Category Archives: Caterham Roadsport

Caterham Roadsport, Championship Event

Two sunny races at Brands Indy

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Ahead of the weekend, I was worried about my lack of running at Brands. I had turned some laps earlier in the year, however, it was icy at the time, so not really any benefit for the perfect conditions we were faced with over the weekend.

Henry managed to pip me to pole though by a few thousandths of a second. Jack was only a few thousandths further back as well. Unbelievably close.

On the Friday I tried to find a nice balance and rhythm around the track and figure out where I was strong and weak. With such a busy test session on such a short track, I had thought that it was going to be hard to achieve. However, it was great and we only had a couple of Red flags that interrupted the sessions later in the day.

Quali took place early doors on Saturday morning. The track was still damp early on but with the sun already blazing down, it only took a short while for the racing line to dry out. I was amazed on finishing the session to see I’d managed to drop in a 54.79s lap. I hadn’t managed a 54 bracket lap at all in testing. Henry managed to pip me to pole though by a few thousandths of a second. Jack was only a few thousandths further back as well. Unbelievably close.

My start for race 1 was not at all bad. I challenged around turn 1 for the lead before tucking in behind Henry into Druids. However, the conservative approach left the outside open to Dan and he passed me down into Graham Hill. That also left the door open for Jack to stick his nose in and, although I managed to hold him off into Surtees, I couldn’t stop him on the run down to Paddock. I had thought the inside line was shut out but clearly I’d left one car width available – which Jack duly stuck his car into.

At that point, it wasn’t looking too promising. 2nd down to 4th. However, the lead pack would stick together as a 4 for the remainder of the race, with Will and Lee joining in the fun briefly after the safety car which came out for a stranded car.

Towards the end of the race, Henry was really struggling for rear tyre grip and I was able to find a gap and squeeze past. Some defending saw Henry fade slightly and over the last two laps I tried everything to close the gap to Dan but only managed to get to within 4 10ths at the line.

3rd place was a welcome result – especially as we weren’t racing with a split grid. However, Jack finishing 1st wasn’t ideal! He’s on such a fantastic run of form at the moment. I managed to pick up a new lap record, which helped limit the point damage slightly and Will’s lack of pace left him in 6th position at the flag.

I snuck around the outside of Paddock – which isn’t something you can say every day.

Race 2 was slightly marred by 2 safety car periods so battles never fully matured. Oil down at Druids caused a number of incidents, including contact between Henry, Dan and myself. However, even though the battles didn’t get a chance to fully play out, they were intense and extremely hard fought.

On the penultimate lap, I finally managed to get around Jack Sales for the lead. I snuck around the outside of Paddock – which isn’t something you can say every day. I held him until Paddock the next time round but he returned the favour and took me around the outside.

I should have been good for second at that point. However, bad defending left me exposed to an on form Dan and he took his chance with a great side by side moment through Surtees. I almost got the run back at him across the line but ended up 3rd once more, by only thousandths of a second.

Dan’s racing all weekend had moved up a notch and he was rightly pleased with his results. A pleasure to race with him. Jack’s mid season run continues with impeccable race craft backed up with raw speed. Henry’s rollercoaster season continues but racing with him is always a highlight and, although I didn’t get to play with him a lot on track, Will rescued a weekend and his championship by pushing his car higher up the points than it seemed to want to go.

As the dust settles, I’m back at the top of the championship. Jack is one point back and Will a further point behind Jack. However, that doesn’t give the whole picture and I need some more great results to keep in with a shout at the title.

I shall continue to push hard at Croft. As ever, I can’t wait to get back on track. It would be nice to get back that winning feeling again :)

 

Caterham Roadsport

Back to Brands

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OK. Time for another race weekend. Brands Hatch Indy on 2nd 3rd Aug. Another huge entry means another split grid weekend (booo).

You can follow along with live timing at http://www.tsl-timing.com (search for Caterham over the weekend and you should get a live timing link.)

Quali: Sat 2nd Aug 0900
Race 1: Sat 2nd Aug at either 1145 or 1305
Race 2: Sun 3rd Aug at either 1000 or 1105

(Which races I’m in depends on quali and race 1 result.)

