Monoposto Rounds 8 & 9 - Brands Hatch GP - 8th July
The Leastone team suffered a frustrating weekend on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit last weekend, as the Monoposto championship entered the second half of the season. With no testing on the famous Grand Prix layout, Codey Keogh only had the opportunity to get up to speed on the Indy circuit on Friday before seeing the GP loop for the first-time during Saturdays qualifying session. Teammates Morgan McCourt and David Heavey had experience from past visits to the Kent track but that didn’t stop Codey from outpacing them both, logging the 3rd fastest Monomoto 1000 lap. Heavey would line up 6th in class, with Morgan on the row behind.
After a delayed start and additional formation lap for Race 1, Codey jumped up to 2nd during the opening lap, but it all amounted to nothing coming out of Hawthorn Bend when a rear toe link let go, leaving him crabbing back to the pits. To add further insult to injury, while trying to filter across to the pit lane, he clipped another car and suffered damage the front suspension too.
David Heavey had a good opening lap and with the unfortunate demise of his teammate, he found himself in 3rd place when the safety car was deployed. With all Monoposto classes on the grid, Morgan had a cautious start in the middle of the 38-car field. He welcomed the safety car which offered him a better chance to recover lost ground.
Heavey then suffered a bizarre occurrence once the race got back underway on Lap 5, when the right hand spoke of his steering wheel broke coming through Paddock Hill bend. He dropped time over the next few laps while he figured out how to deal with this unusual issue but had only slipped to 4th by the time he got comfortable and was able to pick up the pace again. He would salvage 4th at the flag, with Morgan coming home 7th in class.
The team rallied to repair the damage to Codey’s car during the short break between races and he was able to take up his grid slot at the rear of the field but again his race was short lived when he suffered a spin at Surtees, due to a failed front wheel bearing. While this was going on, Morgan was enjoying a much better opening lap than Race 1 and was involved in an entertaining 3 car battle when he had a spin at Graham Hill, having dropped a wheel off on corner entry. Shortly after that a driveshaft failed but it’s unclear as to whether this was an after effect of the spin.
This left Heavey flying the flag and he was embroiled in a 4-car fight for 4th in class. He too would suffer some misfortune, as what appears to be an electrical problem firstly saw his dash malfunction in the opening laps before a steady loss of power over the remainder of the race blunted his challenge. He would slip to 7th at the flag to cap a disappointing day for the team.
With a 5-week break, the team will dust themselves off and prepare for another exciting venue, as the Monoposto championship heads to Oulton Park in Cheshire, for rounds 10 and 11 on August 19th. The Monopostos are on the bill for the annual American Autoshow, which always attracts a large crowd and some impressive machinery from the other side of the pond.
