GOODWOOD - OUR FIRST RACE OF THE 2013 SEASON



Kirt pushes the car into the pits for a driver change...

Sunday 9th of June saw us travel to our first Greenpower heat at glorious Goodwood. After a particularly early start (5.30am may have come as a bit of a shock to the new year 9 team), our car passed its annual MOT scrutineering inspection and spent the hour's practice session with members of the team acclimatising themselves to the controls of the car.

Come race time, the car started from the back of the grid of 45 cars but quickly started overtaking other teams and gaining positions throughout Charlotte Finding's 40 minute drive.
The second driver up was Billy Nightingale, who after a slightly delayed start, (the pit crew forgot to turn the car on before pushing it out onto the track!!!) continued to steadily gain places throughout his drive.
After a swift battery change and a second driver change, Kirt Cowell made his debut, quickly putting in a fastest lap of the day so far!! Cool calm and collected, Kirt managed to gain yet more places in his stint at the wheel (joystick?!).
Carlos de Costa had a shaky start to his turn in the car, after he was pulled over after just one lap, having forgotten to put on his driving gloves! Nonetheless, once on his way again, he quickly fell into a smooth lap time, gaining a couple of places during his debut.

Billy Nightingale gives the thumbs up!

After 2 hours and 40 minutes of the 4 hour race, it was time for our second battery change, and by this point the pit crew were working like a well oiled team, getting the final driver Liam Lynch on his way very swiftly indeed. Liam it is fair to say is pretty short and hence also light and aerodynamic (being short had to pay off somewhere in life!). He quickly notched up our fastest lap of the day and enjoyed making sustained progress through the field of other teams reaching 12th place at one joyous moment!
The last quarter of the race was briefly halted due to another team's roll-over before successfully continuing, with Liam holding onto 14th position well.
The penultimate lap was somewhat eventful, as young Liam, whilst waving to his Mum and Dad, drifted off the track and onto the grass, before hitting a bump and getting Darkside completely airborne!!! The car thankfully landed back on the track, fishtailing all over the place, with Liam wrestling to regain control. The final lap saw us black flagged by the race marshals, for our Dukes of Hazzard driving and we unfortunately lost a couple of places finishing 16th and completing 81.6 miles.

Charlotte battling hard with team USA

Following a bit of post race disassembly, it transpired that during its venture skywards, the car had suffered a horribly bent rear axle, which was quickly changed for a beefier one, ready for our next race at Ford Dunton Technical Centre on the 6th July.