Formula Vee - Mondello Park - 5th June - with Colm Blackburn

Photo by CregorNews.com

The feeling was good heading into the halfway stage of the season as we headed for Mondello Park for round 6 of the championship. 

The first practice session was good as I think we matched the quickest times. We missed the second session with a broken manifold, but the boss had it sorted for the third. I put in a similar time for the third session, but then it started to rain. For the fourth session, I was convinced I had to get into the low 61s at least, or I’d be disappointed. Disappointed I was, as I could only manage a 61.6 in the fourth session, but I wasn’t sure why as the car was well balanced and great on the brakes. I nailed every apex, and the lap looked clean and tidy when watching back on the screen. The only thing I could point at was the tires, which had been on the car since we got the new wheels in the summer of 2023. The boss had a set in the garage at home, but they didn’t look much better. But it was worth a try as we didn’t have any other options at the time. 

The clouds arrived on Saturday for qualifying. Track conditions meant that the field had to nail the opening few laps. On the one dry lap, I got a big slide I wasn’t expecting at turn 2, which messed up my only dry lap that counted. The tires, it seemed, had no grip on their first lap in quite some time.  I then did a 62.0, which would have put me P3 for the race, but it was not counted as the red flag came out just as I crossed the line. Just bad timing, I suppose, so it was P8 in qualifying. My worst qualifying I can remember. I was in awful humor, to say the least, so I headed off somewhere quiet for lunch to gather my thoughts before the race!

On returning, I knew I had a great car for the race, but if it rained, we didn’t have any tread depth on the tires, so I was hoping it stayed somewhat dry. The clouds darkened once again, but it looked to me like it was going to just miss the track. It was anyone’s guess really. When we left assembly, it started to rain, and I knew I had work to do starting from 8th. Off the line, I made up 2 places and immediately tucked in behind Dan Polley, who had dropped back to 5th. 

I tried a move on the outside of turn 3 on Dan, but he ran me out of road on the exit and I then made a costly mistake by leaving my braking too late at Turn 1. Because of that I had a trip through the gravel and found myself back down in 13th. Things were not looking good. I knew I had to get the head down and regain the lost ground. In the end, I clawed my way back to 4th, narrowly missing out on a podium. It was disappointing at the time, but looking back, it turned out to be a great recovery!

Ultimately, a minor slide in turn 2 and a red flag that canceled my lap, I believe, cost me the opportunity to compete for the win. The car was really nice to drive, and I think with a new set of tires for July, I’ll be back at the sharp end. Big thanks to Paul for having the car right once again, just as expected, and I look forward to July 6th, where we tackle Mondellos international circuit.