What can you do! I have a weekend where I finish 2nd in both my races but still end up losing out valuable points to both Jack and Will! I didn’t make any major errors all weekend but that seems to be par for the course in this years Roadsport championship. Not only can you not make errors, but you also have to be right on your game all the time, or you’re nowhere.
I am endlessly proud that I can even keep up with the guys and girls on the grid, let alone compete right at the pointy end. I’m far too close to the whole thing to really offer an unbiased opinion but I strongly believe that history will eventually show just how fast the young guns at the front of this grid are when they ultimately go on to even bigger and better things.
Rockingham is unusual for Caterhams, in that the tow is pretty irrelevant for 3/4 of the lap. It’s therefore harder to make up ground.
In the car, I was very pleased with my qualifying effort. A couple of missed lap opportunities, but I improved on testing times by 0.7s. However, this left me down in 6th. However, there were only a few 10ths between 2nd and 6th and the split grid over the weekend would mean I’d start 3rd for my first race.
Race 1 was exceptionally hot. I lost a place to Max off the line and by the time I’d managed to get back passed, Dan and Henry had a gap. Rockingham is unusual for Caterhams, in that the tow is pretty irrelevant for 3/4 of the lap. It’s therefore harder to make up ground. For the first half of the race, I treated the tyres gently – trying not to spin up the rears or scrub the fronts too much. At the half-way point, I started to push hard and managed to reel in Dan bit by bit. With 2 laps to go, I was able to get past and then drew out just enough to protect the place.
I was really happy that I’d got the most out of the car and myself. My lap times were consistently within a few 10ths of my quali times.
I could see that Jack was down in 5th at that point, so I tried to make a break. However, it was never going to last.
Race 2 put me up against Jack. A soaking track 30 mins before the race started saw me make a bad tyre choice. I was on wet tyres and the track was almost completely dry by the time the race started. I finally made a good start off the line and held first all the way down to turn 1. However, a mega move by James around the outside of the first hairpin meant I was in second for the first lap. Into lap 2, I had a run out of Yentop and managed to sneak the lead through Chapmans. It’s not a normal overtaking place but a slight mistake by James gave me just enough momentum to pull it off.
I could see that Jack was down in 5th at that point, so I tried to make a break. However, it was never going to last. Jack’s pace was around 1 second faster than me during the race and it didn’t take long for him to cut through the field and pass me for the lead. I tried everything to keep up and felt I was getting a lot out of the car but I just couldn’t hold on and had to watch as he disappeared up the road.
I have to say that a clear 2nd is a great result, but I feel disappointed that I wasn’t able to compete in that race. The tyres didn’t help, but I certainly don’t think they were the whole difference in pace. Jack dealt with the damp areas better, so there’s more to learn there.
Time to re-focus and get ready for more great racing in a few weeks time at Brands Hatch. I really hope that we don’t have another split grid there. We’ve already proved that we love a good close battle and chopping the grid in half meant that we didn’t get that full fun factor.
What a weekend. Well, nearly a week by the time you take into account travelling and testing! Now that we have the pre-requisite National A licence, we can race abroad and Caterham take full advantage of that by offering up one European round each year.
This year, we went to Zolder in Belgium. It’s a track with oodles of history and the place echo’s of past glories. Very few of the drivers present at the weekend would have driven the circuit before, and certainly none of the Roadsport brigade.
There was no doubt about a podium spot – just which one would it be!
I thought that this would lead to a spread out grid – but how wrong I was! If anything, the gaps were smaller than ever. Numerous drivers ended up top of the times through testing and it quickly became clear that it wasn’t clear who had the ultimate pace!
That would all be sorted by the time Qualification arrived. My banker lap was good enough to hold onto the top spot for nearly the whole of qualification, but it was bettered on the final lap by Jack Sales who was suffering from a lack of tow until the final seconds. Will Smith was in 3rd having chosen to go it alone out front and didn’t even need a tow!
Come the race, the three of us pulled away from an extremely hard fought 4th place, who tripped themselves up enough for a gap of 14 seconds by the flag.
So, apart from the possibilities of a stupid mistake or a safety car, there was no doubt about a podium spot – just which one would it be!
It was a race of 2 halves. Off the line, Will shoved it down the inside of Jack and myself. I was able to make it past Jack into the hairpin and then we proceeded to go flat out for lap after lap. Will made a suitable sized whole in the air out in front and I was able to keep up and even make up a little ground on him. Jack was just behind. The gaps yo-yo’d as small mistakes here and there happened. But the pace was fast and consistent. No quarter given! From the outside, it probably looked routine. But in car, it was anything but – with every last bit of grip being screeched out of the baking tarmac.
