This coming weekend the Caterham Motorsport paddock is uprooting itself from the UK and travelling to Holland for a spot of fun in the (hopefully) sun.
No TV coverage for this one – but there are still ways to follow along with all the action.
Back to Donington again. This time for the second race weekend of the 2015 season.
Testing was positive and my speed carried through to qualifying with the second pole of the year. This time by a margin of nearly 0.5secs. Head winds meant tow was all important down the back straights and I lucked in.
Race 1 had 3 distinct phases. There was an early ‘sorting out’ phase. Some great battling with the lead pack. Around 10 mins into the race, Henry and I managed to break clear of the pack and worked together to build a gap over the rest of the field.
Unfortunately, all hell broke lose elsewhere on the track causing retirements, trips to the gravel and parts of Caterham strewn all over the track. This lead to a safety car period and the lead that Henry and I had built, evaporated.
The final phase of the race began at the restart and didn’t relent until the flag. Unfortunately, I found myself in the wrong place at several times, suffering from the mistakes of others. This saw me slide from the lead, right back to 8th place.
An accident caused by a, frankly ridiculous, move by Cedric into the final corner saw Dan taken out of the race and I had to fight to avoid being involved – I missed by millimeters… However, Max McDonagh was able to sneak past on my inside and I crossed the line in 5th.
A last minute brake pad change on Sunday morning, just ahead of the race, focused my mind and got the adrenaline pumping.
Another race of 3 phases. A similar shorting out phase at the beginning of proceedings with jostling throughout the lead pack. Again, Henry and I managed to just sneak a lead over the chasing pack as Mike Evans, Jack Sales and Dan Gore made amazing progress to the lead group from the back of the grid. The pre-safety car period the day before had been a good rehearsal and Henry and I built on our lead for the next 15-20mins of the race.
A couple of silly errors on the early parts of the final lap saw me drop away from Henry a little too much and make my attempt for the lead a little more difficult than it needed to be. I gave it a good shot but ultimately crossed the line second.
That top step remains elusive. But taking silverware home and getting to stand on the podium again is brilliant and the feeling will never grow old. I said ahead of the season that these podiums would prove much harder to pick up. However that makes the achievement all the more sweet.
As ever, thanks to all my friends and family for their support and help over the weekend. I hope I repaid that just a little :)
The start of a new season is always a fantastic mix of emotions. There’s excitement, nervous energy and a massive air of anticipation that hangs around the track. More than ever this year, the sense of ‘family’ and general paddock spirit was palpable. Having had to say goodbye to Pete Fortune far too soon earlier in the year, the feeling of attachment between drivers and the paddock as a whole was closer than ever.
Coming into the pre-event testing, I’d been off the pace. However, Snetterton is a track I really enjoy and I appeared to have taken a step forward. This was confirmed by the time qualifying arrived with my fastest ever lap of Snetterton, very nearly 1 second below lap record pace and nearly 0.4s quicker than Jack Sales in 2nd place.
A great start to the weekend.
The long wait to our first race was punctuated by an extremely poignant and entirely fitting slow parade lap in memory of Pete Fortune. A massive train of Caterhams snaked it’s way around the Snetterton track in a show of respect and it was a very choking experience and one I am extremely proud to have played my part in.
Come the race, I was determined to make a reasonable start. 2014 had been a hit and miss affair with my starts and so it was a relief that the car surged forward well when the lights went out. Jack Sales and Tim Dickens managed to overhaul me in the opening corners however, the tow down the Bentley straight was as important as ever and the only guarantee was that coming onto the straight in the lead was not a good idea.
What followed in the next 28 minutes of racing was simply phenomenal to be a part of. Countless lead changes. Countless overtakes. 4 wide racing. It was a joy to be a part of it and a joy to experience the skill, judgement and downright talent of the drivers I get to race with.
Judge for yourself in the video.
It’s hard to pick yourself up again after a race like that. Spending the evening with everyone at a local pub was a great way to start the process.
It was grey and overcast for day 2. Even though we had a long time till our afternoon race, I rocked up nice and early and watched Will Smith have a fantastic recovery drive in Supersports.
When we finally reached our grid time, a few whisps of white smoke coming from under the bonnet indicated issues to come. I put it down to oil dribbles from when I’d topped up pre race. The early race was great. I made it from 5th to the lead in short order and stayed there, on and off, for 5 laps. However, oil spraying out of my car was indicative that more was wrong than a slight spillage when topping up the oil. I’d left the oil filler cap off.
