On 9th / 10th September, Silverstone's Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit experienced its first 24 hour race. Amidst torrential rain, fifty five cars took the start of what would be an incredible spectacle, and for Brunswick Racing, a significant triumph after a mammoth effort.
Qualifying for the race took place on the Friday, and Brunswick were already on the back foot, with their Mazda RX7 GT having experienced a freak failure of the rotary engine at the previous week's test. This meant a new un-tested engine for qualifying, and it was immediately clear, even in the morning practice session, that the motor was not behaving as it should.
"It was a real shame for the guys," Peter said. "We know the car is quick but the engine is simply not pulling and misfiring all through the rev range." With no time to change the engine before qualifying, everything possible was checked but to no avail, and Peter was forced to qualify the car with the misfire. Despite this, the car achieved a 2:21 lap, which was an impressive performance, and still four seconds quicker than the Brunswick Alfa Romeo 147 JTD.
Having qualified the car, the team set to work to remove the engine, whilst Carl Hayward of Hayward Rotary returned to his Newbury workshop to build a replacement unit overnight! This would be the beginning of an incredible effort by all concerned.
Whilst all of this was going on, Peter and the other three Mazda drivers, Giles Groombridge, Dave Ashford and Mike Watson, obtained special dispensation to run their mandatory three laps in the night qualifying session, using the Brunswick Alfa Romeo 147. "The Alfa was pretty good in the damp conditions, and the turbo diesel is a great choice for endurance racing, since it has to refuel half as often as the petrol cars!" Peter commented.
As the night qualifying came to a close, there was a tremendous thunderstorm over the circuit, and the subsequent torrential rain flooded the paddock, pits and pit garages! This made the challenge still greater for the Brunswick boys, who at this point already had the engine out of the Mazda.
In the small hours of the morning, Carl Hayward returned with the new engine, which was then fitted to the car and it was immediately clear that the unit was working properly, at least as far as could be told in the garage. As a new engine, it would have to be treated carefully for the first part of the race, and as he would take the first stint, Peter was instructed to avoid full throttle to allow the engine to bed in.
As the race start approached, it was clear that the rain would intensify, and wet tyres were fitted. "Actually the conditions were ideal for running in the motor, even if visibility was appalling. There was standing water all around the track, which meant the car was aquaplaning everywhere, even down the Hangar Straight, but at least the engine seemed ok, at least on light throttle! I actually thought they might delay the start, but the sky did get a bit brighter shortly before the flag."
The race started on time at 5pm, with the field literally streaming through Copse without incident. Peter managed to pass several cars from the Mazda's lowly grid position, but within two laps, it was clear something was amiss. "As soon as I applied anything more than light throttle, the engine just choked," he reported. With the symptoms not improving, he had no choice but to pit, and allow the team to investigate. This would be the first of thirty one pit stops before the 18 hour mark, when the problem would finally be solved!!!
"As ever, I am in awe of the Brunswick guys," Peter said. "They just never gave up and tried every possibility to correct the problem, as did Carl Hayward, even after the car stopped out on the circuit in the middle of the night. I have never seen a team work so hard, and that includes the refueling team who were there on cue throughout, despite the numerous interludes"
With Carl attempting to override the misfire with engine map changes, the Mazda made an impressive sight, hammering past the pit wall on the darkness, with a three foot blue flame from the exhaust! It was clear that only half the rotary engine was functioning as it should, and the problem was eventually traced to the specialist injectors used. Replacing these meant yet another trip to the workshop for Carl, who by this time was well up in the competition for no sleep.
With the new injectors installed, Peter again took the wheel and cruised out of the pits with five hours to go, and from the wheel spin on the pitlane exit, it was clear to the team that the problem was solved! Peter confirmed all was well with a radio message, and after a precautionary pit stop to make sure all was at it should be, he immediately proceeded to set competitive times on a damp and greasy track.
"At that time, we did a 2:09.412 lap, which was in traffic and with a big brake vibration, but which was around 4 seconds faster than anyone in our class!" he smiled. This was a boost to Brunswick, whose Alfa Romeo JTD had been forced to retire at 5am with suspected ECU problems, after running very competitively.
With there being little to gain after the earlier delays, the team decided to use the time remaining as an extended test session for the Mazda, working on curing minor problems under the bonnet and eliminating the brake vibration which at one point became so severe that it was nearly impossible to slow the car.
Ultimately, the Mazda took the chequered flag at 5pm, once again in the hands of Peter, to the delight not only of the team but also apparently many TV viewers and radio listeners worldwide (Globecast Radio ran a live commentary of the race) who had been e-mailing and texting in their support of the Mazda, having witnessed the incredible efforts by Brunswick Racing!
"As we suspected, this car is extremely competitive straight out of the box, and we've only just scratched the surface of what it could achieve. We're running very low turbo boost, as yet we have no significant aerodynamic development completed, and we have done just one track test prior to this race, so considering this, the car's speed is awesome! However, I think the biggest surprise was the incredible support we received during the race, not only in the paddock but from all around the world! Thank you to Brunswick for the opportunity to drive this fantastic looking car; it has huge potential, and I'm looking forward to doing it justice sometime soon!"
