Alex Macindoe, Caterham Academy by Rachel Horgan
“I’m sure landing from a business trip to China at 5am isn’t the best way to start a weekend of racing, but it has been my tradition all season to make it as difficult as possible so this weekend at Mallory was no exception!
“After a few energy drinks and an early morning trip up the motorway, I found myself at Mallory Park with 20 minutes to spare before the first testing session. I unloaded the trailer and setup my Video VBOX ready for the day ahead.
“Luckily I have been around Mallory before so I was able to get on the pace quickly, getting down to the low 55s by my second lap. My dad had managed to get pole with a time of 55.1 last season so of course I set my sights on beating that on race day!
“Mallory is a very small circuit – only 1.35 miles in length – with three main braking areas, so it allowed me to play around with braking in different areas on the track… I was sure I would have to when it came to race day.
“A great trick I practised in testing was drafting. Consisting of following the car in front’s line down the straight to benefit from its tow, I have done this before but this time I decided I would keep one eye on my OLED display as it happened. As soon as you’re in a competitors tow you can see the time tumble from your predictive lap timing read-outs! Problem was getting in a tow and not letting the car in front slow you down at the next corner or managing to get back on line to complete a quick lap.
“At the end of the first day I had posted a time of 54.4, leaving me quietly confident for the weekend of racing ahead.
“The morning came around quickly but at least it was light and sunny so a dry setup was needed. I got myself into the handling area for qualifying 50 minutes before it started just to make sure I got out in front – I didn’t want to get held up by anybody!
“The 15 minutes of qualifying flew past but I did manage to record a time of 54.7 leaving me a respectable 6th on the grid for the first race. Brad snatched pole with a time of 54.2 – only half a second in front of me!
“When race time came I got strapped in and made sure the Video VBOX was set to record. Just as we got into the handling area though the heavens opened, unleashing a day’s worth of rain while we waited for the other race to finish. Great, another wet race! I thought our luck had changed after suffering a wet Brands Hatch and Rockingham, but no it always rains when I race.
“After the two green flag laps I waited on the grid for the lights to come on. I had already decided to start in second gear with a low rev count to reduce wheel spin, but it was still going to be tricky to get a quick start off the line.
“The red lights came on – 1, 2, 3…GO! I dumped the clutched and applied some revs but the back wheel didn’t bite, instantly spinning up and loosing me 3 places! As we got to Turn 1 – a long right hander called Gerrards – I stuck to the inside and found some good grip, passing two cars and creeping up to retake 6th position.
“I pressured him but he defended well and by the end of the first lap I still hadn’t managed to get passed. On the second lap the red flags came out and the race was stopped – I thought at least I have the chance to be better off the line this time around!
“The restart was the same, spinning up at the back and losing two places instantly! Again I managed to claw back one place at Turn 1 then another two at the hairpin. On the second lap the visibility was so poor I couldn’t even see the edge of the track so I decided to put two wheels on the grass on the way into Gerrards, losing the place I had just gained! L
“On lap 3 I saw a spinning Rob Smith in front of me and had to decide quickly which way to go. I decided to go right but the car in front of me chose left, forcing him onto the grass. That stuff was wet with zero grip, putting him into a spin and unfortunately placing him right in front of an oncoming car.
“I had a feeling they would stop the race again and they did… race over! The stewards decided to abandon the race due to time constraints and that was that, not a very successful weekend!
“Silverstone GP is the final round in a few weeks time.”
