Well it's been a few weeks since the last rounds of the 2016 Production BMW championship rounds at the Thruxton circuit near Andover. My first visit to the circuit since a Ferrari driving day almost 20 years ago. Due to the limited number of race days on the circuit the Production BMW championship hadn't had the opportunity to visit the circuit in some time.
The chance to race at Thruxton brought out a couple of old faces, Stuart Waite and Rob Manger who just happen to instruct at the circuit along with some chap called Tiff Needell.
Due to restrictions on track time at the circuit there was no Friday testing although we were fortunate to be driven around the circuit for some sighting laps, Many thanks to Rob Manger for being on chauffeuring duties.
On Friday afternoon a number of cars were power tested on Ray West tuning's rolling road in order to provide data for the championship coordinators. At this time it was discovered that my car was running lean on full throttle due to a worn airflow meter, wonder if this had contributed to the slight down turn in results in the second half of the season. Being a simple device Ray west was able to make a temporary repair.
The results at Thruxton meant I finished the 2016 championship in 5th position just 1 point behind David Graves in 4th.
I already have a long list of changes and maintenance jobs to be done so that I can start the 2017 season with the best chance possible of building on the positive results of 2016.
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Monday, 12 September 2016
Silverstone GP - 11th September 2016 - PBMW rounds 13 and 14
There had been some confusion as to whether the Silverstone even would be a points scoring event for PBMW and unfortunately in wasn't until a few weeks before that it was confirmed. This presented a couple of issues as I'd already committed to entering the revolve 24 hour bike race on the brands hatch GP circuit with 3 friends and as the number f rounds had increased to 16 we would all now drop out 3 worst rounds, reducing the advantage I had due to constancy (although Matt Swaffer had more reason to be upset as he'd effectively won the championship had Silverstone not been included) Unusually the TTRS and PBMW grids would race at the same time with the PBMW's starting 10 seconds behind.
The busy weekend was never going to be the best preparation for Silverstone,In order to not let down the rest of my revolve 24 team I did 4 hours on the push bike around brands hatch between 3pm and 11 on Saturday and then jumped in the truck to drive up to Silverstone, eventually arriving a 2.30am and desperately trying to get some sleep before qualifying.
Ended up qualifying 11th out of 20 PBMW's with a time of 2:46.493 a little off of the times I was expecting.
Had a good race 1 battling with Owen Darch and Paul Beaurain eventually finishing 8th on the road although this will become 7th for championship points as the 4th place finisher Ben Anderson was a guest driver. Fastest lap had also dropped to 2:45.908 which was a little closer to my expected times.
Race two was a long battle with Mark Palmer and Rob Cooper, another great clean race where I finished 7th with my best lap time falling again to a more respectable 2:45.054 unfortunately not quite able to drip into the 2:44's which the car is more than capable of.
We now have just 2 rounds left at Thruxton in a couple of weeks. When dropped rounds are taken into account Will Davidson and Matt Swaffer will go into the event tied on points and battling for the championship. Harry Goodman lies in 3rd with myself, Mark Palmer and David Graves battling for 4-6th positions in the championship
Brands Hatch GP - 28th August 2016 - PBMW rounds 11 & 12
After the disappointment of the accidents in the previous days TTRS race in was time to put that behind us and get on with the qualifying session for PBMW. Ended up getting stuck in a bit of traffic in qualifying which was going slightly slower than I'd have liked but not slow enough to make passing easy. Eventually found some space and was able to qualify in a slightly disappointing 12th position with a time of 1:53.391 which is my best ever time around the GP so that was some good news.
Race 1 was non stop close but fair racing with Andy Strong and Gregor Pryor, Ended up finishing 10th o/a my worst result of 2016 although one I'd have been happy with in 2015.
Race 2 didn't really go to plan as I headed into paddock hill side by side with Harry Goodman he locked up and went straight on into the gravel. I think this slightly put me off my line and I ended up loosing the back end, felt like I might get it back but unfortunately in wasn't to be and I to found myself in the Gravel at Paddock Hill, so having rushed back from holiday to make Brands Hatch at the moment neither of the races would count as we all have to drop 2 rounds each year.
Race 1 was non stop close but fair racing with Andy Strong and Gregor Pryor, Ended up finishing 10th o/a my worst result of 2016 although one I'd have been happy with in 2015.
Race 2 didn't really go to plan as I headed into paddock hill side by side with Harry Goodman he locked up and went straight on into the gravel. I think this slightly put me off my line and I ended up loosing the back end, felt like I might get it back but unfortunately in wasn't to be and I to found myself in the Gravel at Paddock Hill, so having rushed back from holiday to make Brands Hatch at the moment neither of the races would count as we all have to drop 2 rounds each year.
Brands Hatch GP - 27th August 2016 - TTRS rounds 11 & 12
As in previous years both TTRS and Production BMW were lucky enough to have the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on the calendar in 2016. Unfortunately there was to be no testing due to holiday commitments.
