Archie Hamilton’s Spa Reflections

DSC has been keeping an eye on the progress of Archie Hamilton as he looks to find a way into endurance racing.  The 2011 Spa 24 hours saw his 24 hour racing debut and we asked Archie to take us through his experience there.

Spa was an amazing experience. Obviously it wasn’t the result we wanted and it’s taken a few days to get over the huge disappointment of not finishing after getting to hour 20 in a podium position. On the plus side it’s fired me up for more.

I think my preparation really helped. I’d been on the simulator at iZone with John Pratt helping me to learn the circuit in both day and night conditions and then drove the track itself in a Lotus Exige with Euan Hankey who’s my driver coach. I also had Stewart Wild from Formula Fitness helping with my nutrition and training. Stewart was at Spa and made sure I was eating and sleeping at the right times and Euan was on hand to keep me focussed.

It’s the biggest event I’ve raced in and everything, from the drivers’ parade, autograph signing and just being in the paddock was brilliant. It’s amazing that people knew who I was and wanted to talk and get autographs and quite a few knew about my grandfather too.

Not so brilliant were the niggles we had during practice, so the first time I got in the BMW was during qualifying in the wet. I had a few laps to learn the grip and after that it was fine. The car was great though and had amazing downforce which was great in the wet especially. The team were good and being the only English person was a novelty. I learned a huge amount from Xavier Maassen. To be not too far off his pace was a real boost. It was a great team effort and took some coordinating – four drivers, team manager, engineers and mechanics as well as everyone supporting.

Once the race started it was a waiting game as I didn’t have my first stint until 11pm. I just tried to do the best job I could, learning from the other drivers, sleeping and preparing as best I could. It’s so different from my Formula Renault racing – nothing like the 20 minute sprints. Doing two hours and trying to drive at 80% instead of 100% takes a little adjusting to. It was a case of staying off the kerbs, working through the traffic quickly but letting through the faster cars, being consistent and just keeping the car going. The biggest challenge was driving at night in the wet. I couldn’t see the condition of the track so I had to learn to drive just by feel.

I think I can be proud of my contribution. In both stints I handed the car back in a podium contending place and I helped make progress through the field. I want to race at Le Mans more than ever before. It’s like an addiction and I can see why my grandfather loved it so much. I’m hoping I might get in another event in a sportcar before the end of this season and would love to do a full endurance championship next year.