When Silverstone gets wet, its surface gets very slippery and unfortunately it was very wet for race day! Conditions were awful and Karen had more than one moment of drama during the qualifying session.


Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
All the Subaru Cup runners use the Silverstone FTZ Type RR tyre which is essentially a dry weather tyre and very slick. All of them experienced a near total lack of grip and terrible trouble with large bodies of standing water. Despite this, Karen qualified in 16th position, less than a second behind fellow Subaru Cup racer Martin White and halfway up a field of 32 cars.

Silverstone offered to cut extra grooves in the tyres to try and improve grip. Karen’s spare tyres were duly cut in this fashion and Richard braved the elements and swapped them onto the car. Tyre pressure was also reduced in an effort to find more compliance in the tyre which might help retain control.

Conditions for Race 1 were still treacherous. So much so, that Karen’s recollections of the race were very hazy due to so much happening. The most memorable moment however, was having got in front of Martin she led him into Luffield when he unintentionaly nudged the rear inside of the back of her car and spent them both spinning out. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem but due to the low grip conditions it caught them out. Martin recovered more quickly and got ahead. Karen finished in 17th position. Sam Maher-Loughnan, Alix Thompson and Martin took the Subaru Cup podium positions. Karen was next, ahead of Darren who was having terrible trouble with his windscreen misting up.


Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
The rain had stopped before Race 2, but there was still an awful lot of water on the circuit. As the leaders headed into Copse things started to go awry! Karen arrived there to find cars at all angles across the circuit and as she tried to avoid the Honda Accord of Andre Severs, he reversed into her. This knocked her into the path of Andy McLennan’s Swift which battered the other side of her Impreza!


Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
Karen continued on, and tried to get a bead on the disturbed handling of her car. The damage had bent the front wing down onto the driver’s front wheel causing her problems. This was partly responsible for a spin when she reached Luffield. She was now more or less last and had to chase after the GT150 MR2’s. As she began to get through them she spotted Adrian Howells going AWOL on the grass by the inside of Maggotts. Karen was now catching up to Darren who went wide through Brooklands and managed to keep the car going through the gravel to reappear going into Luffield. Karen wanted to chase him hard down the straight but was baulked by an un-gentlemanly move by Dallas Jackson’s GT200 MR2. Karen quickly resolved this and was soon hot on Darren’s heels again. They were close through Brooklands and Luffield but as they went through Copse Karen tried to sneak through on the inside as Darren had taken a wider line. He tightened his line slightly and Karen lifted off. Thanks to the conditions and being on the painted kerbing, the back end broke away and she span out into the pit exit lane. Cars streamed past and she was back behind the GT150’s again! This time her recovery was much quicker and it wasn’t long before she was once again dealing with the enigma that is Dallas Jackson. The front runners were now lapping as Karen got past Dallas and as she entered Brooklands she was forced to stand on the brakes as the race leader had spun to a halt in front if her. With cars around her she had nowhere to go and prayed she would stop in time! Luckily this was the case, but now she had to recover lost places all over again, including overtaking Dallas. This she managed to do and despite all the drama and running with a slightly hobbled car she finished in 15th position overall. Unfortunately, she was totally out of contention for the Subaru Cup podium spots.


Images copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission.
When Karen returned to the paddock, she was very surprised to find a good chunk of Andre’s pink rear bumper sticking out of the side of her car and also of the damage to the passenger side of the car. That damage was also an unwelcome revelation to Richard who’d been spectating from the inside of the circuit!

Nippon Challenge Silverstone 06/06/09 Race 2 from Richard Senter on Vimeo.