Just after half way, and just before my little toe finally blistered from the heat in the foot-well, I made a small mistake out of the final chicane and Jack took 2nd place going into turn 1 up the inside. By the end of the lap, I’d got the spot back when Jack locked up his rears going into chicane no. 2. The place swapping meant that Will got a small lead that we never managed to pull back. So, the race was going to be between myself and Jack for 2nd. Another slight error saw Jack pass me round the outside of turn one.
Into the final chicane on the second last lap, I was able to re-pass Jack but the lack of speed out of the corner meant that we were side by side into turn 1 again. This time, I returned the favour for Jack previous move and held on around the outside.
Just the last lap to hold on then! The longest lap of course! I was able to defend all the way to the last corner. However, an over cautious approach and exit saw jack along side out of the corner and on the drag down to the line, I had no idea who had crossed first. In fact, I believed that Jack had nicked it. However, come the podium, I had held on by 0.009s!
Race 2 was a very different affair. Starting from P2 again on a circuit which had just had a soaking meant that nobody knew what the conditions were going to be like. I was on a completely dry setup and, as it transpired, the rear end was very lively with the lack of grip!
Jack took the opportunity to shove it up the inside of turn 1 off the start, leaving Will in 2nd and me in 3rd, defending from a hard charging Henry. I wasn’t able to hold Henry back for long and so slipped into 4th place – looking forward to a drying track which would hopefully come back to my car setup.
However, a nasty accident through turn 1 between Tommo and Christina saw Tommo’s car catch fire dramatically, and a safety car was rightly deployed. With fuel and coolant on the exit of turn 1, it took a long time to clear everything up. The majority of our race was therefore behind the safety car, but the hard working marshals got everything ready just in time for a one lap blast to the flag.
A nasty accident between Tommo and Christina saw Tommo’s car catch fire dramatically.
I made a poor restart but was able to pull back Will through the early part of the lap. I was alongside into the first chicane, but not enough to make a move stick. Into the second chicane, I was again alongside, although the inside line was still very damp and there wasn’t the grip to make anything happen.
Unfortunately, the last move saw me compromised on the way out of the chicane and that meant Max was tight on my tail, looking for a way through. I defended hard for the remainder of the lap and held onto 4th place over the line.
I was pleased with my weekends work. Unfortunately, I finished one place behind Will in each race, and that saw me lose the championship lead. However, I’m only 2 points back, and I quite like the idea of chasing a championship for once!
It was an expensive weekend for some, with 4 cars heading back home in varying states of brokenness. However, for many, it was a great trip across the channel and certainly an experience!
The next round is Rockingham – so it’s time to lay some demons to rest. Feels like time for a win again!
Donington Park is a fantastic track to drive. It’s extremely fast and flowing and requires a real rhythm and balance to hook the lap together properly. It’s also a track that enables huge slipstreams in a Caterham. Fast entries into long straights (or near straights) means that the lead car is running out of puff pushing through the air, whilst those following in the tow can gain another 6-7mph.
Getting in that tow is vital and the grid tends to bunch up in the races as people can’t escape down the road.
Donington Park is a fantastic track to drive. It’s extremely fast and flowing and requires a real rhythm and balance to hook the lap together properly.
Testing went well, and come qualification on Saturday morning, I found myself in the perfect position on track to be able to set good lap times. During qualification, you don’t know what’s going on around you with times, but I knew I’d got a good banker lap in early so I could push at the end. This I did and I just managed to hold onto pole position with my last lap, ahead of Will Smith and Tim Dickens.
Race 1 was a similar story to Snetterton. A bad opening to the lap (this time, running wide in turn 1) saw me having to get back through the field to the front. 7th out of turn 1 then converted a lap later to 5th, then to 3rd and finally into the lead… but only briefly!
The battles that ensued felt epic in car! I was working as hard as I could to keep a surging Lee Bristow behind for the second half of the race. Lee was obviously hungry as he took bit out of the Cheesemobile going down Craner Curves for the last time – one rear wing gone! Tim and Will had disappeared up the road a little because of this but a move by Tim going into the chicane for the final time left an opportunity to make up another spot. 3 wide into the Melbourne loop and I just managed to nip into second and hold on through Goddards.
Here’s race one for you in all it’s muck and glory!
