Monoposto Tiedeman Trophy - Rds 5 & 6 - Silverstone National - 5th November
Team boss Paul Heavey made a surprise return to the cockpit for the closing rounds of Monopostos Tiedeman trophy at Silverstone on Nov 5th. Piloting David Heavey’s usual mount, he went into qualifying cold, with no testing and mixed conditions made for a tricky session. It looked to be borderline for slicks, with the possibility for the track to come to slick shod runners late in the session, but Heavey settled for the safe option of wets and despite some rustiness, he stuck his Leastone 1000 on the second row for the first of the days two races.
By the time race 1 rolled around, it was another 50-50 decision on tyre choice, with the team deciding to go with slicks this time around. Conditions were extremely tricky in the opening laps and those who elected for wets built a decent lead. Heavey was cautious for most of the first part of the race, focused on keeping it on the island and had to defend heavily around the short Silverstone layout.
He had slipped back to 5th on lap 3 but enjoyed a good battle to hold station in the middle part of the race before the track came to his slicks somewhat and he was able to pull a gap on his pursuers. At that point the top 4 had a good gap at the head of the field so he was left to settle into a solid pace and grab himself a top 5 result for his first outing of the year.
The grid for race 2 was set on race 1 fastest laps and Heavey would line up 6th. This time there was no doubt as to tyre choice, with slicks very much the order of the day. This would give Heavey his first proper dry running of the weekend, and he made a rapid start to vault into 3rd on the opening lap.
He didn’t quite have the pace to go with the championship regulars up front, so again he settled into a rhythm and had 4th place man Will Cox filling his mirrors for good measure. He would be demoted to 4th on lap 5, when pitlane starter Geoff Line stormed past in his F3.
The gap between Heavey and Cox ebbed and flowed for the remainder of the 20-minute event, depending on when and where each driver caught traffic. The gap got down to just under 2 seconds at its smallest, but Heavey had enough in hand to take 4th overall to close out the 2023 season.
‘Good fun out there I must say! Conditions were very tricky in the early part of the day, and I was playing it safe, last thing I wanted to do was fire it off the road. Race 2 was really enjoyable, with consistent conditions for the first time in the day I could start to push on and build up a bit of confidence. I’d great battles in both races as well which makes it all the better!’ said a delighted Heavey post-race.
He can now draw a well-earned breath as the team enter the off season. The fleet of Leastone 1000s will be rebuilt over the winter while 2024 plans are finalized.
