the race. Ethian limped the now rather second hand looking C1 home to 31st place - another finish but not the one it could have been!
Not the options you want to be presented with when exiting turn one at Croft!
On the whole a great weekend on the C1 Series once again, and we look forward to being back on the series bigger and better in 2023! Huge thanks to our sponsors West Coast Trailers and CTJ Recovery for their continued support.
Next stop Anglesey for the 12 hour Race of Remembrance 12/13th November!
Richard.
