Stu's Racing Adventure

14 March 2014 / Stuart McFadyen

 

 STU - THERE'S A CORNER THERE....SOMEWHERE

Watching the in-car video back, it feels like I'm watching someone else. I'm touching the wheel, I grab the gearstick, adjust the mirror, tighten the belts, back to the wheel, the gearstick. None of these things have moved or needed adjusting - it's a series of compulsive ticks and motions you'd normally associate with an in-patient. I don't remember doing any of them, but it's clear from the video that there's nothing I could do to stop it. If I wasn't siting on the grid for my first ever race, I'd have looked very suspicious indeed. 

It's pouring with rain, I'm in an unfamiliar and purpose built race car (and although it's an MX-5, just the sound of it at idle is enough to scare even the hardiest of hairdressers) and the red lights have just gone on on the starters gantry. I bring the revs up to 4000rpm. It's at that point, over the urgent howl of the engine that I hear myself say: "What the F??K do I do now?!".

 BILL KINNANE DEALING WITH THE WET CONDITIONS

It was a rhetorical question of course, but it was answered quickly. I dumped the clutch, got a bag full of wheel-spin then bogged the engine down trying to recover from it, then watch as several cars that have done it all before swarmed past me in a blinding cloud of spray - that I've seen on TV but always assumed the camera made look worse than it actually was.

One corner later it dawns on me that I'm in my first race and I couldn't be more frightened or excited. Its only the things that are really important to you that are both frightening and exciting at the same time, but it doesn't take more than a few corners for the frightening to turn to familiar and to realise this is something I should have been doing my whole life.

 VICTORIAN ENTRANT CHRISTINE BOAK SHOWING HOW IT IS DONE IN THE WET CONDITIONS

Going racing is something that I had been building up to for several years. I had done a few years of track days with the MX-5 club (after buying a nicely modded little NA8) and gone on to do a number of supersprints, but like a lot of people had always seen the jump to door to door racing as a jump too far. Like a lot of people in the club my track car is my other car too and I was a little nervous about staking my only transport in an overtaking move, where all I stood to gain was a position, but stood to lose my ability to get to the shops. So, despite deciding that I was sure racing was something I wanted to do and because my car fell a little short of the basic requirements of racing, I thought the best thing to do would be to rent a fully race prepped car off the guys at Deckspeed Racing for the first round of the new MX-5 Cup. It was a short-term solution and a way of dipping my toe in the water but it turned out to be more affordable than I had thought. -

In the weeks leading up to the race weekend the whole thing had seemed a little daunting. There are a lot of similarities to a normal track day, but there are a lot of differences too. Obviously what you don't want for any day at the track is to turn up and realise you've skipped a tiny but show stopping detail. This is where the guys organising the MX-5 Cup did such a stellar job. Apart from regular updates and reminders about things that you needed to be on top of for race day, Chris Quick from the organising committee was appointed to answer any questions for newbies… and he did just that with champion levels of patience (sorry Chris). It meant that all of us newbies went into the weekend feeling as comfortable as we possibly could.

Race day. Wake up at 3.30am. No chance of getting back to sleep. And it's raining. 

Round 1 was part of the support races for the Wakefield 300, so the weekend was busy, with over 100 cars of all makes and types trundling around the pits. That made the schedule a busy one and put our qualifying session bright and early on Saturday at 8.15am… or gloomy and early as it turned out. There were 3 of us that had never raced before lining up in the 15 car field, Russell Maxwell and myself were in cars we hadn't driven before and David Lawler was starring down the barrel of his first ever track session in the wet. It wasn't the introduction any of us were hoping for and did nothing to help with our first timer jitters. But, we made it through qualy, set some un-extraordinary times, but were mostly just happy to have done a bit of a systems check session so we had an idea of what we were up for. 

That brings me back to where I started, fidgeting with my belts and mirror, doing my best to remember Luke Otten's advice to take some deep breaths and slow everything down at the start (unfortunately his advice to keep the revs at 3000rpm not 4000rpm before the start, came after race 1). The first few corners were a blinding white blur of spray and brake lights, but after that all those worries about whether I was ready or whether I had any right being there disappeared as the white mist turned to red. It was in short, the most fun I have ever had in my life. A lap or two in, I got back a couple of the positions I had lost at the start (I found some grip around the outside of the fish-hook, thank you very much) then set out after the rest of the field. Then, apart from being lapped by Daniel Deckers (like I was standing still - just in case I was feeling too proud of my performance) that was it for the wheel to wheel action for race 1. But then that's what makes it a sport, sometimes it's intense, sometimes it's not. That's why we love it. The main point was I'd survived my first race… and I wanted more.

There were three more races and they offered more of the same action. The conditions didn't let up, but the nerves did. I had some great little dices, lost some positions, gained some positions but had a ball doing it. At the pointy end of the field Daniel Deckers made a clean sweep taking all 4 wins in very convincing style (lapping a fair bit of the field in the process). Matilda Mravicic got second in 3 of the races and Michael Hall took second in the other. Michael and Greg Tasker shared the honours for third between them. The full results can be found on the Club website.

It was exciting on a 'kid on Christmas morning' scale - I'll definitely be back. But importantly, the fun we all had that weekend represented the tip of an iceberg of hard work that had been put in by the MX-5 Cup organising committee. Craig Durrant, Luke Otten, Daniel Deckers, Chris Quick and others, all put in huge amounts of their own time to try and develop something that will help grow the sport we all love. For me personally, their efforts were the difference between me seeing this as achievable or not. I can't thank them enough.

From me a big thank you also to Daniel and Michael at Deckspeed Racing for their help in getting me in a race car that weekend. This is not Avis where they hand you the keys and tell you to bring it back full. They were a wealth of help and guidance about all things racing, from getting the car prepped to fixing any issues with car or driver. I'd highly recommend hiring a car for anyone thinking their car isn't quite up to the task, especially if you're spannerly challenged like myself. Thanks also to Russell and Andy Harris, my assigned mentors for the weekend, offering help and encouragement in spades.

 STUART IN #59 IN THE PACK AT THE START OF THE 300

Oh, the other little thing I did that weekend was the Wakefield 300. A 300km televised endurance race. Less ticking off a life-long dream and more knocking it out of the park. But that's a story for another time. If I bump into you around the paddock somewhere, no need to ask, I'll probably already be telling you all about it.

 Stuart McFadyen

Some pics courtesy of John Smith - johnsphotos0065@gmail.com