The Caterham paddock are heading to Brands Hatch this weekend, for 3 days of fast and frantic action. Brands has been good to me over the years and I’m hoping my luck will hold out into 2015.
Saturday 21st – Quali – 09:00
Saturday 21st – Race 1 – 13:05
Sunday 22nd – Race 2 – 10:45
Live timing for the weekend is available at : http://www.tsl-timing.com/event/153433
Castle Combe saw the Caterham Motorsport Championships tip into the second half of their respective seasons.
There’s been plenty of superb racing on show and the contenders have laid down their points foundations.
But, with 6 races still to go, nothings guaranteed at this point.
Rui Ferreira has moved seamlessly from the sprints into the circuit races. With 3 wins out of the 4 events so far, it’s going to be hard for the chasers to catch him.
Currently best positioned is Kieran McAleer, who’s been on the podium twice so far. He would have had a win to his name but for track limits infringements at Castle Combe and this is bound to make him hungry to make amends in the final 2 races.
David Bevan had a DNF at Combe, which means he’s showing further down the order than his results have suggested. Once dropped scores are taken into account at the end of the year, he’ll likely feature. He qualifies better than he finishes, so that is something that needs to be worked on.
Rob Yates has featured near the front at all event and this consistency has kept him close to Kieran in the points. He was also able to pick up the win when Rui faltered.
Of the rest of the pack, Jon Curry has proved far more adept at racing than sprinting and a brilliant 2nd at Combe should mean he has the momentum in the second half of the year.
Andrew Perry sits atop the table, with 2 wins and a second place. He seems able to rack up points well. However, Daniel Bemner is only 4 points back, also having had 2 wins so far – only a disappointing Aintree event separates the two.
It will be fascinating seeing this fight develop. If anything goes wrong for Dan or Andy, Russ Olivant and Lee Collins are perfectly placed to pick up the pieces. Both have had great consistent podium results and if they can find the winning formula, the fight could be 4 way by the time we reach Silverstone.
Daniel Quintero and Chris Aubrey will need to figure out how to break the dominance of the top 4. However, both have proved that they can get close.
The Roadsports have been a rollercoaster to watch from the stands. At times, it appeared that they would never get to the end of the race with everyone in one piece.
However, Zandvoort proved it was possible and Combe was an absolute demonstration of brilliant driving and racing. Finally – they are getting it together and it has signs that the second half of the year could be very different from the first.
Paul Aram has got a significant points gap currently. However, some of that is going to be wiped out by dropped scores at the end of the year. Paul’s proved that he can win and but for a safety car at Donington wiping out a massive lead, he’d be even more points in advance of the field.
Anthony Barnes continues to improve and consistency has placed him second in the standings. A DNF is also currently seeing him appear further away from Paul than he should rightly be.
David Webber has perhaps seen the most inconsistency so far. Some great wins have been soured by on track incident and spins. Firmly now thinking of the championship in the seond half of the season Combe could have been a turning point – and there’s still time to catch the leaders.
Damien Milkins and Steve McCulley have been right up in the mix. However, McCulley has had more than his fair share of blameless incident on track which has effectively ended his Championship charge. Wins could be on the cards for either of them by the end of the season.
The Wigg brothers have courted some controversy through the year but they remain as fast as ever. Olly put on a dominant display at Combe, with only Webber able to keep pace.
The Wiggs will be looking to head the field home more as the year goes on but with their championships effectively over, they will be aiming to take as much silverware as possible.
Of the other drivers, none have managed to be consistent enough so far to mount a serious challenge. However, the second half of the season could be just what’s needed to spur them on.
The lead pack at the front of Tracksport has regularly been 10 cars strong. Often more. With countless lead changes. This randomness has only been broken by one constant – Tim Dickens and his relentless podiums. Just one miss so far, and 5th place is hardly a disaster! Even at this, the half way point of the season, Tim’s lead is looking fairly insurmountable.
Not only has Tim remained consistent, he’s also proved perfectly capable of mounting the top step. Something that wasn’t certain ahead of the year.
Henry Heaton is next up – and has a clear margin over the chasing pack. The wins and podiums that Tim has left have usually been taken by Henry. However, a few moderately bad rounds have meant he will need Tim to slip a little in the second half of the year to be able to mount a comeback charge.
Once dropped scores come into play, the chasing pack will close the gaps at the top of the table. Chris Hutchinson will have to have an unbelievable end of season to maintain contention for the final podium step of the championship. Dan Gore and Jack Brown have managed a great string of results. Dan has a couple of wins to his name and only a non-finish where he was taken out by an errant Cedric Bloch is holding his current score back.
Jack Brown has also seen a huge step forward in performance from the Roadsport year. He’s crossed the line first to break his win duck and put the car on the podium enough to show he’s going to be right in the fight come the end of the season.
