Spencer Pigot – Duratec Test!

Corby, England (October 22, 2010) – I arrived at Cliff’s shop in Corby late Thursday afternoon. I had to take five different trains to get here! It took almost all day but eventually I found my way after almost missing one of the trains because I was getting some lunch! I just caught it before it started to pull away. Once I arrived we started to load the Duratec car and all of the tools into the truck. It didn’t take long since there was only one car and then we left for Brands Hatch. It was nice to be back at Brands with no pressure and just go out and have fun. All five of us slept in the trailer that night and there was quite a lot of snoring going on! Ha-ha. Peter Dempsey decided he couldn’t take it anymore and left the main area and went to the driver’s cabin to sleep!

When the morning finally came around we topped the car with gas and got it ready for Felix who did the first two sessions. It was horrible to sit there and watch since it seemed as though I had been waiting to drive the car for so long but that’s all apart of the deal. I didn’t really know what to expect out of the Duratec other than a lot more power but after the first session I realized just how different they were compared to the Kent car. There was virtually no grip on cold tires; it was like driving on ice! They took about five laps to get up to temperature where in the Kent cars it only takes about a lap. The other major difference was how patient you had to be with the pedals. If you pick up the throttle too early it will cause the front to understeer. Because of this, in the first session I was driving the car wrong. I was driving it like I drove the Kent, which worked for those cars but not the Duratecs. After going over the data and talking to Scott Malvern, who drove the car all year, I learnt a lot about how to adjust my driving to improve my times.

For the second session I made the necessary changes and gained about three tenths of a second. Overall the car was a lot of fun; I just wish I had more than two sessions!

I am going up to Manchester tomorrow with Cliff to drop some engines off at Bold Race Engines so that they will be fresh for the Walter Hayes Trophy race at Silverstone in a few weeks. I can’t wait to get back in the car!