ON TRACK WITH HENRY SURTEES
2007 UK Formula BMW Championship
Henry battles back at Snetterton with 'drive of the day'
by John Surtees
27 to 29 July 2007
 Rounds 13 and 14 of the UK Formula BMW Championship moved to Snetterton - the 1.95 mile circuit located just south of Norwich where Henry, following his success at Donington, was prepared to close the gap on the Championship leaders.
Friday, 27 July: Practice
Practice in windy conditions progressed well with Henry running through a series of tests with the Carlin team.
Saturday, 28 July: Qualifying
It was an early start with qualifying for Round 13 scheduled for 9.30am with a short session of 30 minutes. It was sunny with a dry track and a strong wind from the south-west. Henry headed the session for much of the time but finished with a time of 1.09.598 placing him fourth on the grid.
For the second qualifying session (for Round 14) a few changes were made to suit the increasingly strong wind. But the balance was not to Henry’s liking and he struggled slightly to register fifth fastest time.
The drama was then to come. The scrutineers selected Henry as one of the cars to be checked from the morning session where it was passed with no hint from the BMW engineers that anything was amiss. Somewhat to the team’s surprise, the car was called in for the second session as well.
After this check we were, to our surprise, advised that the car did not comply because the spacers - in which the front lower bottom rear suspension link bearing locates - were fitted upside down. There is confusion in this respect in that the MSA and BMW regulations contradict each other. But the steward chose to apply the full weight of the MSA wording.
As a result, Henry was disqualified from the session, placed at the back of the grid (with a further 10 seconds penalty), and deducted six championship points.
My comment was that “as much as I am a strong believer in maintaining discipline and ensuring cheating does not take place, I thought the BMW engineers - in relation to mistakes that are made where no possible performance gain is involved - should not have forgotten that this is a junior formula and that they are partly there to develop experience with help and assistance to competitors.
"A word in the ear of the mechanic regarding the error that had been made would have sufficed. It would also appear obviously that the second call in had been pre-arranged."
Sunday 29 July: Race 1 / Round 13
The weather was cloudy and warm but on arrival at the circuit at 7am the track was still wet from heavy overnight rain - and with the race scheduled for a 9am start, tyre choice would be crucial.
By the start of the race the track by the pits was drying fast but could obviously still be wet in places, making it imperative to stay on the dry line. The settings were slightly changed as it was all guess work as to quite how dry the track was.
Henry took his place in grid position four on the second row from where he made a reasonable start which left him in a group and needing him to claw back his fourth position by the completion of the first lap.
He passed Makela and drew away looking as if he would challenge Kral for second but made a mistake at the Esses, managing to keep position but dropping back towards Makela and Arundel. He then recovered pace and drew away and finish a safe third.
A post race review showed that the track had been a little drier at the start than had been imagined and the changes made had brought about too much oversteer. This had increased as the conditions improved. But, a good race overall.
Race 2 / Round 14
Although the clouds had threatened rain, the weather stayed dry. Track conditions were good but a strong blustery wind prevailed.
It was a new experience for Henry to sit at the back of the field where he was joined by Jordan Williams who had also been penalised for bushes being out of place on his steering arms.
As the lights went out and the field ploughed away leaving Henry and Jordan stationery at the back. Eventually 10 seconds passed and the flag was waved to send them on their way.
He and Jordan, who had tucked in behind, proceeded to set about first catching and then carving up through the field. On lap nine Henry set the fastest lap of the race and, in the course of doing so, set a new lap record of 1.09.849.
By lap 12 he had moved up to 11th and was closing on four cars. Four laps later he was up to eighth and closing fast on Comas who was having one of his better drives. Henry’s times then flattened out and he didn’t attempt to pass. All was explained when, after taking the flag in eighth place, he only managed to make it round three-quarters of the lap before his left rear wheel came off.
This justified his feeling that something strange had been happening to the car, causing him to back off the pace. The reason for this potentially dangerous happening is now under investigation.
The TV and track commentators said it all when they described Henry’s drive as "the drive of the day" which helped to mitigate the disappointment of yet again losing a potential win through no fault of his own.
He certainly showed he had all the speed to compete right at the front after having corrected the adjustment made for the first race.
The Championship placings after rounds 13 and 14 are:
1 Josef Kral
2 Henry Arundel
3 Marcus Ericsson
4 Henry Surtees
With only four rounds left, Henry looks forward to rounds 15 and 16 at Brands Hatch on 18-19 August and rounds 17 and 18 at Knockhill on 1-2 September.
Photographs available from www.jakobebrey.com/henrysurtees
|