BA Racing endured a weekend to forget at Monaco. Two cars qualified, but neither made the start due to technical difficulties. Team Manager, Dan Lawrence, was particularly disappointed at the time, but today spoke about the goals BA Racing can achieve before seasons end.
"I was set to race at Monaco," commented Lawrence, "but was busy right up until the last free practice session. At this point, I contacted Antonio [Irissari] to ask if he could take my seat, as with little practice around the twisty streets, I was uncomfrortable with the thought of racing. Luckily Antonio agreed."
Unfortunately, Antonio experienced a software failure on the parade lap, and his internal computing system crashed. This meant that he was unable to make the start and therefore could not race. Mal McKee also experienced a similar problem.
"It was an incredibly frustrating experience!", continued Lawrence, "I wandered down the paddock and into the Mapes-VO hospitality area... Peter VO was sitting there, drinking coffee ..so I sat for a while with him, drinking his speciality! ..it's addictive stuff! ..and I didn't sleep for 2 days afterwards!"
Since Monaco, the team has been testing in earnest at Monza, Italy, in an attempt to gain some much needed BHP. Day 1 saw Lawrence 2nd fastest and day 2 saw him 1st overall [albeit out of a lowly 5 drivers!] ..
"Getting back into the car after over 2 weeks of no driving was truly awesome!", commented Lawrence, "The 1st 2-3 laps were unreal! ..every corner felt like it was the 1st corner I have ever taken! ..hard to put into words, but I now beleive that absence from the cockpit is definately a good thing every once in a while as I now feel charged up for the next rounds of the WC!"
"Day 1 was good overall. I found it difficult to set a competitive lap time, and was disappointed with my pace as I was trying fairly hard! I ended up 2nd overall, but out of 5 drivers, most of which are not experienced or in underpowered cars..so generally I was not happy with my peformance.... It is only testing though, and towoards the last 5 laps I seemed to find a bit more speed in each sector, but didn't string them together..."
"Day 2 was much better for me. I managed to find some speed in myself and the car, and still have something in my pocket for tomorrow. Ending the day in P1 was nice, of course it is!, but still ahead of only 4 drivers."
"I feel that we should be moderately competitive at Canada and Silverstone, I am not sure about Europe as I have never raced there before, but I think my glory moment will come at France, a circuit I LOVE!"
BA Racing are testing tomorrow and Saturday at Monza.
