Category Archives: Championship Event

Caterham Motorsport, Caterham Tracksport, Championship Event

Oulton Park Promise…

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Oulton Park is a long way away from home for me. I’ve not raced there before this weekend and have only made the trek up once, earlier this year, to turn some testing laps. However, the track itself is worth the effort.

I think it’s largely regarded as one of the best in the UK and you can see why. It has gradient, demanding corners, it takes no prisoners but is ultimately extremely satisfying to hook together into a good lap.

Testing still wasn’t looking ideal with my lap times some way off the ultimate pace. However, a very lose rear balance on the car wasn’t helping and a setup change going into qualifying felt a lot better.

Unfortunately, an abbreviated qualifying issue due to fog only left 3 laps to put a time in, and I succeeded in not doing so! That left me in 10th for race 1. But with the feeling that more performance would be available for the race.

A reasonable start and a fair opening few corners saw me in good position. Unfortunately, I was in completely the wrong position for a spin by Max going through turn 1 on lap 2. The inevitable carnage that resulted left me further down the order as people took advantage of the situation.

Unfortunately, the rest of the race was spent trying to get the places back lost from the lap 2 incident. I never really got to use the pace I felt I had. Having said that, the battle at the end with Christian was great fun and was nice to come out on top. 6th was the result. Much better feeling than past few race meets and still a feeling of more to come.

Because of Oulton’s noise restrictions, everything happens in one frantic day’s action.  That leads to inevitable brain ache as you try and process that you’ve got to do it all again a few hours after race 1 finishes and not with the normal sleep in between!

I guess things weren’t too bad though as I got one of my best starts, coming out of turn 1 in 4th place. And what was most pleasing was that for the first half of the race, it was a legitimate place and I was right with the lead pack and we were gapping the rest.

Henry and Dan didn’t work together well though and at around the half way point, they were slowing our groups progress and letting Jack Brown disappear in the lead. I could also see Christian and Max closing up behind. I took advantage of some more Dan / Henry battling to move forward and I was looking to get past Tim when a combination of waved yellows and fluid down on the track meant I overshot the second chicane.

Normally, this isn’t such an issue, however, to go off under waved yellows and subsequently past marshals pushing a car is an extremely bad thing.

These marshals put their lives at risk for us and so I was absolutely gutted to have let them down. I let it get to me and spent the rest of the race trailing Max as we caught up the lead pack – but the fight had gone. I was sure I’d be out of the  results after the inevitable trip to the clerks office.

An end result of 8th BUT with so much more promise that I’ve seen for the past 6 races that I couldn’t help but be fairly hopeful for the coming races at Silverstone.

And the meeting with the clerk? Well, watching the video back, there was no stationary yellow ahead of the double waved yellows and from the first point of being able to see the flags, I took the only course of action open to me. The reason for the run on was fluid down at that corner from another incident and I went by the marshals at around 20mph. No further action taken and so a positive end to a positive weekend.

Caterham Tracksport, Championship Event

Feeling blue at Brands

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The Brands weekend held so much promise, and it’s that reason that makes another poor performing weekend such a pain and disappointment.

With the new engine, I really hoped I’d cracked the power issues I’ve been seeing this year. However, that wasn’t to be. Things didn’t get off to a good start with an oil leak on Thursday evening that took all of Friday testing to get fully identified and sorted.

Come qualification, I ended up 15th. Granted, the top 16 were all covered by 0.5s. However, I could tell that the car wasn’t pulling as well as others around me and 15th is my worst qualification ever… by a long way!

Race 1 was in 30 degree heat. And, unfortunately, I had to pull out before the end due to a hot engine and a burning foot. I wasn’t enjoying the race as I was just falling backwards with a lack of power and so the pain in my right foot and left knee from the temperatures in the cockpit were enough to tip me into the pits and out of the race. Others ended the race with heat blisters and burns to their feet, which goes to show just how hot it gets in the footwell.

I therefore started race 2 from the back of the pack. I wanted to get through the pack fast to see if I could latch on to the tail of the front group but sadly, a botched start and a few delayed passes meant there was just too much of a gap by the time I got through the mid field.

I’ve only posted up the beginning part of the second race. It’s all I can bring myself to post. The only other time I haven’t posted full coverage from a weekend is Rockingham in my Academy year, where I threw away my championship chances into the turn 1 tyre wall.

I’m not quite at that low ebb at the moment, but I’m running out of places to go when searching for the missing car performance. I’m driving as hard as ever – but I just can’t keep up in a straight line.

Sad days.

 

Caterham Tracksport, Championship Event

Out of puff at Combe

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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.

Caterham Tracksport, Championship Event

Ups and Downs in the Sand Dunes of Zandvoort

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The long wait for the next race after Donington finally came to an end on the wet and windy Dutch shores at Circuit Park Zandvoort. A truly historic track, perched on the Sand Dunes.

Two days of testing didn’t get off to a very good start. Off the pace in the morning and then a failed gearbox wiped out most of the remainder of the day.

My engine power also seemed to be getting worse. It’s not felt spritely since the off season testing and the hills of the Zandvoort circuit seemed to really emphasise its lack of grunt.

I knew qualification was going to be a struggle and so it proved. 8th was the absolute maximum I could get out of the car and that’s my worst quali result to date.

Unfortunately, whilst pushing to stay in contact with the lead group, I ran wide early in race 1. This put me further down the order and I spent the rest of the race trying hard to maintain positions.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t survive the long straights and slipped further and further down the order. I ended the race in 12th.

That didn’t leave me in the most positive outlook for race 2. However, Sunday dawned wet and windy. In those conditions, engine power wouldn’t be such a problem.

A relatively timid start to ensure no incidents in the early stages followed by trying to be as opportunist as possible to work through the field.

It took a while to get past a few drivers, which ultimately meant that I couldn’t get right to the front whilst the conditions were still wet.

The drying track at the end of the race meant I couldn’t catch Jack or Max, but a final lap spin by Max going for the win gifted me second.

That was some medicine for the disappointment of the opening few days of the weekend and it felt like a win for me.

Time to get the engine and gearbox sorted ahead of Castle Combe. Get back stronger and back on the pace!