So after the success at 'Combe it was time to get ready for the next event at Clay Pigeon Raceway near Dorchester. This was stepping out of my comfort zone a bit as it was the first event I have attended that was not organised by Bristol Motor Club, so my attendance was purely down to the ASWMC championship. In addition, Dorchester is a couple of hours away from home for me, so rather than getting up early for a long day we made the decision to camp at the circuit the night before the event.

Clay Pigeon is an outdoor cart track, but is a world away from the indoor commercial cart tracks that most people know and love. It's still tight, but it's more like a full size circuit F1 circuit, put through a mangle and sqeezed to 20% of it's original size. There are a multitude of corners, not just tight hairpins, although in a full-sized car the tightness and lack of width means that 2nd gear is used for almost all of the lap. This also makes it pretty technical, so walking the circuit was extremely useful.

We woke on the day of the event (after a very cold nights sleep!) to find the circuit blanketed in thick fog, but by the time we'd signed on, listened to the drivers briefing and eaten the mandatory bacon sandwich, the weather had cleared into what looked like perfect spring day. The entry was quite small and there were only 4 in my class but only Graeme in his Mazda attending from the usual BMC class A3 bunch. We were joined by a 2.3l Vauxhall Chevette with the usual trackday trimmings, and a corrado 1.8turbo with what looked like the biggest turbo pipework in the history of cars, and presumably a lot of power to go with it.

First practice came up, and to be frank, was a disaster for me. I'd made the decision to take it a bit easy, since I hadn't driven the track before, but this just didn't work. My driving was tidy rather than aggressive, but by the end of my two laps, my tyres were still completely stone-cold, and the brakes were still not up to the temperature they require to do any meaningful work. The time was terrible at 92.44sec, very nearly 6 seconds slower than Graham in his Mazda, and 2 seconds slower than anyone else. Time for a rethink.

Graeme in his Mazda, onboard, showing how tight it is!

 

Before second practice I softened my front dampers, which were still set for 'Combe, so were very hard indeed. I decided that the only way to get on terms with the other guys was to try and bully a time out of the circuit, not something that I'm particularly comfortable with, but in this case it seemed like the only way I'd get heat into the tyres and brakes, so it was worth a try. The result was that the car came alive, and despite struggling with embarrassing levels of understeer as the rears warmed up before the fronts, the time was 83.26sec, more than 9 seconds quicker than P1 and 1.7sec quicker than the 2nd placed Chevette.

For the timed runs I reduced the front tyre pressures to try and compensate for the front/rear temperature difference but otherwise just carried on as per the second practice run. The change in pressures helped the feel of the car, making it much more neutral with a tendency to oversteer when trail-braking. Getting on the gas too early in corners still meant that understeer was still quite prevalent in the slower turns, but by the end of the day I was starting to hit 3rd gear at 2 points on the circuit, which meant about 70mph - not bad for a cart circuit! As usual, T1 was a 'banker' time, in case of a change in weather or something unexpected, at 84.18sec, nearly a second slower than P2, but still quickest in the class by about a second. T2 was a better timed run at 83.39sec, still 1st in class. My T3 run was a little slower, but the Chevette improved by  to 83.58sec to make it very close, while Graeme came in 3rd in his Mazda at 84.85sec, and the Corrado brought up the rear in 88.73sec.

So another class victory, 2 from 2 in the ASWMC this year so far, and as the Clay Pigeon Circuit was slightly amended from last years design, a new inaugural 'record' time meaning 15 points in the ASWMC championship, in which I'm now in a 5-way tie for first place (this event doesn't count towards the BMC speed championship).

The next event is at Colerne on the 4th May, and I'm looking forward to it. The car will have had it's oil service etc. by then, and the air filter fully cleaned, but otherwise it'll be the same as it has been so far. Colerne will be the first event where the lap-record isn't new or set under bad conditions, so it will be interesting to see how the VX is now comparing to those times. I don't expect to get close to any records, especially as once again it will be a new track for me, but it will be interesting to see whether I can learn the track and be quick enough to mix it with the top guys in class A3 again!