Napier Hillclimb Weekend. Day 2

Day two of the event was Salisbury road. A long 3km section of winding hill road just off state highway 50 on the road to Hastings. The weather again was fantastic despite the met service prophesying rain all weekend.

I'd never entered this event before and at over three km's in length it was going to take some time to get to know the road. My first run was a learning exercise and I took it quite slowly so I could try and get to know some of the many corners and tricky bits. I was the fourth fastest over the road and Murray was fifth. Murray had had a bit of a mixed day the day before as he got to grips with his Evo, a car more suited to gravel events than tarseal. Today he looked to be providing me with some competition as he was only .46 of a second behind me in practice.

The course starts with a succession of smooth 3rd gear corners that lead into a very tight pair of second gear hairpin turns. They open into a few more open corners, into a short straight, a few more fast 3rd gear corners then a long, long straight that has some competitors achieving speeds of 220kph+. It's this section that is the most concerning as it has a kink towards its end that needs to be taken in forth gear. Then it's back on the power for a hundred metres or so before the road abruptly turns 90degrees right at a corner that can only be negotiated in second gear. This is the section where the event is won or lost. Several people have destroyed their cars on this section of the road in the past and it could well be fatal given the speed involved.

(This year an MX5 was destroyed when it left the road)

On the first timed run Murray and I again posted times within half a second of each other. Murray was coming to grips with the road a lot faster than I was. It was only my car's superior power and handling that was giving me an edge. Murray was driving the course with a lot more confidence than I had. I asked him where he felt he was making up his time and he gave me a pointer as to where to start accelerating for the final long straight section of the course. I had been waiting until I could see the road unfold in front of me before flooring it and he pointed out that the corner before the straight opened up and therefore I should be getting on the power a lot sooner.

Graeme Sutton in his Jedi has done the event several times before and was putting down times that were over four and a half seconds faster than I was capable of doing... or so it appeared.

On my second timed run I again struggled to come to grips with the course. I made several mistakes from not knowing the road. Mainly braking for corners that I needn't have and not getting on the power fast enough out of open corners because I couldn't remember whether they were followed by another corner or a straight.

However I did get one part of the course right... well kind of.. I remembered Murray's advice about getting on the power early for the long final straight. So much so that by the point that I could actually see the road was straight after the blind brow, I was already in fifth gear and passing through 180kph and on my way to 220kph+.

Before I knew it I was approaching the kink in the road and preparing to brake and change down to fourth gear. I made the change down ok but entered the first section of the turn way too fast.

The car left the road on the exit of the corner at over 180kph, my right wheels on the grass verge. I managed to get the car back on the road and straighten up, something that all happened in a fraction of a second. However I was now approaching the tight 90degree corner way too fast and it looked like I was destined to have saved myself from a high speed crash only to career into the bank at the end of the road because there wasn't enough room to pull the car down to a speed capable of making the turn.

I figured I had nothing to loose by giving the corner a go anyway, so I chucked the car into the turn and it went round like it was rails. The suspension changes I made late last year have turned the Evo into one of the best handling and predictable cars I have ever driven. It has gone from being an understeering monster to a completely neutral car that can be driven deep into a corner under hard brakes and then still turn perfectly even under full power. This makes the car very easy to drive and a lot less easy to crash. (No matter how hard I try)

So the run was a mess and the video footage shows it. I made many mistakes that cost me at least a couple of seconds, but hey it's all a learning curve and I can only get better with more time behind the wheel. I drove back down the hill to check out my time and tell everyone of my close shave with death and nearly destroying the car. (Oddly enough when I left the road for those few seconds It was not thoughts of death that entered my head but rather "Oh my poor beautiful car! how will I ever live this down". It seems that it's only cancer that really scares me)

Murray had gotten to the time-keepers caravan ahead of me and was running back down the road wearing a grin half a mile wide. "Graeme's just done a 1.34:99" he said. My heart sank. This was nearly 5 seconds faster than my first run. "But don't worry" said Murray "because you just posted a 1.34:55 !!" I couldn't believe it. Stunned would have been an understatement.

I had realised my goal to beat the Jedi and I'd done it by over half a second. But there was still one more run to go and I'd lost my nerve after the close call on the previous run. I knew if I did the same high speed along the top again I'd still not be able to make the fast kink without running off the road and there was no guarantee I'd be able to gather the car back up again next time.

I took Adam with me on the last run and I promised to take it very easy as he was a nervous passenger. I basically flagged the run away and used it as a learning experience, videoing the road so I could learn it for next years return. My car was also a bit worse for wear, I'd blown the alternator on my practice run and had resorted to charging the battery between runs. The front and rear bumpers had sustained damage when I left the road and were held on with duct tape. I'd had enough for one day and so had the car. I'd leave the final result in the lap of the gods and what ever happened, happened.

If there is one thing I have learnt about Graeme Sutton is that he doesn't like to be beaten and he always seems to manage to pull a win out of the bag when the pressure is on. Today would be no exception and on his last run he bettered my run by another .8 of a second.

Once again I was bridesmaid, taking out second place overall and a class win.
What I do know is that the Jedi can be beaten. I made a lot of mistakes on that run and I believe I can improve. I'll watch the video, drive the road in my head every chance I get and next year I will know it well.

Murray had a great day too. Coming second in his class and third overall. A great weekend of motorsport for the Flextech race team!

Thanks to the team at Isite Napier for the first class service and friendly help. We even had dinner cooked for us on Sunday! Thanks guys!.