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Our
F4 season started
at Silverstone
with Simon shaking
down the newly
converted Ray. The
car ran perfectly
for every lap
of the session.
15/
16 March 2008
– Snetterton
Business
commitments meant
that Andy Webb
took Simon’s place
for the maiden
race in the Ray. There
is a strong
F4 line up this
year Andy did
well to post
a 1:14.3 for
the Ray’s first
ever qualifying
run, improving
to 1:13.03 in
the race. Unfortunately
Andy was forced
to retire while
running 9th.
Dave
qualified 19th
and improved
to 17th in the
race, fighting
against the
lighter and
more powerful
F4 cars in the
Formula Renault.
The
second race
was cancelled
due to bad weather
and re-scheduled
for Brands.
20
April 2008
Brands Hatch
Indy
We
tested at Brands
and made more
progress on
set up with
Simon in the
Ray for his
first race of
the year and
Dave driving
the Formula
Renault.
Qualifying
was wet and Simon
wound up 15th
on the grid. Dave
missed the session
having suffered
gearbox damage
following an
accident during
testing. Simon
finished 8th
in the Ray to
collect the
car’s first points
of the season.
Dave
took over in
the Ray for
the Snetterton
replacement
race, but was
involved in
an accident
which put Dave
out of the race
and the car
out of commission
for Cadwell.
10/
11 May 2008
Cadwell Park
Full Circuit
With
the Ray temporarily
out of action,
we needed to
run a Class A
car that would
allow Simon to
continue to score
Class A points. There
was no time
to convert the
RF98 Zetec to
full F4 spec,
but we were
able to design
and manufacture
a full aero
package. It
was very effective
and in testing
Simon was putting
in very competitive
times on his
first visit
to Cadwell.
We
was unable to
repeat that form
in qualifying
and the two races,
finishing 13th
and 11th respectively. It
was only when
we got the car
back to the workshop
that we discovered
a broken rear
anti-roll bar!
Dave
was unlucky to
be involved in accidents
in both races.
22
June 2008 Brands
Hatch Indy
We
were delighted
that Lee Cunningham
was able to join
us for the weekend. Lee
is a professional
racing driver
and
F4 race winner.
Lee
and
Simon
tested
at
Brands
on
20
June. Simon
was
giving
the
newly
converted
RF98
Van
Diemen
its
maiden
run
in
F4
specification. Simon
completed
the
test
with
consistent
laps
in
the
low
50
second
range. Meanwhile
Lee
worked
on
developing
the
Ray. Lee’s
experience
and
speed
really
shone
through
as
he
worked
his
way
down
from
high
49’s
to
the
low
48’s,
even
on
used
tyres.
An
awesome
performance
from
Lee
saw
him
finish
Race
1
in
4th
place,
having
qualified
8th
on
one
of
the
most
competitive
F4
grids
for
a
long
time. Simon
qualified
16th
and
finished
15th
in
Race
1,
having
been
unable
to
match
his
testing
pace. Race
2
saw
Lee
finish
6th
(from
8th)
and
Simon
in
13th
place
(from
16th
on
the
grid).
All
in
all,
this
was
a
very
productive
couple
of
days
with
both
our
new
cars
working
perfectly
through
the
entire
weekend. Our
objective
from
this
point
is
to
build
on
our
proven
reliability
and
unlock
the
rest
of
the
potential
in
the
cars
as
we
move
into
the
final
5
rounds
of
the
season.
Simon
and Dave will be
back in action
at Donington on
20 July in the Van
Diemen F4 and Ray
F4 respectively.
20
July 2008 Donington
Park
Dave
and Simon tested
on 20 July. Testing
is open pit lane
and unsilenced
so we had Moslers,
F3 and classic
F1 cars as well
as slower moving,
road-going Ferraris
and even a Hilman
Imp. Given
the speed differential,
there were surprisingly
few red flags.
We have not been
to Donington
since 2006, which
was Simon’s
second race
with the team.
Qualifying
on
Sunday
was
marred
by
yellow
flags
as
one
of
the
Zetec
cars
went
off
at
the
Old
Hairpin. Dave
did
not
get
much
running
in
testing
and
so
qualifying
was
his
first
chance
to
really
get
to
grips
with
the
car.
Simon
was
looking
good
to
put
us
9th
on
his
final
run
once
the
track
had
cleared
but
suffered
a
complete
(and
completely
unexpected
brake
failure)
just
before
the
chicane. No
damage
done
but
12th
was
the
best
we
could
achieve
as
all
the
other
runners
were
able
to
put
in
another
couple
of
laps
on
warm
tyres. Having
quickly
resolved
the
brake
issue,
our
luck
did
not
improve
in
the
race. Simon
completed
the
green
flag
lap
to
find
one
of
the
Absolute
cars
parked
in
his
grid
slot,
ruining
the
first
lap
and
costing
several
places
off
the
line. The
racing
was
tight
but
Simon
managed
to
get
some
racing
in
to
finish
13th with
a
best
race
lap
of
1:16.7. To
put
that
in
context
the
best
lap
of
the
8th
place
finisher
was
1:16.64.
Dave
qualified
18th
out
of
26
starters
and
improved
by
nearly
a
second
a
lap
in
the
race.
The
Mallory
race
is
on
Sunday
3
August. Dave
is
always
mighty
quick
around
Mallory
and
we
are
hoping
for
a
strong
result.
3
August 2008 Mallory
Park
Both
drivers
qualified
further
down
the
grid
than
they
had
hoped
on
a
slippery
track
but
went
on
to
deliver
our
first
double
top-10
finish
of
the
year
with
Dave
in
9th
and
Simon
in
10th.
24
August
2008
Silverstone
After
a
good
result
at
Mallory
2
weeks
ago,
Silverstone
was
disappointing. This
had
a
lot
to
do
with
qualifying
being
ruined
by
the
organisers
allowing
2
very
slow
Mallocks
to
join
the
session,
dumping
oil
in
the
process. Most
cars
came
in
after
only
5
laps,
being
unable
to
improve
and
not
wanting
to
risk
damage
to
the
cars. 12th
for
Dave
and
16th
for
Simon
will
not
go
down
as
our
best
race
weekend
and
did
not
reflect
our
testing
pace
at
this
circuit.
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