Report third round of the Spanish Nats: Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz).

The third round of the Spanish Nats was hold in the rebuilt track of la Isleta in El Puerto de Santa María. The new layout its very nice, with an European Stile which is not very common in Spain.

Friday

 

We arrived to the track mid day, in order to learn the track and to test some things before the qualifys. The grip was not good so we were focused in test engines and manifolds, and different ratios for help the engine. In this track the engine is very important because most of the track the car is in second wear while turning. So we needed to find an engine with good power.

 

Also we were comparing the two PF bodies, the P909V2 and the R18. In this track both seemed very similar, maybe a little bit faster the R18 but with less turn in.

 

Saturday

 

We had two engines, one more powerful with more fuel consumption and other less powerful but with a better mileage. So we decided to run the two first heats with the less powerful one and the three lasts with the other in other to check which option would be more interesting for the finals.

 

Finally I decided to race with the engine with more power because I felt much better due to I have to puss less to achive good lap-times.

 

However Cabezas was one step forwadr us, with a car almost perfect and with engines with a lot of power.

 

So at the end of the three heats I was second 3 seconds behind Cabezas.

 

Sunday

 

 

 

We were very worried about the tyres wear. Before the semifinal it seemed so difficult to do the 20 minutes with one pair of tyres.

 

Anyway, I started from the semi-b with the nº1. I had a comfortable semifinal so I hadn’t to puss, however my tyres ended the semi almost in the wheel. So How to get 25 minutes in the main final? Two options, go slower or do two tyre changes. We choose the first option.

 

Then in the final I started with the nº2 just behind Cabezas. I did a good start and I tried to press him the first laps. However since the third or four lap he started to increase the gap between us achieving an advantage of 10 seconds before the tyre change. Then my tyre change was much faster than his one and I return to the track just ahead Cabezas. So the final started again. But just after the tyre change the car was strange. First I thought that the tyres are very big. But this was not the problem. My mechanics only change me three tyres, so I was driving with tree fresh tyres and the rear right 25 minutes used tyre. So I had to do an extra pit-stop to replace the used tyre. My optioned gone out.

 

Finally I recover some time finishing the race in second position, less of one lap behind Cabezas.

 

 

 

Third race and third podium which shows the good reliability of the car (we have done semis and final the three races).

Now we will have in September the last round and we need to find something that allow us to fight until the end of the race for the championship!

 

Thanks to all my Sponsors: Serpent, Matrix, Procar and Rc World.

 

Till next race,

 

Nacho López