La Pommeraye: Down to the Wire

La Pommeraye forms the 2nd of the Northern French rounds in the CFM, it’s similar to Hébécrevon in length and the fact that it’s incredibly quick. I’d taken the ferry again so I arrived in my road car meaning that this would be the first time I’d driven the course in anything other than either my Formula Renault or a 50cc Suzuki… you may laugh but I’ve had to make do the last few years, and it’s always been an issue here where the corners are fast (5th & 6th), blind and your turn in point is absolutely critical.

On a scooter you just cannot accurately recreate your line and entry point in a racing car, it’s a non starter.

So having driven the hill relentlessly on Friday I felt better prepared than ever before, especially in the section after the bridge, a fast 6th gear sequence that I’ve always been told could be taken flat… Sadly the paddle shift problem manifested itself in free practice and continued all day. The guys worked their socks off checking everything methodically but we just couldn’t get the box to respond consistently – half the time it worked and other times I’d have to pull back 2 or 3 times for it to shift (which sometimes meant shifting 2 gears instead of 1). I managed to finish the day on a 1:00:427 so not too bad, but we were frustrated as the car just felt absolutely glued to the tarmac and the weather was perfect too.

The next day we tried a few things having disconnected the camera and I also tried short shifting on or before 7000rpm. Free practice went well and I managed to get up the hill without any glitches – so finally I had three clear runs.

The first one saw me clip the curb and hay bail exiting the chicane, I was going a lot quicker than I practice and didn’t brake hard enough. It was pretty scary as it sent me into the bails on the other side but thankfully I got away with it, even so I was annoyed with myself for losing time. The second run went just as badly as I locked up entering the chicane this time… I felt bad that everyone had worked so hard to get the car working right only to let them all down making errors, I’d hadn’t gone any quicker than I did on Saturday! Once again Julien Français was setting some crazy times in the 56’s and I couldn’t even my act together to break minute barrier…

The final run came and I knew I had to do something good or I’d spend the whole week before St. Gouëno mulling it over. I reasoned to take it steady through the chicane, what I really needed to do was keep my foot pinned in the faster sections as this is where I was losing most of the time – it’s easier said than done. Especially when you only have one shot left and it’s a big leap of faith.

You can see from my reaction that I was quite happy when I saw the timer reading 58:455! I had a moment coming round one corner to see grass all over the apex but there was nothing I could do at this point, I managed to take the section after the bridge flat too which required some big commitment!

I finished 7th in class and 13th overall, not bad considering. What made me smile though was that my teammate Sarah Louvet in a Dallara F307 finished just 0.004 ahead of me to take fastest lady, that’s surely the closest finish I’ve ever known! It’s really something to race with a good friend and continually push each other in such a positive way.

On Monday morning I got up and drove to Tranche-sur-Mer and was in the sea surfing before lunch. I’ve spent 4 days here, surfing every day, running forest trails & relaxing. It’s been a perfect break with barely a cloud in the sky, almost 30 degrees and a sea breeze.

I’m kind of sorry to leave for St. Gouëno really, I’m typing this sat at a bench in a little clearing in a wood, sun breaking through the trees with a glass of prosecco, one more day to go…