The Final Countdown

The Final Countdown.....cue music from Europe.

The car is ready even if it's a patchwork of different yellow's. I have just run out of time to make it look prettier.
Am I ready?? We will find out this weekend!!
If anyone is at a loose end, join us at Brands. We are in Qually B at 12.20 hrs Saturday and race B 12.05 hrs Sunday using garage 20.

Thanks to the team: Gill & Martin Edwards, Steve Edwards all Lotuspower.co.uk and of course Margaret.

Chris Mayhew
CAM Racing

Good luck Chris, really really wish I could make it to see your first race but I will later in the year! Don't forget to do those Twitter updates for us lap by lap

Yep, all the best & good luck Chris

You've got a top support team there, & I'm sure they'll look after both you & your mota this weekend!

Good luck Chris. I'm working Saturday so probably I will not get to see you in action. Go for the finish and save the win for later in the season!

I am buzzing with excitement and simultaneously feeling gutted, but I'll be there on Sunday.

Make sure you get your tyre pressures right for quali. Good luck.

Good luck Chris - hope you have a good one. I guess you have your yellow/black target cross firmly stuck on the back..you know -the one that tells the others 'look out ...new boy on track' !
Anyway, I'm sure with your trusty team on hand and pit babes waving their pit boards at you you'll go like a bomb....in true Lotus F1 style...just bring it home for a finish first time out..forget about the points
(Sorry, won't be at Brands -I will probably be doing the lawnmower GP and 50 or so other jobs, hope to get to others in the future).
Cheers, Tim.

All the best Chris, don't bend it!

Come on Chris its just like driving around the ring road in Coventry your be all right or was that left ?

Eddie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnXDEw3gqhk

Well?

Did you start on wets and have to change to slicks like Vettel and Co?


I managed to find the results as they were posted online, interesting reading.

Qualifying seems to have gone well, quali for the 1st time must have been quite daunting but I see you managed to more or less bring your times down lap by lap posting your best time and qualifying time on your 15th tour out of 19. A good solid approach and improving all the time.

B Race! Wow you must have been nervous on that grid 1st time out. There were some invitation entries in quick modified cars behind you and I'm sure you would have wished that you had no hot shoes behind you who were bound to pass you as soon as they got into their stride. It was not until lap 5 that they passed you but it seems to have worked out resonably well as your lap time only slowed by a second or so. Lap times look to be quite consistent but on lap 13 the turbo obviously kicked in and you set a race lap time that was faster than your qualifying time! Settling in nicely obviously but then disaster on lap 14! a lap some 24 seconds slower, what happened? After that it took a couple or so laps to get back to the same lap times that you set consistently early on. But like the Lotus F1 debut this was all about finishing and you did.

D Race. Looks like you started on row 7 with cars all around, the lap times in this race are generally slower than your first, but on the penultimate lap you set you best time of this race, saving the best until last another finsish and hopefully a signiature from the stewards on your licence so that you will be able to get that bulls eye off the back of the car.

Well done Chris on what must have been an interesting experience, lets have a blow by blow account from the drivers seat. Keep us up to date with race dates etc and at some point I promise to come and support in person rather than from my armchair.

Can I have your autograph please!

The drivers have to use AO48's regardless of the weather conditions.

It was good to meet Chris yesterday who appeared relaxed and put in a respectable performance for his first race.......far better than my first race.

I'm looking forward to the Silverstone meeting on the 17th April, and hope to race against Chris at Castle Combe or Snetts.

Well done Chris!

Well done Chris!!!!!!!!!

Hear, hear. Well done. Any photos...?

Well done Chris and thanks Kim for keeping an eye out for the results and performances on the weekend.

All quiet on the western front Chris?
I guess you have been busy at the post race de-briefing and media interviews. Your physio must be busy massaging your weary body and preparing you for the next race when you'll need the strength in your legs to step up to the podium.
Maybe you have been arrested by the Met for spinning your wheels when leaving Brands...naughty boy!

Tim.

Sorry guys,
Got home late Sunday night and left early for Belfast on Monday morning. I will post something tomorrow nite.
CAM

I canconfirm that Chris wasn't still laying exhausted in the paddock at Brands today, unless he was under the 60ft car transporter.

The evidence is showing on Elise Trophy TV now!

Nice one! Watching the race now. Good interview Chris and well done on keeping calm in the first corner and clear of all the hectic action in your first race. Also congratulations to Andy Dolan for making the podium

I have another two months to wait until I get to race this year and against Chris too.

At last, finally some time to gather my thoughts.....it's been a hectic week at work.

You will know by now I raced for the first time last weekend at Brands Hatch in the LOT Elise Trophy. Qualifying on Saturday was interesting especially first time around Paddock Hill Bend, more like a roller-coaster. Druids is quite a slow corner at least for me as everyone else came storming passed. A previous race had left some oil on Surtees & Mclaren which was very slippy and scary. Otherwise all OK best lap under 60 secs.
Race day.
As some of you will know I must get 6 race finishes to lose my Novice X and I was determined to finish.
First start was an experience to be suddenly surounded by cars, anyway no mishap...yet. I continued to experiment with road position and line to judge the best for me. About 10 minutes in I lost concentration and entered Paddock Hill all wrong, too fast and spun out at the bottom of the hill. (My car thought it was a JCB....right colour).All I could think about was trying to keep the car on the road and not stalling it. I ended up just on the gravel with engine running. By this time most of the front pack had arrived and I must have waited 15 or 20 seconds for them to pass before I could get back onto the track. When I did I was dropping stones everywhere (Sorry Guys). The rest was uneventful and I finished near the back.

Final B on Sunday

We had some invitation drivers and cars some of which were Honda powered (much faster than me: Elise trophy is limited to 151 bhp at the wheels), which had been given the back of the grid behind me. The guy just to my left false started before the lights went out which made me move slightly and then stop after a few inches, by which time the lights had gone out and the race had properly started. The fast guys behind came flying passed having started correctly and not hiccuped. I carried on racing at the back and I moved off the racing line for all the other's being the new guy. Clearly, I was about 5-6 seconds off of the leaders pace about 1 sec per corner. I hope to improve as the season continues and my confidence grows. All in all a great weekend.
My great thanks to the CAM Racing pit crew: Gill & Martin Edwards, Hazel & Steve Edwards & Margaret for sreaming so loud. It was too cold for Lycra maybe next time.

I was interviewed for the TV and the link is www.elisetrophy.tv This has film of the race etc and my 30 secs of fame is in race 2 about 2 or 3 minutes in.
I have pictures but havn't downloaded them yet. Until then look at www.lotrdc.com/race-reports/brands-hatch-27-28-march-2010/

The car was set up with lots of negative camber and was very tail happy. The crew took some off and it was much better and we finally sorted the tyre pressures out after speaking with the tyre crew there.

I am tracking in Anglesey this Saturday but racing again 17th April at Silverstone. I know it clashes with Malvern but if you want tickets contact me and we can get them cheaper thro LOT.

Chris Mayhew
CAM Racing

Good stuff Chris.

I have two team passes spare for Silverstone if any of your friends or fans want to borrow them for the day.

My e-mail is peter@triserial.co.uk if the passes are required. If I can help you with anything else please ask and I'll try my best.