02/05/2024
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of all of the crew and drivers, Fiona did not feel like playing ball. We suffered misfires and electrical issues all race on Saturday and were unable to demonstrate the pace the car really had. That being said, Fiona is fast… very fast. Without pushing too hard and still making mistakes, I was able to set the fourth fastest GP2 time on Saturday.
However, that is pretty much it for good news. After my run with the car, which saw the misfire clear up, it returned and worsened as the race progressed. By the end, we turned 76 laps on Saturday, which is still 71 more than the most laps previously turned by Fiona in one day. We were classified as a DNF, meaning no points from a very disappointing day.
That night, while attempting to diagnose and rectify the issues with the car, the motor slipped a timing chain and that was that. Fiona will be back and better than ever, but it would not be this weekend.
For Sunday, we were graciously offered to drive Hulk as a consolation for losing our car the night before. At first, Hulk was fun to drive, but that went away when I suffered a catastrophic wheel stud failure at a highly loaded part of the track leading to the rapid departure of the left front wheel. It was a pretty big bump, and I’m super disappointed that happened, but it’s racing. Sometimes you get super lucky… other times, you’re not. This weekend was plainly unlucky for all of us. However, that in no way defines the hard work everyone at put in. I could not be more proud of the crew guys. They put in an amazing amount of effort to fix Fiona when fixable and prep Hulk when she wasn’t. Thank you guys.
