St-Ursanne les Rangiers: Dream big

Coming into this weekend I was worried in a strange way that things just wouldn’t go the way I hoped. That may seem like an obvious concern when you’re about to drive a race car you’ve not even sat in on Europe’s fastest hill, but this was due more to the fact that everything was so amazing when I drove here in 2015, I was wondering how it could possibly get any better. St-Ursanne holds a special significance for me, last year it was the setting for possibly my best ever drive in the Formula Renault – and now somewhere inside a voice was telling me not to push my luck and go asking for more. But then I seem to remember somebody saying you can never have too much of a good thing…

The journey here was an odd one to start with, I landed in Geneva (as opposed to Lyon) where I hailed the world’s most inefficient yet expensive taxi driver. We stopped many times to incorrectly enter the address, then for fuel, the only thing he did efficiently (which he was clearly a master of) was maximising his mpg by driving interminably slowly while his meter went like lightening. I was in a hurry and bit my lip repeatedly, eventually we arrived on a deserted industrial estate at 10:30pm in pitch darkness to collect Herve with the fare showing twice what I’d paid the week before when I left. Sadly I was in no position to negotiate, I put it down to experience and hoped it wasn’t a bad omen.

Then at 1am I got stopped by the police, but thankfully they were a friendly duo and I explained myself without too much trouble

At 1:30am I fell climbing into the back of the van and scraped my shin down the door frame with excruciating results, thankfully I’d just met Fabien and we ate watermelon and drank a coffee which helped me regain my composure. It seemed odd to grab my race kit out of Herve and scarper, but in truth I was really looking forwards to running with Team Faggioli Racing this weekend as it’s a huge privilege to join them again.

The next morning I took a lie in before catching a lift with Paride, the plan being to session the hill hard for a few hours. I was keen to drive the 911 we’d borrowed and get used to sitting on the left to get my head in the right space, and also use the paddle shift as there’s no need to take your hands off the wheel (more of a yoke really) in the Norma. After lunch I was back on the hill before returning to the paddock for in order to make a seat, Schroth Racing had kindly sent me one of their indi seat kits and François had used them before – it’s slightly different to the types I’ve used previously that expand rapidly around you have more time to position yourself in the car and find the optimum position before vacuum pumping the air out (with a hoover) once you’ve added the chemical to set it solid.

I got chatting with a few people who were surprised to learn I hadn’t done any testing and their reaction slowly began to make me question my haste to get in the proto. Saturday was looking wet, hopefully the first run would be dry but either way I resolved to just take it slowly and treat it as a test weekend, not a race.

Thankfully the first run was dry and I felt pretty calm sat warming the transmission the next morning, even as I rolled up at the start line I was surprisingly composed.

It went well and in many ways I just drove up at a steady pace, although approaching Les Grippons flat in 6th required a bit of slowing down! My first impressions were all good ones – with airbox sat right behind your head the howl of the Type R approaching the redline is addictive (the video doesn’t do it justice), and with the extra revs it’s easy to change up too quickly at first with all the extra power (70bhp) and torque. It was the level of feel and grip that really hit me though, I love the FR but the Norma instantly gives you a clear impression of what it’s doing, there’s obviously more downforce and it just feels so planted. At 2:39 it was pretty pedestrian, I was kangarooing at the hairpins in first as I struggled to modulate the throttle, having left the camera in the hotel it was forcing me to think more about every feeling I was getting from the car and this turned out to be a good thing.

The second run came shortly after a big downpour but even so I found a second quicker, the clutch is quite friendly and launching the car gently in the wet was quite easy. The final run was in full wet and Davide softened the setup which helped and although 2:40 was my slowest time of the day, it was quicker considering that the conditions were now pretty bad. By some way of comparison Fabien (or the rainmeister as I now call him) had just done a 2:14 in the new (more powerful) Norma, barely slower than his dry run at 2:10 – not bad for the car’s first outing!

We all went out for dinner that evening before getting a few final sighting runs in before bed. As we waited at the top for Paride the only noises were the exhaust pinging in the cooling night air as we heard the 911’s exhaust note drifting on the breeze, the occasional volley of gunfire as it downshifted several times into a hairpin. I woke early that morning around 4am to the sound of rain hammering away, we all knew it was coming and despite me trying not my brain started wondering back to the sensations of driving the Norma, my heart rate rose and it was some time before I could sleep again…

Thankfully a long wait or various holdups gifted us with a dry track for the first run, and I went for it posting a 2:15:889 despite taking the final hairpin in 4th – I think I was too quick and gentle on the paddles. Still it was a good time putting me third in class and I was thrilled to have broken under the 2:20 barrier (my objective for the day) without any drama!

There was quite a wait before the second (and final) run, the being the EHC your position is defined by your combined time for both runs as opposed to simply your quickest time throughout the day. I wanted to see a big improvement as I knew I was still shortshifting instead of working the Type R deeper into it’s revs, so I made sure I waited for the shift lights this time on the way to Les Grippons lifting as little as I dared and using as much of the track on the right as I dared before turning in. In the forest I could have used 5th more looking back but focussed on my line, on the two long left handers you can sense that there’s so much grip from the aero as you squeeze back on the power.

I crossed the line on a 2:11:398 to keep 3rd place and took fastest lady once again – amazing!! The position in class really meant so much to me, while I wanted to respect the car I also felt the need to push it and prove to myself that I was ready for this next step. Fabien took first place (2:01:572!) meaning it was a 1/3 for Faggioli Racing Team in E2-SC, while Simone took first in group with a new class record too, just a fantastic result all round.

I can’t thank the team enough for all their hard work throughout the weekend, I could scarcely believe it was another fairytale weekend at Les Rangiers… but this time I was leaving with two trophies, along with the flowers that made it all the way back even through customs and onto the plane (without folding them inside my hand luggage). Maybe it was the fact I just couldn’t stop smiling…