Xero On Tour – 2004 – Oulton Park – Rounds 9 And 10

Hometown Blues

Few would have bet against Xero's odds of repeating Combe's podium at their home track, especially as they had run a day of testing in Cheshire just a few weeks ago. Boss Dave Beecroft explained: "It's a big advantage for definite. Everyone who hasn't tested is playing catch-up to those who have." Hopes were high for big yellow.

Saturday morning (and by that I mean morning) dawned dark and early - first practice beginning at the ridiculous time of half past eight. It was no surprise to note that it was Peter Le Bas at the wheel, sending rooster tails up from the back of the Corvette as it skated across the drenched tarmac. Ricky Cole is not known for being out of bed at this time of day!

To be fair Ricky was ready and waiting on the pitwall a good few laps before Pete left the drying track and peeled into the pits. When asked if he'd done rather more tours of the Cheshire countryside than he was told to, he reeled off an impressive list of reasons why he hadn't been able to come in any earlier - all with a mischievous glint in his eye and doubtless none with any truth behind them whatsoever. "It was good fun, slippy with a bit of understeer, but good traction."

He had put up a good show, with a 1:52.602 translating to the third quickest time, which lasted a good while into Ricky's stint as the track continued to dry. Ricky bagged a couple of 1:56s as he assessed the state of the track and the decision was made to try slicks. Most of the other teams were doing the same.

With ‘big-hands’ from a kids’ blow up football set, Pete guided Ricky back into the pit-box, but there were some evil looking skies scudding overhead. Coming up to five minutes to go it was looking like a night race and then the rain came down, halting Xero's plan to send Pete out for one flier at the end of the session. Ricky was obviously a bit disappointed that the fickle weather had done them no favours. "Well, it was all right but not great at the end, because we put some brand new slicks on and never even got a chance to scrub the stickers off them."

Pete rued his lost opportunity to grab that last flier and vowed to make up for it in qualifying by grabbing pole position. Bets were duly made with all and sundry with the standardised `chip' being a bottle of Jamesons. He was to take first qualifying for Saturday's race as well, a first for Xero who have always had Pete start Sunday's race.

A few minutes into the wet session it looked like the decision had paid off, Xero on pole and Embassy second for an all Corvette front row. It wasn't to last though as the track dried through the session and was noticeably quicker at the re-start - after a red flag brought an unscheduled intermission to proceedings. Pete made sure his times fell in line with everyone else's though, finishing on a 1:54.331 at the chequered flag and yielding a still excellent third - the best qualifying of the season. "Double or quits? I was nearly there, but I'll bet you we'll win the race now."

Ricky had his work cut out in qualifying session two, which had been cut to ten minutes to fit everything into the day's busy schedule. He would have a maximum of five laps to make it count... "I left it late but I was pleased with it, the car was going really well. I was held up a bit on my last lap by Michael Caine, otherwise I'd have gone quicker still, but round here you have to look around the Cup cars for a few corners before you finally get by." Ricky's 1:57.689 was good enough for a creditable sixth spot on the grid.

Come Saturday's race the rain was holding off and a decision had been made to push hard from the outset…..

The tactic worked rather too effectively however as Pete rocketed across the line and dived into a tight inside line through Old Hall behind the leader and deep inside Cocker. "Cocker must have thought he was still in his go-kart or something the way he just turned in across me - I saw him coming and it got pretty tight in there - I even tried to lift a bit but we touched and spun and then hell broke loose behind me. We got hit a few times and driven over by a Porsche."

The battered and beaten Corvette was a sorry sight and was out of the race on the spot.

It could only be recovered after the race finished and an irate Jay had to make several visits to the pits to pick up other crew and tools to help recover the car, eventually dragging it back into the pitlane off the back of the quad. "He'd have carried it on his back if he had to," joked Beecroft.

The jokes soon ended though and it was time to assess the damage. Fortunately it was deemed repairable so the crew set to work - right through until midnight - leaving the car polished and ready for Sunday morning's pit-lane walkabout.

A great atmosphere descended on the pits on Sunday morning, buoyed by a bit of blue sky and sunshine - things were upbeat again.

Sunday's race saw a spirited drive from Ricky Cole, despite an early spin at Cascades that dropped him to last place. "It was a combination of everyone pushing hard, cold tyres and being forced off line and I just couldn't hold it."

There were some quick cars back there though, which had suffered in qualifying - the lead JWR Porsche, the Ultima and the Mullen Ferrari ensured Ricky was in good company. He was soon tearing into the pack, past the Cup cars and some of the N-GT runners and cutting all the way through to tenth place, gaining a second and a half a lap on the tape-trailing Ultima. Catching that would have to be Pete's job though - Ricky had done his bit and the driver-swap was done at the half-way point. "I had been losing my brakes for the last couple of laps - even pumping them along the straights, I had nothing by the time I got to the corners. Pretty unfair really!"

The brakes cooled during a lengthy stop, during which the CV joints were inspected, and Pete rejoined the track "still without much brakes." He rejoined in the middle of a three-way fight for third and for a couple of laps was easily on their pace, but Chris Niarchos was eager to make headway on the two ahead and frustrated that Pete was preventing him from applying pressure, eventually he nudged him and with another nerf from the Mosler it was all becoming a bit of an unequal struggle, given the laps lost in the pitstop.

It was still a sad sight to see the Corvette brought to a calm halt at the Knickerbrook escape road with only eight minutes left to go. "It wasn't handling right and was starting to overheat so we've called it a day," Pete shouted at me over the barrier - where else could I have been expected to watch the race unfold?

All in all a disappointing weekend and hugely frustrating for the whole team, but at times the pace of the car and both drivers was confirmed again. With three DNFs in a row, lets hope it all comes together more consistently for the next two rounds at Silverstone in a month's time.
Paul Slinger