At around lap 5 the car began sliding on it oil and by lap 8 I was suffering with a serious lack of grip. I slipped to 10th but managed to make a couple of places back before the flag. Jumping out of the car at the end I was surprised by just how much oil there was. A post mortem by the Caterham team confirmed that the impossible is possible… the engine had survived. I was left with oil at the minimum level and no apparent damage.
I left Snetterton with mixed emotions. Sad that a silly mistake during prep meant I couldn’t figure in the standings… but absolutely blown away by just how competitive everyone is.
Finally, given that I entered the weekend off the pace – I was proud that this old man can still rock it with the young guns.
Donington is only 3 weeks away. What the heck will happen there!!? Looking forward to finding out.
Ridiculous that we’re already at the end of the 2014 season. Yesterday I was at Snetterton shaking everyone’s hand before the season started and today, I’m home from Silverstone having competed 14 races of relentless battling.
I’m not overly keen on Silverstone International as a track. It’s fun to initially learn but once you’ve found the commitment it needs, ultimately, the pace is not found with driving skill, but with following someone. However, that does lead to some truly epic battles being fought out as clumps of cars circulate and can’t shake each other off and, sure enough, the Roadsport grid put on a great show for the large crowd of spectators that had all turned up to support.
Qualification was soaking wet. Having not driven Silverstone in the wet wince the monsoon of our final Academy race last year, the first part of the session was figuring out if there was any grip anywhere… (there isn’t.) Having made the call at Snetterton and Croft to leave the car very stiff on setup, I again plumped for that decision. However, the front end of the car just wasn’t prepared to grip enough in these conditions and I struggled to get turned while retaining any speed. That left me in 6th on the grid and off the pace. Half way through the session, I was down in 12th.
It was a great battle. It’s always a great battle. One day, I will figure out how to win!
6th is my worst starting position ever. Rockingham would have been 6th but for the fact we had a split grid. However, the track was drying fast in the afternoon and the left side of the grid was far drier than the right. As the lights went out, my car shot forward, whilst those on the right of the track bogged down with wheel spin. That immediately saw me in 3rd place. Once a frustrating combination of yellow flags went away in the early stages, I was free to push on and having made it to the lead I pushed as hard as I could to try and break away from the mob of cars still fighting it out.
That worked, to the tune of 1.5 seconds lead. However, that wasn’t enough to shake off Jack Sales, who had also broken clear out of the pack. Over the following couple of laps, the DRS like tow pulled Jack back to my car and he sat there, waiting! All the time, we were pulling away from the battle for 3rd and all the time, I knew that Jack was just waiting for the last lap board to show!
Last time down hanger straight, I tried to double bluff him and we went into Stowe side by side. But Jack had his nose ahead coming out of the corner. Into Vale I was on the outside. I braked as late as I dared and, as it transpired, too late. I went wide at the corner, but Jack had gone wider, and off the track. However, I couldn’t pull it back around as there wasn’t the space and the outside of the track was still wet. Around club I tried another cut back but the line at Silverstone comes very quickly out the final corner and I ended up a 10th back.
It was a great battle. It’s always a great battle. One day, I will figure out how to win!
Will ended up finishing 7th. This saw the Championship close up dramatically. It was all going down to the last race of the season. That only seemed right after the year we’ve had.
Race 2 saw a very damp track again. This time, the early morning sun and lack of cars running around hadn’t had a chance to create a dry line. But, as the sun got stronger, it was only going to get better as out race went on.
Again, I made the decision to keep the car stiff and at the start of the race. Off the line, I got too much wheel spin and immediately dropped to 6th. Through lap 2 that had seen me slide down to 8th and on lap 3, I started in 9th place. The car was not enjoying the conditions and I was trying too hard to make up the difference. However, as I learned the track conditions and as the drying line appeared, I picked up the pace. Once I’d got back past James and Will, I was able to span the gap that had formed to the battle for 3rd. I used the tow that had been used by Jack the day before to skip past and get to 3rd. However, Dan wasn’t going to sit down and take that and we swapped places once more before I finally got a small gap.
It’s been a fantastic year. I’ve had a brilliant time. There’s nothing I want to do more.
That gap just hung on through the race and although I was catching Jack and Tim out front at the end of the race, I couldn’t get back in contention and I crossed the line in 3rd.
Jack had once again won the race and with Will having only recovered back to 5th, that saw them tied on points. However, countback on number of wins saw Jack take the title. I ended the season 4 points back from the top two. Stats are a bitch! I had a great weekend, with great results, but I still managed to lose 2nd place in the Championship!
It’s been a fantastic year. I’ve had a brilliant time. There’s nothing I want to do more. Best of all, I get to share every weekend with friends and family who love it just as much.
Thank you to EVERYONE who makes this happen. See you next year for more of the same!