Max Robinson, Jack Sales, Richard Ainscough, Max McDonagh, Mike Evans – all have been on or close to a podium this year.
One things for sure, things will change over the next half of the year but it’s hard to see top step changing.
I didn’t even mention Phil Jenkins in my pre-season preview. That’s certainly proved to be a remarkable oversight given his stella form through the season so far. Only off the podium once, he’s strung together a set of results that’s the envy of all the chasing pack. His margin is currently 28 points over Steve Nuttall. However, drop scores do level things out somewhat.
And that’s because Steve has been a bit boom / bust so far. Either podiums, or nowhere. So long as he can ensure he doesn’t have any further bad finishes, he’s still very much in the battle for the championship.
Clive Richards has picked up wins where Steve and Phil have left them and has proved capable of making his car wide and assertive where needed. He’s also pretty much level with Steve once drops are taken into account.
Danny Killeen is sat in 4th place currently, but again as bad results to drop. He’s been prominently in the lead pack all year and will be looking to continue that form.
Will Smith has carried his Roadsport speed straight to Supersport and has regularly competed for the podium. He’ll be looking to take the top step before the season is out and is well in the battle for a podium in the overall championship.
The rest of the pack have fallen slightly off pace. Andres Sinclair has often been at the front of the pack but 3 non-scores have severely compromised his overall standings. Nick Portlock has string consistent results together, but not quite close enough to the lead pack to challenge for top spots.
There are some good drivers who could yet get to the podiums but it’s looking like it will be the top 5 who are fighting it out and Phil Jenkins looking favourite at this stage.
The Superlight grid are now well over their half-way point in their season. Only 4 races remain and it’s looking rather like David Robinson would have to have a terrible sting of results to end up anywhere but at the top of the tables.
Aaron Head has once again been nose to tail with David for the majority of the season, however, most of the time, he’s ended up second and on occasion has slipped behind a rejuvenated Sean Byrne.
Sean has lived up to the pace he showed at the tail end of the 2014 season but, vitally, has also cut out the mistakes to become a permanent feature at the front of all the races. Aaron and David may be out of reach once dropped scores come into play, but a podium position at the end of season awards ceremony would be hugely deserved.
Lee Wiggins, Matt Dyer and Jon Mortimer have been having their own epic battles. Most of the time, just off the ultimate lead pace, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm! All have made the podium at least once and each will be looking for more before the season is over.
I came into two days testing at Castle Combe really hopeful that my car problems were resolved by a engine timing correction made at the Caterham factory. Sadly though, by Friday evening, I pretty much knew the weekend was going to be an exercise in damage limitation.
Qualifying flattered to deceive, with a 5th place after a last ditch tow fest lap and I was happy enough with the effort.
In race 1, I made another poor start and an overly cautious Quarry saw me drop to around 8th. Unfortunately, things didn’t get much better from then on. I was a sitting duck on the straights with a lack of grunt coming from the engine, Without a full tow from the car in front, I wasn’t able to keep up in a straight line.
Some early defensive driving kept me on the tail of the front pack – and there I stayed for the rest of the 30 minute race. I did briefly pass a few cars but it wasn’t to last.
A bit of back-packer luck on the last lap saw me take 9th over the line.
I did do a rain dance over night but the weather was pristine come race time. So, it was going to be another long race attempting to keep up with the lead group and holding off the second pack.
One big moment going through Camp corner caught my attention late on in the race and I was gunning for Richard Ainscough at the end of the race until I had to drop back a little whilst overtaking some back markers.
Another 9th place finish.
I would say I got the most I could out of myself and the car. I feel that Castle Combe might suit my style so it’s a shame things weren’t fully resolved with the car. However, two top 10’s and there’s still just under half the season left to go.
A quick mention to the crowds at the circuit! It was brilliant to see so many people on the banks watching the races. I hope the Caterham brigade put on a good show for them all. The excellent circuit comms were also a real bonus and added so much to the atmosphere.
A HUGE shout out to the Caterham support team over the weekend. They had everything thrown at them and the managed to get everyone back out on track and competing.
Finally – thanks as ever to all my friends and family for turning up to support me. There were loads of you this weekend!! Sorry the results weren’t properly there. We’ll get it sorted in the end.
Next weekend, 18th / 19th July, sees rounds 7 and 8 of the Caterham Tracksport Championship at Castle Combe.
This will be the halfway point of the season, around a fast, old school circuit. It’s been a number of years since Caterham’s were last at Combe and everyone I speak to says that Combe promotes great, close races.
Qualification – Sat, 18th July – 12:15 – 12:35
Race 1 – Sat, 18th July – 17:25 – 17:55
Race 2 – Sun, 19th July – 13:40 – 14:10
You’ll be able to follow Live Timing over the weekend here: http://www.tsl-timing.com/event/152931
I’ve got a lot of friends and family heading over for the fun and games. Fingers crossed for a good weekend!
