My second weekend racing abroad this year was in Portugal at the Autodrome Internacional Algarve, Portimao, Portugal. After a successful season including multiple class podiums, race wins and fastest laps a strong finish was important to carry the momentum through the winter into the next year.
I faced new challenges in Portugal as I had never raced at Portimao before although, driving David Grace’s Healey earlier in the year at Spa was a valuable experience. I knew David and I would make a great pairing but I would have to focus and make the most of the 2 practice sessions and 1 qualifying session before the 2-hour race.
Qualifying – Saturday
I had spent a considerable amount of time in the hotel the night before qualifying analysing my data from the lap times I had set on Friday using the Race Logic Circuit Tools software. Thanks to Calum Lockie (Professional racing driver) and Julian Thomas (Race logic) for advice and support as I learnt how to understand the data it was showing. A key point from Calum was when he told me I must not identify where I was quickest but in fact, understanding what compromised the lap will help the most. I now knew what was fast around Portimao thanks to the Race Logic VBOX HD.
Once again, David took the car first and handed over after 15 minutes. I did two laps around the 2:15.00 mark and then started to push… I exited the last corner and pushed on for one more lap, I remember 3 key moments in this lap which stood out.
1. The remarkably late break downhill into turn one, the car was squirming under braking, I remember getting the car stopped into the apex, I knew it was going to be a committed lap.
2.The second was the excellent exit from the second hair pin, the car hooked up beautifully, no over-steer on the exit and I could feel the Healey pulling with all it’s might, carrying speed through the next left-right complex.
3.The last key moment was at the last corner, a rise at the apex gets the car very light, I was incredibly smooth and the car floated over carrying momentum to the exit running as far to the left as I could and top overdrive came sooner than ever before.
I looked at the lap timer as I crossed the line to see it flick into the 2:13’s… I was very pleased with that lap and knew it must be the new lap record… I came down the pit lane a lap later to see David with his thumbs up and waving… I knew it must have been good.
I had just set the fastest ever lap of Portimao in a Healey, smashing the lap record by over a second and 5 tenths faster than Nigel Greensal in DD 300, I was ecstatic. We had qualified 2nd in class behind the Ferrari ‘Bread Van’ & 8th overall.
After we brought the car back to the awning we realised we had a small leak from the OSR hub oil seal which we changed. We also changed the brake pads, oil checks, tyre change and re fuel ready for Sundays 2 hour race.
The race – Sunday
Starting at the sharp end of the 32 car grid we knew that this race would not be won in the first 20 minutes but could be lost… David put in an excellent first stint but I noticed his times were slightly slower than he was capable of, there must have been a small problem. The Ferrari was dropping fuel, it had to pit which gave us the class lead, the Welch car then overtook David but this was not a problem because I knew I was quicker than their co driver.
After 28 minutes David pitted to change drivers, he shouted to me “it’s getting very hot, you will have to look after the engine by short shifting” I knew that if I was reckless I could cause permanent damage to the car, the class win may be out of the question but dropping off 5 seconds per lap and finishing may mean we would stay on the podium. I would usually change gear around 7000 rpm but I had to change at 5500 to keep the engine temp down, this was frustrating but it was now about finishing. I picked my way through traffic well but we had dropped to 4th in class.
David would now take the car back for the last 40 minutes, I jumped out the car and removed the mesh grille to get more air into the radiator while David was strapping in. We were 4th in class with 2 laps to go, the Morgan SLR in 3rd came past sounding very unhealthy… with one more lap left we were waiting on the pit wall to see who would come round first to take 3rd in class… Our Healey or the SLR?
The Morgan broke down on the last lap gifting us 3rd place!! Our bid to keep the engine cool but compromising the lap times had worked, we were cheering David over the finish line to a podium finish.
We left Portugal with some silverware and a lap record, I look forward to returning next year.
Jack Rawles and David Grace finished 3rd in class after an unfortunate timing of the safety car combined with a pit stop strategy , resulting in losing half a lap
What’s next?
A long winter ahead, I will be working hard to secure additional sponsorship to enable me to continue racing and who knows what I’ll be driving next year…keep an eye out on our facebook pages and web sites
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