Brands Hatch Roller Coaster
Racing is so often about the highs and lows; I always refer to it as the racing roller coaster! Our April race weekend had a fair amount of both, but as Robert F Kennedy once said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve, greatly.”
Once again, we rolled up in the race truck with Jack’s XK8 on board and the three XJ40’s for Damian, Andrew and Joe. We were able to also look forward to having our own dedicated Jag grid after having to share on the Silverstone GP at the last round. With nineteen big Jags entered and running on the Indy circuit we could look forward to some close racing.
Colin Philpott (XJS) from Powerbell is always quick at Brands, his ‘home’ circuit and he headed qualifying, followed by our closest rival from Silverstone Mike Seabourne (XK8). Jack was mere five hundredths off the third place but achieved our target in fifth spot in dry conditions. Damian had one his best qualifying sessions to date, followed by Joe on his first outing at the Kent circuit, whilst Andrew struggled to get comfortable with the set-up of his XJ40 which left him towards the rear of the field. Early morning qualifying over the weather was bright if a little chilly but looked set fair for race one after lunch.
Engaging the wrong gear at the start is not something you want to happen, but off the line it quickly sends you to the back of the field, this where Jack found himself as the Jags streamed past the XK8! Our trio of XJ40’s happily getting away far better. Jack was quick to recover and began to scythe his way through the field, particularly gaining from his Tarox brakes and AVO suspension on the entry into Druids. With battles going on throughout the pack Andrew, Damian and Dave Ringham resumed their tussle from the last round at Silverstone. Damian this time managing to pip Andrew while Joe was enjoying close racing with fellow newcomer Charles Jackson in his X300. Jack eventually crossed the line in fifth recapturing his starting place before being promoted to third when two cars were disqualified. Damian and Andrew enjoyed their highest finishes in seventh and eighth, with Joe thirteenth and second in class.
Sunday was a very different day with torrential rain and a very slippery track. This time Jack got away well and was briefly running in second place battling Tom Lenthall’s XJS before spinning approaching Clearways. For the second race running Jack found himself climbing his way back through the pack. Damian too was struggling for grip, but Andrew increasingly seems to be enjoying wet conditions eventually moving up to and holding fifth place. Jack was making good headway before the safety car was deployed with Seabourne’s XK stranded alongside the Cooper Straight. The safety car period ended with just two laps left and Jack was able to jump two more places, sensing an opportunity he went for a move around Paddock Hill bend. The tyres having lost temperature didn’t comply and wouldn’t turn in, and Jack unfortunately headed for the gravel. Not the result we wanted, but that’s the racing roller coaster. Joe eventually finished ahead of Damian after a second spin. A mixed bag of results in some tricky conditions.
We look forward to the next round at our ‘home’ track Castle Combe on 10th/11th June, in the meantime we’ll be participating in the Modern Classic Series with CSCC at Thruxton on 6th May.
Success never comes without a huge amount of help we would again like to thank our partners, sponsors, family, and friends who contributed to such a successful weekend at Brands Hatch and the season so far, not least; Vision Techniques, AVO, PVE, Tarox, Amitec, Jaguar Enthusiasts Club (JEC TrackSport), Meguiar’s, Naked Signs and Pipercross
