I am still waiting for my first race around the Brands Hatch GP track, what is oft touted as the best track in UK. However, this weekend would see several more firsts for me. Most of which were not welcommed!

However, first up was 2 days of testing on the tight and relentless Indy circuit. The slick shod 420R is a beast around the track but it is notoriously difficult to overtake around the track and so grid position and race craft are important.

Qualification

Grid position wasn’t going to be an issue though. We were again treated to a wet qualification session after several days of dry testing. It seems that 3rd time is a charm for me. Now more confident on the tyres and with a greater knowledge of Brands Indy, I was able to dial in some good laps and came out in 4th place on the main qualification session.

Superpole

That placed me in the Superpole session once more. The conditions were drying up every minute and it was clear that going out second in the Superpole was unlikely to be a good result. However, just as the preceeding session got tidied out on track, the rain started once more.

Instead of being a hinderance, the earlier lap was an advantage and I managed to make the most of it and slung it on 2nd place on the grid. A touch lucky perhaps but it was about the first time in the year where I felt like I’d done a reasonable job.

Race 1

Before the race, there was an incredibly emotional tribute to a marshal who had been killed the previous weekend at the cirquit. The mood was heavy and it’s a reminder that so many people allow us to do what we love to do and that it’s dangerous. They put themselves in the line of fire out of the love of the sport and it was a wakeup call to motorsport around the world of how dangerous our sport can be.

#ThankYouMarshals

Running early in the race in 3rd, things were looking good. I was shuffled slowly back behind various team mates as time went on but I was still feeling strong. However, a safety car meant that a reasonable safety margin to the car behind was eroded and I had to manage a restart. Starts and pack racing have, ultimately, been my donwnfall this season with a lack of confidence and endlessly having to learn and sometimes relearn lessons of hard racing.

By the flag, I was in 7th place. Just behind Jake Swan-Dixon. Whilst thanking the marshals, I failed to spot the queue of cars stopping unexpectedly at the end of the pitlane. By the time I clocked it, it was too late and I managed to hit the rear of Jakes car. Causing fairly large damage to his rear pannel and puncturing my radiator. A silly mistake and one that left me even more deflated! Jake was incredibly understaind under the circumstances and I’m grateful for that.

Race 2

Another diabolical start. Another slip back through the field. Another delay in getting dialed in and up to racing speed. We were into lap 4 before I was getting going and it took a good number more laps to catch up with the main race pack.

I had some good racing with Chris Aubrey and Tom Eden on my way back through the field to 6th place. However, after pulling a slight gap from Tom I felt a strange reaction from the car going out onto the start finish straight and the car didn’t pick up speed as normal.

Tom made his way back through into paddock and by the time I got to Surtees, I felt what I knew was a rear wheel failure. The car wiggled and sat down and I watched as my wheel overtook me. I was initially worried it was going to bounce back into me off the barrier but it crossed the track and sat on the infield, upright. My car ended in the gravel on the outside of Clearways.

A prop shaft had sheared and the whole wheel assembly had become detached. I watched the race finish without me. My first ever mechanical failure in my racing. Another first I wasn’t particularly happy to have but I’ve been lucky through my racing and the fact that this was the first time I hadn’t reached the flag because of the car is quite something.

Race 3

So, even after a good qualification and reasonable performance in the races, I found myself once again at the back of the grid.

It took me a while to get by a few cars in my now traditional slow start. Once the early laps had settled, I battled back through and caught up with my team mate Alex Jordan. Overtaking him for 8th on the last few laps. A poor set of results from what started off as a promising weekend.