Cadwell Park - 28th June 2014 - TTRS Rounds 5 & 6

Having the PBMW and TTRS races on the 28th June made for a very busy day, certainly less time to stand around chatting than normal, also meant that going into the PBMW qualifying I hadn't had the chance to get some track time in as I'd not done the Friday test day.

Went out to qualify, the track had dried since the TTRS qualifying and managed to improve my time slightly with a 1:51.218, after the last couple of meetings I was a little disappointed with 17th on the grid but with little experience of Cadwell it was nice not to be right at the back as had been the case last year.

Didn't get the best start in race one managed to get up into 16th but was re passed by Arron Morgan and ended up finishing 17th.

Got a much better start to race 2, made up a couple of places off the start, a busy race trying to attack the guys in front whilst defending at the same time, ended with a much more positive 13th.

Left Cadwell having had a great day, not the best results but really enjoyed the circuit

Cadwell Park - 28th June 2014 - TTRS rounds 5 & 6

It was about a year since my first ever visit to Cadwell, which unfortunately ended up with a valve head dropping off and destroying the old engine before I'd hardly had a chance to learn my way around. Last year had been a disappointment having qualified last on the grid with a time of 1:55.692 and then having only managed 1 lap in the first race. Looking at the results from last year I was aiming for a sub 1:50 lap.

We were very lucky this year, the weather forecast had promised rain but in reality this was replaced with sunshine for tyne majority of the day, only a little dampness in the first qualifying session. Headed out for my first few laps of qualifying an it was quite apparent I didn't really know my way around, maybe a test day on Friday would have helped.

Ended up qualifying 4th in class, however Robin who qualified 3rd in class wasn't going to be racing so I lined up next to the 205 GTI. Qualifying time was 1:52.291 so already 3.5 seconds up on last year.

Got a good start in race 1 but wasn't fast enough to keep up with the two other cars in my class of Andy Strong and Simon Bassford, managed to get in front of the 205 but couldn't keep him behind to the chequered flag, ended up finishing 11th overall and 3rd in class with a best time of 1:50.376 which was getting close to my goal.

Race 2 was much the same have a bit of fun with the 205 to start with again finishing 11th overall and 3rd in class but this time at the chequered flag I was a lot closer to Andy Strong and Simon Bassford in the other 2 PBMW's which was very positive, and I also managed a sub 1:50 lap with a 1:49.814

Rockingham - 25th May 2014 - PBMW Rounds 3 and 4

After the TTRS race on Saturday it was a very welcome change to see the sun come out before the PBMW qualifying session started at 9am. Headed out on track behind Jack Gabriel which was a useful judge of pace throughout qualifying. Ended up qualifying 10th out of 26 .


Come race 1 I had a great start and was running well (despite a huge lock up in to Deene trying to pass Kevin Welsh) until half way through lap two when I started to struggle to select gears, coming out of Tarzan for the second time it was apparent that something was very wrong so I pulled off before causing an issue for other people behind, back in the pits it was discovered that the clutch was destroyed.

Massive thanks to Robin at Raw motorsport who managed to fit a new clutch between races 1 and 2.


Unfortunately as I retired from race one I started race 2 from 25th on the grid, was great fun seeing how far up the pack I could get in 15 minutes, Eventually ended up 14th which I was happy with given the starting position.

Rockingham - 24th May 2014 - TTRS Rounds 3 and 4

Having never been to Rockingham I was looking forward to ticking another track off of the to do list so had really been looking forward to rounds 3 and 4. Arriving at Rockingham Friday afternoon there was a large grid of PBMWS competing for class F in the Toyo Tire Racing Saloons race so should be a good race at the back.


Unfortunately come Saturday morning the weather had turned from light showers to pretty heavy rain, we were first out at 9am for qualifying, the rain tends to level the field a little as the front runners with upwards of 300bhp can't use all of their power advantage. Managed to Qualify 13th in front of one of the M3's and a number of the big jags which gave me third in class behind Gary Feakins and Matt Smith

Race one was almost as wet and slippery as qualifying and it was a bit of a case of just keeping it on the road, lining up next to an E36 M3 with a 130bhp E30 was slightly odd feeling but I got a good start, an early accident on the exit of Gracelands brought the safety car out which bunched us back up, but come the restart I managed to hold position and was pleased to keep it on the road finishing a respectable 13th overall and 3rd in class.