An early start for race 2 on Sunday morning and a bad weather forecast with ominous clouds saw me go onto tyres with higher tread blocks to hedge bets on whether we were going to get wet. Having also pumped extra fuel into the car to ensure I wasn’t as close to the weight limit as I had been at the end of race 1 (with no rear wing, I was only just over the minimum weight allowed…) and using the older style, heavier wheels meant (as it turned out) that I was 10kg over the ‘safety margin’ at the end of the race!
Mud and water brought on to the track by other racers meant that corner grip was changing hugely lap by lap.
None of that would have mattered had the rain fallen, but it never did. It was very much a race of two halves for me. The start was OK – although Will understeered into me going through turn 1. By the end of the lap I’d got to the lead and wanted to work with Will to try and gap the field. However, it didn’t work out and an on fire Jack Sales consumed the very small gap we had in a couple of corners!
As the race developed, things dried out in general, but mud and water brought on to the track by other racers meant that corner grip was changing hugely lap by lap! Coppice caught out many people as water had been brought onto the braking area and also the apex.
And that’s where things changed. A windscreen full of mud from a three wide group of cars the lap before through the chicane and Lee Bristow attacking from behind saw me brake late into the Melbourne loop. Once that decision had been made, I was heading up the inside of Henry with nothing I could do about it at that stage. Unfortunately, the tight line that I was therefore on didn’t let me scrub off enough speed (looking at the data, the apex speed is the same as previous laps – but the tighter approach meant that was around 5 mph too fast) and, although I tried everything I could to avoid it, Henry’s sweeping line and my understeering line crossed and I hit the side of his exhaust with my front left tyre. It was heavy enough contact that it bumped Henry out wide and he lost 2 places as a result. It also started a string of events where he span at the next corner trying to save a further place.
Lessons to learn for me there. It took the spirit out of my drive as well and from then on I was in a relatively quiet 4th place up to the chequered flag.
I’ve spoken to Henry since the race and I’ve offered my apologies for the incident. You have to trust the people you race against to keep you safe and to be fair on track. I’m sad that I’ve used up at least some of that trust with Henry and I’ll be doing what I can to get it back going forward. The fact we all race so close means a slightly later brake mark, where on your own you’d just wash out a little wide, can cause you much larger problems. As I say, lessons to learn for me – but that is part of the process for everyone.
The weekend began on Friday, with official testing. We shared the allocated 4 half hour sessions with the Roadsport boys. This was a new experience and I had expected to be looking in my mirrors a lot more through the day but the added grip that their tyres and roll-bar gives them is offset by their smaller wheels – meaning the Academy cars have a straight line advantage. So, to my surprise, I was actually able to keep up and even overtake some.
It’s hard getting everything done in 4 sessions through the day. I started with a list of things to try out – and I ended up not doing most of them! Still, it was great to get my eye back in and I found a very consistent pace which I knew I could replicate in our short 15 min sessions for qualification and the race.
My brakes were shocking all through the weekend – with a spongy pedal that really wasn’t doing anything for the first 2 inches of travel. I was also getting pad knock off due to a lose front left hub nut. Caterham nipped up the hub nut and tried their best to bleed the brakes – they were marginally better and at least I could heel-toe but they will need attention now the dust has settled as it’s not great being committed into corners not knowing what your brakes are going to feel like when you press the pedal! I’m sure I’ve got air getting into the system somewhere…
My Friday evening was rather spoiled by accidentally leaving my car keys in Dads car. He had driven off for the night and my car was locked – with ALL my stuff inside. It took my tired brain a long time to work out how the hell I was going to get my keys back again when my phone was locked in the car, with all the numbers to friends and family that could possibly point me in the right direction. Anyway, a long and stressful story later, I got back the keys and on returning to the paddock, made the decision to stay at the Thistle Hotel for the night. This wasn’t anywhere near cheap, but it was worth it.
Saturday was a non-day really as we weren’t on track till the Sunday. I just tinkered with the car, did a weight check and got the race fuel set. Oh, and I got Sunburn on my neck! Handy for wearing a HANS device I can tell you! As people started arriving in the paddock during the evening, we ended up at the bar – and then went onto the Thistle for food and Ferraris… There was a meeting of the Kent Farrari Group and the hotel carpark was a sight to behold.
A night sleeping in the tent in the paddock will now likely be my last. The revelation of sleeping in a bed and having a decent shower available is now too apparent and I was tired all through Sunday. I’ll find the money for hotels somewhere I’m sure! I’m glad I’ve done the proper club racing bit though and some of the best memories so far are paddock banter and late night drinks as the Sun goes down…
Anyway, onto the main action on Sunday. Qualification in the morning and Racing in the evening. The wait-to-action ratio isn’t great at 720/30 but somehow, that doesn’t matter! There’s always tonnes to be done – and loads of places to be. Sign-on, scruteneering, briefing, prep, assembly and finally track. That means a quick 15 mins on track actually takes hours to achieve! All the time, the tension rises and the adrenalin flows.