Sounds like it’s going to be busy on the banks over the weekend and weather doesn’t look too bad. Why not pop over and say hi!

Caterham Roadsport, Championship Event

Solid weekend at the Rock

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What can you do! I have a weekend where I finish 2nd in both my races but still end up losing out valuable points to both Jack and Will! I didn’t make any major errors all weekend but that seems to be par for the course in this years Roadsport championship. Not only can you not make errors, but you also have to be right on your game all the time, or you’re nowhere.

I am endlessly proud that I can even keep up with the guys and girls on the grid, let alone compete right at the pointy end. I’m far too close to the whole thing to really offer an unbiased opinion but I strongly believe that history will eventually show just how fast the young guns at the front of this grid are when they ultimately go on to even bigger and better things.

Rockingham is unusual for Caterhams, in that the tow is pretty irrelevant for 3/4 of the lap. It’s therefore harder to make up ground.

In the car, I was very pleased with my qualifying effort. A couple of missed lap opportunities, but I improved on testing times by 0.7s. However, this left me down in 6th. However, there were only a few 10ths between 2nd and 6th and the split grid over the weekend would mean I’d start 3rd for my first race.

Race 1 was exceptionally hot. I lost a place to Max off the line and by the time I’d managed to get back passed, Dan and Henry had a gap. Rockingham is unusual for Caterhams, in that the tow is pretty irrelevant for 3/4 of the lap. It’s therefore harder to make up ground. For the first half of the race, I treated the tyres gently – trying not to spin up the rears or scrub the fronts too much. At the half-way point, I started to push hard and managed to reel in Dan bit by bit. With 2 laps to go, I was able to get past and then drew out just enough to protect the place.

I was really happy that I’d got the most out of the car and myself. My lap times were consistently within a few 10ths of my quali times.

I could see that Jack was down in 5th at that point, so I tried to make a break. However, it was never going to last.

Race 2 put me up against Jack. A soaking track 30 mins before the race started saw me make a bad tyre choice. I was on wet tyres and the track was almost completely dry by the time the race started. I finally made a good start off the line and held first all the way down to turn 1. However, a mega move by James around the outside of the first hairpin meant I was in second for the first lap. Into lap 2, I had a run out of Yentop and managed to sneak the lead through Chapmans. It’s not a normal overtaking place but a slight mistake by James gave me just enough momentum to pull it off.

I could see that Jack was down in 5th at that point, so I tried to make a break. However, it was never going to last. Jack’s pace was around 1 second faster than me during the race and it didn’t take long for him to cut through the field and pass me for the lead. I tried everything to keep up and felt I was getting a lot out of the car but I just couldn’t hold on and had to watch as he disappeared up the road.

I have to say that a clear 2nd is a great result, but I feel disappointed that I wasn’t able to compete in that race. The tyres didn’t help, but I certainly don’t think they were the whole difference in pace. Jack dealt with the damp areas better, so there’s more to learn there.

Time to re-focus and get ready for more great racing in a few weeks time at Brands Hatch. I really hope that we don’t have another split grid there. We’ve already proved that we love a good close battle and chopping the grid in half meant that we didn’t get that full fun factor.

Caterham Roadsport

Heading to half time at Rockingham

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Rockingham will see the official half way point of the season. Due to the sheer numbers of Roadsport cars in action, we’re running a split grid format. We will all qualify together, but then we will be split into groups. That means we don’t actually know what time we’ll be racing!

Here are all the Roadsport race / quali times:

  • Quali: Sat 12th July, 10:00 – 10:20
  • Race A: Sat 12th July, 13:15 – 13:35
  • Race B: Sat 12th July, 14:25 – 14:45
  • Race C: Sun 13th July, 11:30 – 11:50
  • Race D: Sun 13th July, 13:35 – 13:55

You can follow along with Live Timing from TSL Timing (search for Roadsport on the homepage and you should be presented with a Live Timing Link.)

You can also follow along with live commentary through the weekend from Downforce Radio. They will be offering up live commentary, driver interviews etc throughout the whole weekend and really are worth a listen in!

Fingers crossed, my race goes a little better at Rockingham this time. In the Academy, it only lasted one corner!