February 12, 2010
Daniel sets a respectable time in not much time at Bathurst 12-Hour practice
More a baptism of rain than of fire - that was Daniel Erickson's introduction to the legendary Mount Panorama circuit today during the opening official practice sessions for Sunday's 12-Hour production car race.
Having completed just two 'sighting' laps in Morcom Motorsport's BMW 335i at the end of the first hour-long practice session, the 22 year-old Sydney driver clocked a fastest lap of 2min. 38.0sec. in the first half of the second and final session. That was a respectable 1.3 seconds off car owner Barry Morcom's best time from the first session.
Then the heavens opened for the final 30 minutes, effectively ending Daniel's first high-speed driving lesson around the daunting 6.3km racetrack. The rain gave Morcom and the team's other driver, Paul Stubber, their second stints behind the wheel.
While Daniel was happy with his results for the day, he was confident of slicing large chunks off his best lap time as he became more familiar with the circuit and the car.
"Mount Panorama is an incredible track, no question," he said afterwards. "The bottom section from Murray's (STP) Corner, along Pit Straight, through Hell Corner and up Mountain Straight, is fairly straightforward, but the rest of the lap is awesome!
"The steep climb through The Cutting, the undulations from Sulman Park to McPhillamy Park, and the right-left-right-left-right-left descent from Skyline to Forrest's (Falken) Elbow are tremendously challenging. And Conrod Straight, with its high-speed kink into the Chase, is something else again!"
Daniel had only driven the circuit previously when it was open to public traffic, but said it was nothing compared to driving at racing speed.
"There's no margin for error around most of the track, so I took things steadily today. I'm really pleased to be reasonably close to Barry Morcom's times.
"After studying the data to see where I can make up time, and getting some tips from Bathurst experts like John Bowe and Glenn Seton, that there's plenty of scope for improvement. I'm sure that I can make up a second just between Murray's Corner and Griffin's Bend."
Daniel said that the BMW 335i was very different from the karts and openwheeler racing cars he'd driven previously.
"Production Touring rules don't allow many modifications from a standard road car, which is what the BMW feels like. With the two turbos tuned to operate at different engine speed ranges there isn't much 'lag' at low rpm, but the standard gearing isn't ideal for racing. The car bogs down in some corners, and I didn't even get into sixth gear down Conrod Straight.
"Braking is tricky because the ABS cuts in if you jump on the pedal to hard, so you try to avoid that happening. Also, production touring car tyres have a small amount of tread so they're like 'intermediate' damp track racing tyres rather than dry weather slicks."
Daniel said that the early indications were that the BMW, being in Class B (High-performance rear-wheel-drive), couldn't match the speed of the leading cars in Class A (High-performance all-wheel-drive) in this year's Bathurst 12-hour race.
"The Mitsubishi Evos are very quick on a dry track, and of course being all-wheel-drive they have an inbuilt advantage when it rains - which is likely to happen on Sunday, according to the weather forecast. Our first target is to do well in our class, and then see how many of the Class A cars we can outlast for the outright placings."
Daniel said that the learning process will continue through Saturday morning's 40-minute final practice session, then 30-minute afternoon qualifying session, and Sunday's race.
"We have to go faster to put pressure on John Bowe/Paul Morris/Garry Holt in the other BMW, let alone the Class A cars. The decision on who will drive our car in qualifying will probably depend on the weather. If it's dry I might get to qualify the car, but if it's wet - which looks likely - then Paul Stubber will probably drive because he has more experience in these conditions."
Event Schedule
Saturday, February 13
7.30-8.10am - Practice 3
1.30-2.00pm - Qualifying, slowest half of the field
2.05-2.35pm - Qualifying, fastest half of the field
Sunday, February 14
6.30-6.30pm - Race
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