Qualification went OK. I never got out as much as I wanted and on my fastest lap, managed to tow Nick around for Pole! I’m sure he’ll return the favour one day! It was tricky finding clean air and I cocked up a good early opportunity that would have at least given a good banker lap. As the dust settled, 3rd was the result. Indeed – the front 4 racers were the same, with Nick Horton on pole, Henry Heaton 2nd and Dan Livingstone 4th.
So, it was all back to the paddock and reflection time. Then more reflection time. Followed by a touch of reflection over lunch. Some more time to reflect after lunch and then a final bit of reflection before jumping back in the car for the race.
I was lucky enough to have friends and family along for the weekend. A whole plethora of Aunts and Uncles, Mum, Dad, Sister and brother in law. Mates from Uni added to the pile as well. The banner that the Lapicki support crew brought along was just brilliant! No pressure then!
After a LONG and protracted start procedure where they tried to get everyone in the right positions, we eventually got lined up for the start. I got a great one. There was even a chance to try for the lead going into paddock but that would have meant 3 wide so I decided instead to opt for the more cautious approach and settled into 3rd.
Henry put pressure on Nick through the first couple of laps – whilst I was keeping a close eye on Dan behind. I knew if he got past, he would be tricky to get around. Henry’s pressure on Nick finally paid off as Nick locked up going into Druids leaving the door open for 3 of us to nip up through. A couple of corners later and I took an opportunity into clearways up the inside of Henry – it was close wheel to wheel stuff but I had the inside line and I knew that would be good enough to get the lead into Paddock.
So, lap 3 of 16. In Caterham racing, being at the front isn’t always a good idea! Could I hold on for 13 laps! Henry was right there in second for the first half of the race. We were managing to make a gap for ourselves as Dan and Nick were having their own battle. James Houston wasn’t far behind them. On about lap 6, Nick made a move up the inside of Dan Livingstone into Graham Hill. It’s a tricky, off camber left hander and on the exit, their wheels tangled. This immediately pulled the cars together even more and sent Dan out wide and into the gravel on the exit. This effectively ended Dans race, although he was able to continue, he had a bent steering arm and it took a long time to get out of the gravel.
What this did mean was that Henry and myself were now clear of the James by a good margin, so it was down to us to figure out who was going to win the thing. For the next 4 laps or so, Henry was never far out of my mirrors. The lap was roughly split in half, with myself faster round Graham Hill, Surtees and Clearways and Henry faster around Paddock Hill and Druids. Just as I’d managed to pull a reasonable gap, back markers came into play. It’s a tentative time trying to make your way through a pack of drivers involved in their own battles whilst trying to ensure that you don’t lose out in your own fight! I thankfully chose pretty well on the whole where and how to pass them, so although I did lose time in some cases, I ended up with a larger margin to 2nd once they were all negotiated.
I could tell from my race timer that I had nearly won my maiden Race victory – but I hadn’t seen a last lap board and the chequered wasn’t waving as I crossed the line. So, whilst the crowd and most of the field knew I had won the race, I was blissfully unaware! Henry also wasn’t going to back down so we merrily went on a flat out warm down lap! On crossing the line for the second time, I could see the flag waving and I just burst! Lost my voice in the space of 2 corners! Still hadn’t landed back to earth all the way back to park ferme.
I knew that Henry had got 2nd but I was over the moon when I found out James had got the final spot on the podium. Last time out at Donington we had all been drinking well into the early hours of the morning, chatting and generally finding out why we each decided to do the Academy – so sharing the podium with those two was a real honour.
However, for me, seeing a whole heap of friends and family on the bank opposite the podium, with the huge banner that the Lapicki clan had made, cheering and shouting was the best moment! Thanks to you all for making the effort to be there and then sharing in my moment in the sun!
It’s taking a long time to come back down after the race. I still get tense and excited every time I think about it! I’ve watched it back lots of times already and I think I’ll probably manage a few more views at some point. In the paddock after the race, I was genuinely touched by the number of people who came up and congratulated me. Even some of those licking their wounds from a bad result or a bump/scrape.
It’s now 4 weeks until Rockingham. I may just have enough time to settle down before the build up all starts again!
