Rounds 4 & 5 - Snetterton 4th/5th May

[NS-R]

Well, that's us out at Snetterton this weekend for rounds 4 & 5 of the Fiesta Championship - should be interesting as most of our team haven't been there before, including myself!

Let's hope we get some of the Knockhill weather that you guys had last weekend!

N.

[Charlie]

Do you really want me to bring the Knockhill weather down with me Nick?

[awsponsor]

Hope it all goes well this weekend........ Don't forget to text or email me the results !!

[NS-R]

Will do Dick - if I remember that is!

I want to keep up my run of front-row qualifying...

N.

[awsponsor]

Qualification...

Sandy Forrest qualified 2nd, Nick qualified 6th, Ryan was 8th, Stewart Scott was 11th and John Findlay 15th

Race 1....

Sandy was 1st, Nick was 2nd and got fastest lap... Ryan was 8th, Stewart was 9th and John was 11th...

[aland]

well done lads

[Blair]

Just seen Race 2 results, congrats to Nick, first win of the year. 2nd was Sandy, Stewart was 10th, John 20th (!?), Ryan DNF'd

From the lapchart I'm guessing John was off on the first lap somewhere.

[jxr242]

OK here is my short race report before anyone says anything about where are they etc etc....

Mixed weekend I guess for me

Qualifying was interrupted after 3/4 laps when one of the Si's rolled at Riches and another stalled at the chicane causing the red flags to come out. Having put new tyres on I was just getting up to speed. After what seemed an age we were allowed back out for what proved to be 4 badly hampered laps when Nick and I were held up by one of the slower Si's who would not let us past. Problem is that they are just as quick in a straight line so unless you nip past them under braking you then get held up round the corner and dont have the poke to get past them down the next straight. So no clear lap for me and 15th. The whole weekend for me was troubled by a lack of ABS which meant two tyres had to be replaced due to flat spotting ! Also did another front wheel bearing.

Chaos behind me on lap one at the exit to Riches but I got away reasonably well and made up a place or two. Cars everywhere when I came round to Riches for lap 2 and went very sideways before just holding it. The lap 1 carnage had caused one car to dump the contents of its radiator on track and everyone who came round at racing pace on lap 2 were completely unaware, no red & yellow flags were waved. Race stopped at that point. Restarted from original grid positions. Got away OK and had a race long dice with Daly / Simpson / Styles. Made some good moves on guys at the chicane (under braking with tyres smoking) and got up to 10th before missing a gear on the penultimate lap, losing a place and finishing 11th. Finished the race with very little brakes and still no ABS.

Race 2 we had needed to change the brakes overnight as they were completely shot. Tried to bed them in on the out lap as best I could. Went past Ryan on the start who was sitting in neutral and dragged past another car in the run down Revett. Unfortunately when I hit the brakes, nothing happend and I had to use the escape road. Re-joined stone cold last and then spent the race just picking up places as I drove past the Zetecs. Was just behindthe Sis when the race ended. Managed to improve my lap times but still off the pace. No ABS.

Thanks to Colin for spannering - he earned his corn ! and will hopefully get to the bottom of the ABS problems

Well done to Nick for 2 cracking results and on being the lucky recipient of a free entry to Cadwell - as Kevin said, money goes to money.....

[NS-R]

Ford Fiesta Championship - Rounds 4 & 5
Snetterton – 4th / 5th May 2008

General

Having gained two good podium finishes at Silverstone, Nick was determined to continue his good form at Snetterton Race Circuit in Norfolk for the Bank Holiday weekend meeting. This was the first ever visit to the circuit for Nick however; he admitted he did know the circuit quite well from watching British Touring Car Championship DVD footage and Playstation racing games!

NSR was also featured in the weekend programme with a footnote stating “Nick Sanderson’s immaculate Ford Fiesta ST” – a credit to the race preparation by Kempster Ford and DB Motorsport.

Testing

The team booked a pit garage for the weekend with all four cars sharing the costs. There was to be four 50 minute test sessions with the aim to get lap times in the region of 1:25 / 1:26 seconds to be on the pace.

Due to some logistical problems, Nick’s car didn’t arrive in time for the first practice but as Stewart Scott wasn’t testing until the afternoon, Nick drove Stewart’s car for the first session. Although the main aim of the first session was to gain familiarisation of the circuit, Nick got faster as the session progressed, with lap times down to 1:28 seconds.

In session two, Nick was out in the NSR car and improved the lap times to 1:26.6 seconds and then reduced them further to 1:26.3 seconds in the next session. Nick finished the test day with a 1:26.3 as his best time and confident of being on the pace in qualifying.

Ryan Stirling, John Findlay and Stewart Scott also got quicker as the day went on and were not far off Nick’s times by the end of the final session.

Qualifying

Another bumper grid was made up of 33 Fiestas, 11 of which were the new Fiesta ST Class C model. The problem that comes with having a large number of cars is trying to get good clean laps for a grid position at the front.

