Tim Abbott Racing

With great expectation the “away” round of the Caterham race series’ finally arrived on the 7th of July. This was the one that the vast majority had been eargerly awaiting. So on the Thursday morning I got on an Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Amsterdam where a pre booked hire car was waiting.

It’s a very straightforward journey from Amsterdam to Zandvoort which took less than 30 minutes. However, this still meant that I was a little late getting to the circuit in time for the first session of Thursday’s test day and also required me and a couple of others to get a delayed driver’s briefing from Bookatrack’s Jonny Leroux.

Thankfully I had managed to book both the test days (Thursday and Friday) and hoped that this would give me every chance to get a decent result in the weekend’s races and wouldn’t matter too much if I missed a little of the first day.

Both test days went pretty well with a steadily improving lap time but it was clear that there was still a little more time to find if I was going to trouble the top half a dozen or so of a grid of 32 cars in the Supersports category.

My only issue was the failure of my gearbox in one of the sessions late on Friday resulting in me missing the last hour or so of that day’s testing. Others were even less fortunate though, with a number of drivers going off the track during the course of both days. Most notably Richard Carter’s R300 (also run by PiM) on Thursday afternoon which left him needing an x-ray on suspected fractured ribs and a car that required a major rebuild…no racing for Richard that weekend and an expensive weekend break…hope it all gets fixed soon mate!!

Despite a few accidents (in addition to Richard’s) it’s worth mentioning at this point what a fantastic circuit and location Zandvoort is. The track itself is a mixture of tight, technical sections with little run off coupled with some wide open areas that make it tricky to pick out lines and braking points. It’s also got some decent elevation changes (unusual for Holland!) and there are some fast, sweeping bends that demand……well….balls!! All in all it’s a great circuit.

Zandvoort’s coastal position is also a big plus and when the weather is good (as it was for most of our weekend) it’s great to be able to meet up with fellow drivers and go for a beer or two at one of the beach bars looking out over the expansive sandy beaches. The place and the short trip to Amsterdam must have meant that it would have been buzzing when it used to host the grand prix back in the 70′s with the likes of Hunt, Lauda, Fittapaldi, etc

At least I resisted the urge to make that journey back into Amsterdam on any of the evenings prior to the races and testing which is more than I could say for a few other drivers……….I must be taking this racing lark too seriously as I just couldn’t face the prospect of driving with a major hangover!

Saturday morning dawns and we are allocated a 15 minute warm up in the morning which allows me to try out my newly installed gearbox as well as bed in some new rear pads all of which have been fitted over night by the ever reliable PiM mechanics.

Qualifying next and the usual 20 mins session to try and get a decent lap time under my belt. With an approx 2 minute lap time this means only 9 or 10 laps round the full  Zandvoort circuit so it’s crucial to find some space but also try and couple that with finding a “tow” (slipstream) down the very long start/finish straight……easier said or written than done!

After a few conjested early laps I manage to eke out some space and finally post my best time on the last of my laps which nets me 12th on the grid and slightly disappointed to be outside of the top 10. So not great but at least I am the fastest of the drivers being supported by PiM with Robin 15th, Sid 19th and Stephen Appleton (who travelled all the way from Australia) in 22nd. The impressive pole time from Ian Payne of 2.00.390 is some 2 seconds quicker than I could manage so there is clearly some more work to be done!!

Race 1 was scheduled for around 4pm and after a little rain shower it is dry and bright for our Supersport race. It was a pretty exciting race - a race long battle wth a couple of cars and an end result of 7th place which, it has to be noted, was as much down to 2 or 3 cars dropping out as it was me making up the places from 12th on the grid. However, 7th was pretty respectible and a 15 second gap to the winning car meant that my race pace was an improvement over qualifying. It could have been even better though if I had managed to hold it all together after getting myself briefly up into 5th before making an error in the Audi chicane letting John Saunders and Ben Gower back through. Slightly more worrying was the amount of oil that was streaked down the passenger side of the car as I pulled into parc ferme. However, no damage had been done and it was quickly discovered that the dipstick had popped out of it’s holder – probably when I had made the mistake in the chicane. Not sure if the cars following me were too pleased (apologies for that!) having oil sprayed at them although it can’t have been helping my rear tyres get traction either!

Another fairly sensible evening on Saturday night with friend and Caterham Academy 2011 driver Mat Lowe making the journey out to Zandvoort from Sussex and joining me and a few other Caterham racers for a few beers and a bite to eat at the champagne bar on the beach…all very civilised and I manage to make it back to my room at the Nh Hotel at a reasonable hour.

Sunday’s Supersport race isn’t scheduled until well after lunch so this gives ample opportunity to watch some of the other Caterham races that are on the that day with a great viewing platform offered by the roof of the pit garages.

With a 7th place grid slot for race two and with fellow PiM drivers Robin and Sid taking up 8th and 9th respectively we decided between us to make sure, if possible, not to race each other too hard in the opening laps as this would inevitably slow our race pace down. Unfortunately though I had a very poor start and found myself squeezed down into 11th or 12th place by the first hairpin which is where I remained for the first lap or so. However, on lap 2 Sean Byrne managed to go into the wall at the second hairpin which resulted in the safety car being brought out whilst they cleared his damaged car from the track. Once the safety car had gone in I managed to get a good tow from Robin along the start/finish straight and made up one of the places with my sights firmly set on Sid a little further up the road. Once I caught him we traded positions for a the next few laps which was obviously slowing us up and I finally caught a glimpse of a couple of the faster cars, that had started at the back of the grid, in my rear view mirror.

Almost inevitably they caught and finally passed us after a fraught last couple of laps that culminated in all four of us crossing the line bunched up. So this left me with a 10th place to go with my 7th from the previous day and, again, a semi satifying race that was tinged with a bit of disappointment that I could of retained the 7th on the grid if only I had been a tad more aggressive in my overtaking. Still the car was intact and the results of the weekend meant that I had moved up to 8th overall in the championship so not a bad position to be in.

Big thumbs up for Zandvoort then with the only downer being told by Caterham that our next race at Donington had been cancelled due to the circuit being overbooked. This means that Oulton Park is our next race at the beginning of September with the replacement round for Donny being a trip to Anglesey at the end of the same month………………reckon Zandvoort is closer to Sussex than Anglesey so not expecting too many guests to come and watch at that one!!!

Cheers All…….