By the time we lined up for race two the track had dried significantly a number of higher powered car which finished race 1 behind me were coming passed off the start, despite me again getting a reasonable start. Annoyingly and quite stupidly I hadn't changed the suspension setting from the morning so it was far to soft and boaty. Was running 15th and 3rd in class until Mark Priddy in class F made his way passed shortly before the end of the race, so I ended up finishing 4th in class and 16th overall but it had been valuable experience for the PBMW race the next day

Some Progress on the E36 M3 build

Following the positive result at Donington and seeing the guys from Climax motorsport head off to the nurburgring for their first VLN race in an E36 M3 I found some inspiration to crack on and make some progress on the E36 M3 build, which had sat largely untouched for the last few months.



So over the weekend the side skirts, mirrors, bonnet pins were fitted along with the AP racing 4 pot front calliper and stud conversion to one side.


The wiring loom is boxed and ready to send to CR Mtech to be reduced from circa 20kg's down to closer to 3kg.

Donington Park - 27th April 2014 - PBMW Rounds 1&2

having had an enjoyable Saturday racing in TTRS it was time for the PBMW qualifying, as before I went out aiming to be around the 1:30 mark.


The weather was good and I went out trying to chase down Dave Graves, at the end of lap 7 I glanced across at the lap time to see 1:28.760 followed by 1:28.770 on the next lap. I assumed the lap timer was broken and even when hearing the positions come across the tannoy as I pulled in to parc ferme I didn't believe that I actually qualified 6th, I think my pervious best qualifying was late teens. 

Lining up next to Harry Goodman on the 3rd row of the grid was a welcome change from some of the starting positions of last year. Managed a pretty good start but not quick enough to keep the fast starting Dave Graves behind me heading into the first corner.


Had a great battle with James Foard, Jack Gabriel and Tom Ibrahim and ended up finishing 9th, slightly disappointed to dropped back but still very happy to have achieved my first ever top ten finish and improved my best lap time to 1:28.689


By the time race 2 started the rain had begun to fall again, Starting 9th and opting for a sensible approach to the race in order to keep the car in one piece I initially dropped back but made up a place or 2 as people spun in the tricky conditions, a brief safety car period after an accident at the Craner Curves bunched everyone up but shortly after the restart the red flags were out due to a second accident at Red Gate.


Ended up finishing 11th which was again a great result and left Donington extremely happy. Looking forward to my first ever visit to Rockingham for rounds 3 and 4

Donington Park - 26th April 2014 - TTRS rounds 1 &2

Having arrived at Donington much later on Friday night than expected thanks to the joys of the M25 I awoke on Saturday morning to be greeted by grey skys and light rain, which unfortunately was still around for our qualifying session at 9am.

Given that there were only 4 PBMW's entered into class F of Toyo Tires Racing Saloons qualifying was about getting some experience of driving the car in the wet (quite annoying having spent the week studying the dry line, breaking points etc) and experiencing being on track with a variety of cars, One thing which stood out was how much earlier the big jags had to break for corners and how much quicker they were in a straight line.




I ended up qualifying 20th of 26 overall and 2nd in class a fair way behind the fastest class F car of Tony Maryon.




By the time Race 1 started the rain had passed and the track had dried, the race started badly with me being caught slightly napping as the lights went out. The more powerful jag and Capri which started behind me got passed before the first corner but realistically they were always going to.




Managed to hold on to my 2nd in class position from start to finish and ended up 16th overall as a number of the faster cars had issues. Going into the weekend I had aimed to break the 1:30 for a lap of the national circuit and after race 1 I was getting close with a 1:30.440.




The results of race 1 determines the grid for race 2 so started in 16th place on the grid, in a similar way to race one the M3's and Volvo T5 that hadn't finished race 1 came pasted before the first corner leaving me to run 2nd in class from start to finish, finishing 19th over all with the fastest lap time dropping to 1:30.223 a little closer to the goal of sub 1:30