Nick struggled to get clear laps and there was also a red flag, halting proceedings for some time with two Fiestas stranded on the circuit. Nick couldn’t get the hot lap he wanted and had to settle for a disappointing 1:26.626 which eventually put him 6th on the grid. David Abbot put his Fiesta Si on pole with an excellent 1:25.924 second lap.

Ryan managed a 1:27.012 (8th), Stewart a 1:28.184 (11th) and John a 1:28.623 (15th).

Qualifying Result

Nick Sanderson – 1:26.626 – Position: 6th (0.702 seconds off pole)

Round 4

After three mediocre starts in the previous rounds, Nick was determined to sort out his start off the grid and when the red lights went out, he got a storming start, putting him up to 5th by the first corner. There was a lot of dicing on the first lap with the top six or seven cars all jostling for position.

At the start of the second lap, the front cars all went into the first corner at full throttle but found halfway around the corner that someone had dropped loads of oil and all five front running cars went straight off the circuit as there was no ‘slippery surface’ warning flag on entry.

Nick managed to avoid the out-of-control cars and re-join in 3rd position. He was pushing for 2nd place when the red flags came out, signalling a race stoppage due to the dangerous conditions.

As there had only been one full lap completed, the cars were re-gridded back in their original positions so Nick lost out on all the hard work and was sat on the grid back down in 6th place.

At the re-start, he again rocketed off the grid and was up to 4th place very quickly. The first few laps were pretty hairy between Riches and Sear corner as the cement dust covering the spilt oil meant that it was impossible to see the approach or braking area for the corner!

On lap 3, Ben Roper, who had just taken the race lead slowed and went into retirement with a broken drive flange, elevating Nick up to 3rd position.

Nick was pressurising David Ellesley for 2nd and on lap 7, all three front runners had a big moment at The Esses as Gordon Tompkins had lost his water from this radiator onto the circuit on the previous lap. The positions stayed the same until the next lap when David again hit the water and went down the escape road, with Nick going through into 2nd place.

Nick was pushing hard for the lead and got the gap down to 0.406 seconds on lap 8 but Sandy Forrest drove well and kept Nick at bay, taking the chequered flag by 1.671 seconds.

When the results sheets were issued, Nick found he’d also set the fastest race lap with a lap time of 1:25.006 seconds, which counts as an extra championship point.

Ryan finished in 8th place, Stewart in 9th place and John in 11th.

Round 4 Result

Nick Sanderson – Position 2nd (2nd Fiesta ST) - Fastest Lap 1:25.006 (Fastest Overall Lap)

Round 5

Although the weather forecast showed rain clouds, the Bank Holiday Monday race day was run in sunny conditions. The second race of the weekend is gridded based on the finishing order from race 1 so Nick was starting on the front row of the grid with Sandy Forrest in pole position.

As the lights went out, Nick again got a cracking start and instantly moved across in front of Sandy to take the lead into the first corner. At the end of Lap 1, Nick was leading by 0.435 seconds and set about pulling away from Sandy but Sandy was also driving well and the gap was never over a second throughout the first 10 laps.

On lap 11, Nick and Sandy were lapping the Fiesta Zetec 1400cc cars and Nick made a great move at Russell’s chicane, diving up the inside of two Zetecs late on with Sandy not being able to get past until after the chicane. This gave Nick the slight advantage he needed, although only small, to pull away from Sandy and open up the gap to 2.431 seconds. They remained in the order and Nick took the race win by 2.336 seconds at the chequered flag.

To demonstrate how well both Nick and Sandy drove, the nearest rival was a further ten seconds behind with Ben Roper driving a storming race from the back of the grid after his Race 1 retirement.

The drama wasn’t over then though as Nick had received the ‘driving standards’ flag during the race and had to visit the clerk of the course due to reports of ‘corner cutting’. Nick maintained his innocence and although he did admit to running over the kerbs at the Russell chicane, no advantage was judged to have been gained.

The clerk of the course gave him a warning but allowed the results to stand so a very relieved Nick took his second-ever Fiesta ST win!

Stewart finished in 10th place, John in 20th with braking problems and Ryan did not finish as his clutch gave out early in the race.

Round 5 Result

Nick Sanderson – Position 1st (1st Fiesta ST) - Fastest Lap 1:24.772

Summary

All-in-all, a brilliant weekend for NSR with a 2nd place including fastest race lap and a race win. The results put Nick joint 2nd in the overall Fiesta ST Championship after Round 5.

Nick also won the ‘free-entry’ draw when his grid slot number was pulled out of the bag which means a free entry for the next rounds at Cadwell Park on 14th & 15th June 2008.


Championship Standings after Round 5 – ST Class


Position Name Points
1 Sandy Forrest 69
2 Richard Kemp 57
2 Nick Sanderson 57
4 David Ellesley 53
5 Ben Roper 52
6 Stewart Scott 42
7 Phil Simpson 38
8 Al Daly 37
9 Gordon Tompkins 34
10 Ryan Stirling 30
11 John Findlay 27
12 Ross McColm 16
13 Andy Neate 0