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!
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 :)
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!
The emotional rollercoaster continues. It’s an incredibly long way up to Croft. Next stop is Newcastle if you overshoot! The circuit is properly old fashioned. Not in a bad way – in a ‘what club motorsport is about’ type of way. Testing went very well and I found the pace quickly. A best of 1:37.29 wasn’t bettered all weekend – although, there are no points for being fast in testing!
Qualification
I found my sea legs and turned in a great final lap to take pole by 0.6s.
No points for qualifying either, but we were all due medals for getting out on track in soaking wet conditions. I haven’t been on track in conditions that bad throughout Roadsports so it was a voyage of discovery!
However, I found my sea legs and turned in a great final lap to take pole by 0.6s. That’s a pretty good start to the weekend.
Race 1
Come the race, the conditions were mainly dry but with some fully damp areas on track. I got good start and remained side by side with Will through the first section of the lap. I took the outside line at Tower and got my car ahead, however, a damp inside to the corner saw Will slide me off track on the exit and that meant immediately dropping to 5th and the next lap Lee put me back to 6th.
I never managed to shake Lee Bristow from my tail for more than a corner at a time
At this point, things weren’t looking at all good. Through the race, I managed to haul back up to 4th, which turned to 3rd when Jack missed his brake pedal at Sunny in and spun out. I never managed to shake Lee Bristow from my tail for more than a corner at a time and the relentless pressure eventually told on the last lap. Going into the complex, I managed to clip my accelerator and ran wide – letting a podium slip away and ending up 5th. Queue bad mood.
Race 2
Starting 5th and with the top 10 cars all capable of circulating within a few 10ths of each others times, this was always going to be a hard race! Another good get away but nowhere for the car to go saw me slip behind Tim Dickens into 6th. Jack Sales didn’t take long at all to get up to 7th from his 10th place start and the usual balancing act of trying to attack ahead and defend behind started in anger.
Starting 5th and with the top 10 cars all capable of circulating within a few 10ths of each others times, this was always going to be a hard race!
At least 4 times, Jack and I went side by side for extended periods. He’s a master behind the wheel and is a pleasure to race with. It took everything I had to keep him at bay and an opportunistic move around the outside of Tim going into turn one at least took the relentless pressure from the red machine away for a bit. Not that Tim wasn’t shoving his nose in all the wrong places!
The Roadsport train never really relented but a slightly missed overtake move by Dan meant I could take some speed through the Jim Clark esses and get through to 3rd. Almost immediately, the Sea’s parted as Henry missed his braking point at Sunny in and I got through to 2nd.
I chased down Will and sat on his tail for 2 laps – trying for moves where I could but alway mindful of the previous day and not wanting to throw another result out the window. That left me in 2nd at the line and MUCH happier than the previous day.
With his double win and a fastest lap in race 1, Will has almost two hands on the trophy now. I haven’t done the maths but I’m sure I’ll have at least a mathematical chance at Silverstone. Whilst there’s still a chance – never give up hope!
