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Spa 24hr Endurance

NEWS

Race report-Mallory 25th April 2004.

From Driver Katie Croucher, sponsored by Silly CVs

Once out on the track I was flying. After 2 years of racing here I finally got the nerve to drive round flat out, no lifting or braking until I got to the tight hairpin. This meant I had knocked 4 seconds off my usual lap time.

After the 15 min qualifying session we all queued at the scruiteering bay to be weighed again. This time everyone was fine.

We had a long wait till the race at 2.30pm and we discussed changing the coil because of the problem of starting in the assembly area. We also noticed that the spark plugs were running quite rich but because I had done so well in qualifying and the car was running fine we decided to not change anything.

 

2CV 24hr Racing
at Spa

2002
2003
2004
2005
Spa 24hr 2CV Race

I had qualified in 17th place with a lap time of 1.14 and the 4 drivers around me were all doing similar times so I was confident that I could overtake at least a couple in the race.This time the car started first time and I went to the assembly area, we then drove out behind a pace car for one lap to form up on the grid. This time I was in a grid position that meant I would be off line for the first corner, Gerard’s. We then had a green flag lap and formed up on the grid again. I made sure I held back before I got to my grid position to double check that I had got in first gear as for the last two, 2cv races I have done at Mallory I have not got off the grid in the right gear, meaning I lost a lot of time at the start. A few people in the pit lane had their fingers crossed for me and when the lights turned green I shot forward in the correct gear and even overtook a couple of cars.

At Gerard’s I hadn’t got in the right gear and didn’t change up till the exit and by the next corner the pack was getting away. On the next lap I noticed that I wasn’t getting enough revs on the rev counter and the cars in front were still getting away. At the start of lap 3 I was off the pace and a strange ‘clonking’ sound appeared. When I got to the pit straight I drove close to the pit wall and gave a thumb’s down to my pit crew who ,on the next lap, gave me the ‘IN’ board.

I drove in to the pits with, by now, a very sick car. My pit crew ran over and looked under the bonnet and told me to turn the engine off, they investigated and asked me to start the car again. As soon as I did it sounded awful and I was shouted at to turn it off and that was the end of my race.

I was not a happy person. You have all seen the F1 drivers who get a bit tempered when their race is over, well I wasn’t as bad but I did swear and gave the car a huge kick.

About two laps after my race was over, car 72 came in with a broken clutch cable and also retired but because the next race was already lined up in the assembly area we could not go back to the paddock, so unfortunately I had to sit and watch the rest of the race-I was gutted. Not only did I not get to finish the race, I didn’t get a signature on my licence or any championship points.

When we finally got back to the paddock we had a look under the bonnet along with a few others who came over to look and it was suggested that the problem was either a loose right head or a damaged rod inside that head or worse case scenario a new bottom end was needed.

We decided to load the car up and get it and us home before we started working on it, so at 4 pm we left Mallory circuit behind.

The next race is a double sprint at Pembrey on May 15/16th so we have a couple of weeks to work on the car and hopefully be ready for that.

Katie Croucher-Team Dolly
www.katiecroucher.co.uk