C1 Racing Club Round 1 – Snetterton
After a two year break Gala Performance Racing were back behind the wheel a Snetterton for the opening round of the Silverlake C1 Racing Club endurance challenge.
Friday Testing: Weather conditions were far from ideal and we struggled with the initial setup of the car. As the day advanced, and with the track starting to dry out, our times improved and we were feeling more confident for qualifying Saturday Morning.
Saturday Race Day: Although very windy, the weather had improved drastically with warmer temperatures and a fair bit of sunshine (although still very windy)
Nathan was out first to set his qualifying times and managed to put in a time of 2:49:740 which was on par with Fridays testing. Mark was out second and set an impressive 2:46.508 and Andrew Rounded off the qualifying session with a respectable 2:48.179
This secured our starting position of P31 out of 38. We knew we had out work cut out for us.
After reviewing our times and a spot of coaching from Sid Smith Racing, we concluded that the set up on the car needed tweaking.
The boys from BPC were quickly on the case and made some final adjustments to the vehicle geometry.
As qualifying was now over, we had no idea if this would pay off and we would only know once the race started.
Race Time
14:45 Race Start – Mark was out first and quickly made up a few positions. The change in set up had certainly paid off as his times were noticeably faster and by the time he came in for the 1st driver change we had made it up to the mid-teens.
| Fastest Qualifying time: | 2:46:508 |
| Fastest Race Lap Time: | 2:44.682 on lap 9 |
| Percentage of Race Driven: | 28.09% |
| Number of laps completed: | 16 |
Out next was Nathan who re-joined the race in P32. After just a few corners, he felt immediately more confident in the car. After a few initial lap times of just under 2:50’s, Nathans times began to drop as his confidence grew.
A temporary hurdle emerged with the deployment of the safety car for five or so laps. However, Nathan remained focused, ready to resume the race with renewed determination.
After a stint of 25 laps, Nathan came in to swap out with Andrew Scott for the final portion of the race.
| Fastest Qualifying time: | 2:49.740 |
| Fastest Race Lap Time: | 2:44.665 on lap 41 |
| Percentage of Race Driven: | 40.6% |
| Number of laps completed: | 25 |
With an additional in-and-out driver change, Andrew certainly had a tough stint if we were in with a chance of finishing where we initially hoped for. Despite an intermittent technical issue with the car suddenly dropping power, Andrew continued to post fast consistent lap times
With just a few laps to go, Andrew made up a couple of more positions and we crossed the line in P19. We were certainly happy with that.
| Fastest Qualifying time: | 2:48.179 |
| Fastest Race Lap Time: | 2:46.085 on lap 57 |
| Percentage of Race Driven: | 30.71% |
| Number of laps completed: | 21 |
Final Result
Unfortunately, an incident was brought to light meaning our finishing position was dropped to P21 rather than the initial P19. We were still happy with the result overall.
Nathan had this to say;
‘Having never driven at Snetterton and with this being my 2nd ever race including testing, I admit, I was very nervous and with the first time in car #380 being on a new track too in very wet conditions, my confidence levels were rather low. That being said, some awesome coaching from Sid and a set up change to the car, It didn’t take long to settle into the race and I could feel my confidence in myself and the car growing with each passing lap. Very happy with the result’
Our next race will be at Donington Park on June 23rd
To all the Marshalls, we give thanks to your hard work and dedication keeping us all safe! #orangearmy
Thanks for reading!
Gala Performance
C1 Racing Club | BPC Motorsport | Snetterton | BRSCC | Rebecca Howland Photography