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Bicknell PS7 shows pace on debut.

After 2 years of hard work by Rob Bicknell on the new Bicknell PS7, a one-off car to take on the might of manufacturers Juno, Chiron, Norma and Ligier ,not an easy task.

Things finally got underway at Donington Park last weekend(12-13 April) in the first VdeV UK race. It was a weekend of mixed emotions, expectations were fairly high due to positive testing, but you never can be quite sure till the car runs in a competitive environment.

With Ben Clucas and Rachel Green driving we knew we had a strong driver pairing, this was confirmed in Saturday morning practice as the car went very well, only getting pipped for fastest lap right at the end of the session. Still 2nd fastest on its first run is pretty good so perhaps the team’s expectations were not too high after all.

In qualifying in the afternoon the weather conditions turned somewhat worst and as the the car had never been out in the wet before the team were unsure on how it would behave. With Rachel in the car first she soon calmed the team’s early fears by setting 3^rd fastest time early on. Once it started drying out the team put on some slicks, changed some settings and sent Clucas out. He was quick immediately, going 2 seconds faster than anybody else.

Sadly things didn’t go quite a planned after this, with 15 minutes to go Ben came in saying he couldn’t change down. The gear change cable had come lose and had fouled on the exhaust causing it to break. A potential pole slipped through the team’s fingers as the track was at it’s quickest while they were stationary in the pits and had to settle for 9th

Rachel started the race and was going really well getting up to 7^th, setting quick  times in the process. It then started to drizzle, however this didn’t impede Rachel’s progress as she was flying, setting quickest lap at that point, when gremlins struck again with a damaged exhaust.

The team elected to leave her out, there was still a chance of a good result and lap times were still competitive when suddenly she ran out of fuel just before he scheduled stop. Net result several laps lost as she was towed in.

An inspection of the broken exhaust revealed  more damage than the team  first thought and with it increased fuel consumption.

After refuelling Ben took over, putting in a blistering performance with lap times just a fraction off the leader, looking at the data the team could have set fastest lap by some margin if they hadn’t had the exhaust problem.

They eventually finished the race in eleventh, second fastest just 3 tenths shy of the works Norma,, however the main thing was they finished, despite the problem with the exhaust. Next time, with better luck they should be on the podium.

The future of the car is not yet known, but hopefully the unique Bicknell PS7 will be sharp end of the grid in VdeV very soon.

Rob Bickell said after the race,”I’m gutted that we had the problems with the manifold, but for that to be the only problem on its first outing and to set the times we did shows the potential of the car. It certainly didn.t go unnoticed and we got some lovely comments on the car from fellow competitors.”  He added, “ Rachel really enjoyed her first outing in this type of car and was very impressive in the dry but sensational when it started raining in the race, Ben’s pace is well known but he was fantastic all weekend and felt sure we would have been quickest without the problems.”

Ben Clucas was also positive, "It was always going to be difficult given the short time frame to get everything ready, and the team all did a great job to be as competitive as we were. The car was really quick the whole weekend and it was just a shame we weren’t able to show it’s full potential. Given the problems we had during the race, I think to set the lap times we did despite them just shows how quick the car would have been if we hadn’t those little niggles (3 tenths off quickest). Overall though it was a really fun weekend and I would love to have another go.”