03/10/2024
What a race!
Returning to Almería with , we decided to make a couple of small improvements rather than a full development, namely adding more camber and revising all the brake system.
We arrive Friday morning at the circuit, install ourselves in the box and head to the technical checks in order to get the car approved for racing.
In the afternoon we had the practice session that allowed us some track time, especially for the newcomer, and we ended the day confident in the car and hoping for a top 10 in Qualy.
Saturday started with Qualify, where we rode only 3 laps and set a time that we feel it would allow us to have a good start position, saving the car and the tyres. We ended up P11 in the Qualify.
After the session, it was time for the race. Rolling start, and we immediately realized that our car was way better in corners than in the straights, and we needed to push more (and spend more fuel) than we would liked to maintain position, or not to loose too many.
Around the 2hours mark, when we did the first driver swap, we check some kind of grinding noise in the rear that was starting to get louder by the time we needed to pit. First inspection had us changing the front tyres, as we had a flat in the left front, and to tighten the clip that brace the pads in the left rear caliper, as it started to loose, and we had already a pad out of place.
Everything fixed, time to reenter the track, spending only 3 minutes more, and in the game.
After only 2 laps, we had a new brake problem and needed to pit again. This time the same problem, but in the right rear caliper, with bigger consequences.. The clip was lost and one pad was missed!!
Time to get another pad (spare, not to worry), and to MANUFACTER a clip to hold the pads in place. After 40ish minutes, job was done and the car returned to track in P33, out of 34 cars on track. Later we find out the problem was a slight difference in the pads dimensions, which help the clips get loose and hence the problem...
Problem fixed, back to race, and we started the "remontada". We aim to gain positions and save fuel during the day, and to push a little bit more during the night when everyone starts to slow down a bit. We proved to be right, and enter the sunset at P22, gaining 11 positions during the day, and arrived at the sunrise inside the top 10, P9, gaining another 11 positions during the night!! Brilliant recovery!!
Last 4 hours we were almost battling to the top 5, reaching P6 in the last hour, with a strategy move to pit in a yellow flag earlier, and go in "eco mode" without stopping to the end. We almost made it, but we soon find out that was something wrong with the engine, cutting power sometimes in the high rpms, and a terrible noise coming from the engine bay, which slow us down.
In the last lap, we loose the P6, arriving to the checkered flag at P7. It was a small misfortune in a amazing recovery, from P33 to P7, covering more that 400 laps in 24h.
The team was awesome, and we tackle everything extremely well, with everyone pressing in their stints, and helping each other at every pit stop, and covering each other to give the drivers the deserved rest time.
The car was amazing, and without the pads problem, we could end up probably in P3 (P1 in the category), in a race with really tuff competition. That's a win for us!
