This was an interesting weekend due to the very variable weather, one moment dry, seconds late running water, back to sunshine with the track drying at an amazing rate helped by the very strong wind then just as quick back to downpours.
Qualifying was on Friday and stepping back into the car for the first time since 2021 - no testing – Marcel Fassler, three times LeMans winner with Team Audi and he takes it to P6 at the end of the session! Very competitive in changeable weather and although Marcel was sitting in P3 at one point, a clutch of touring car drivers put in faster laps at the very end of the session.
A quick check over, fresh tyres, fuel top up and Matt Manderson, our development driver, was out for qualifying II. Matt unfortunately began to suffer with a top end misfire above 7500 rpm, (the engine will go to 9500 if required), that constrained what he could do and was getting worse as time went on. With the number 35 car rolling and a red flag, it was a quick dash back to the shelter for parts to see what could be done. With only five minutes left of practice, the red flag soon remained and the session officially ended, leaving Matt P13 and Row 5 for Sunday’s race.
The complete engine electrical system was replaced ready for the first race, but other than that, Matt reported the car being quicker through the corners following recent development.
ST MARY’S TROPHY RACE
Given the forecast, amazingly a dry race and Marcel got a great start from P6 on the grid and all was looking good. Braking down into the first corner behind the Thunderbird, he was hit in the rear by his former team mate, Andre Lotterer, who had a blinding start from two rows back in the number 35 A35 and completely out braked himself. This set off a chain reaction for Marcel as he bounced between Jake Hill in the number 72 A40 and the A35, if you are able to watch back the live stream to see UCE13 number138 in a five abreast situation! With several places lost, putting Marcel down into P13, he had to fight his way back through the pack. Eventually catching up with Pirro in his Jag, they had a great battle of David v Goliath for quite some time, which was great to watch, but was the second factor in how our race played out. Marcel did get past, but by this point, the rest of the front runners were too far ahead to catch up.
Final position, P7, behind Jenson Button in the Alfa. The real positive was Marcel set the fastest lap time consistently of the whole field apart from the two 7ltr Fords, this shows we have a very strong engine and a great handling car in dry conditions.
UCE 13 came back with a small amount of cosmetic damage to be fixed at a later date but after a check over, ready for tomorrow and part II with Matt driving.
Very different (and difficult) conditions for Matt taking part in the last race of Revival 2025 at 18:00. It was overcast with wind and heavy rain. Matt started from P13, Row 5, on the grid, Sitting alongside him were Tom Chilton in the number 71 Alfa and James Thorpe in the number 3 A40. Due to the unrelenting rain, the race began with two laps under the safety car. This did not work out well for all the drivers as the pace car on modern rain tyres tore off for two laps and spread the complete field over almost ¾ of the circuit before the first car crossed the start line with a most cars struggling to keep up and resulting in a very split pack. As far as our race was concerned, UCE 13 had never tested or raced in the wet since its restoration prior to coming back out on track in 2019! We have always been lucky with the weather before! This meant a not too soft set up, which was not ideal, particularly in these extreme conditions. It took half the race for the tyres to come up to temperature meaning it was difficult to get any feeling of the car.
On a positive note though, the lights and wipers all worked - we haven't had to use those before! And the car didn't steam up due to the heated screen! So little wins right there!
Matt did his best with the hand he was given and finished the race a very respectable P10. We are very grateful to him for bringing the car home all in one piece given the conditions out there, we learn more as we do every time we come to Revival.
Back home and unpacked, UCE 13 now needs a jolly good clean as you can imagine and a bit of TLC cosmetically in due course.
We've returned with more ideas for further improvements as the car currently stands, the knowledge that the regulations are definitely going to change again for 2027 (although as yet we don't know what difference those will make) and a need to somehow time a test day with inclement weather!
Quite a week. Now back home and we put to bed Revival 2025 and start to look forward to our winter season in the workshop.