Headed out for my first run on the GP circuit in a year during the TTRS qualifying session and was please to qualify 2nd of 12 entrants in class F and quite shocked to have out qualified Will Davidson although still a way behind Matt Wileman, best time was a 1:54.257 which was a little off of my best lap times in 2015.
Race 1 saw Matt pull a decent lead (although a brief trip into the gravel nearly ended his race) whilst myself and Ross Stoner battled for 2nd and 3rd. As the chequered flag dropped Ross finished just 1.3 seconds in front of me
Race 2 was a little more eventful, as the start lights went off one of the cars on the 2nd or 3rd row didn't get away, with cars darting left and right there was some unfortunate contact and the race was red flagged. the second start was a lot better and all cars made it off the line cleanly
However on the first run up towards Pilgrims Drop 2 of the front running BMW E36 M3's of Nigel Innes and Steve Pearson had a coming together at substantial speed leaving a trail of carnage and resulting contact well into the mid field as people tried to slow. I think this is the first (and hopefully last) race I've been in where 1/2 the grids had to stop mid circuit because there's no clear route through. It was a real shame to see so many friends with damaged cars.
Headed out for my first run on the GP circuit in a year during the TTRS qualifying session and was please to qualify 2nd of 12 entrants in class F and quite shocked to have out qualified Will Davidson although still a way behind Matt Wileman, best time was a 1:54.257 which was a little off of my best lap times in 2015.
Race 1 saw Matt pull a decent lead (although a brief trip into the gravel nearly ended his race) whilst myself and Ross Stoner battled for 2nd and 3rd. As the chequered flag dropped Ross finished just 1.3 seconds in front of me
Race 2 was a little more eventful, as the start lights went off one of the cars on the 2nd or 3rd row didn't get away, with cars darting left and right there was some unfortunate contact and the race was red flagged. the second start was a lot better and all cars made it off the line cleanly
However on the first run up towards Pilgrims Drop 2 of the front running BMW E36 M3's of Nigel Innes and Steve Pearson had a coming together at substantial speed leaving a trail of carnage and resulting contact well into the mid field as people tried to slow. I think this is the first (and hopefully last) race I've been in where 1/2 the grids had to stop mid circuit because there's no clear route through. It was a real shame to see so many friends with damaged cars.
Thursday, 28 July 2016
Oulton Park - 23rd July 2016 - PBMW rounds 9 & 10
Unfortunately the TTRS and PBMW races take place on the same day at Oulton Park due to the circuits restrictions on Sunday events. This means that in order to run it both series you'd have very little time between races to let the car cool down or fix and issues / damage.
Deciding the risk of missing a race wasn't worth it I onky entered the PBMW race for this weekend.
Having tested on the Friday I already knew my lap times were a huge improvement over the last dry event we had at Oulton Park, best laps were in the region of 2:08.5.
Unforunstely after the first flying lap of qualifying the session was red flagged, really annoyingly this was caused by a competitor in another series being allowed out to complete 3 laps in order to be allowed to race in his own race. So to have red flagged our session by crashing when his lap times would ahve counted fror nothing was rediculous (rant 1 over)
Anyway back out for a few laps to try and set a decent time and ended up behind a slower car, not a problems as the marshalls were waving the blue flags so surely I'll get through, Nope blue flags completely egnored for the remaining 2 laps of qualifying. ended up with my best lap being good enough for 9th on the grid, looking at the results my times from the test day before would have been good enough for 6th.
Race 1 and the entire grid got a way cleanly, by the time I turned into turn 2 I was up to eighth having over taken Owen Darch, unfortunately Rob Cooper ran wide at the exit of cascades and Harry Goodman did the same on the exit of Island bend meaning by the end of lap 1 I was runing in a much more respectable 6th place. The rest of the race was fairly quiet early on I was holding onto the back of the fight between Mark Palmer and David Grave whist pulling a cumfortable gap back to Edd Giddings. However as the tyres started to go off the concentrateion was soon diverted to keeping Edd behind as Mark and Dave managed to pull a bit of a gap. Finished the race in 6th place.
Race 2 saw another good start managing to pass David Graves and head off in 5th position. Unfortunately the pace wasn't there to keep the ever fast Harry Goodman from coming past after he started 9th, recovering from his race 1 spin so after a few laps I dropped back down to 6th. Had another great and very fair race with Dave Graves but quite annoyingly on the last lap I loked up whilst braking for shell and he got the better run out of the corner to snatch 6th.
Over all a reasonable result which along with earning my marshalling ponts see's me promoted to 2nd in the championship behind matt Swaffer.
Deciding the risk of missing a race wasn't worth it I onky entered the PBMW race for this weekend.
Having tested on the Friday I already knew my lap times were a huge improvement over the last dry event we had at Oulton Park, best laps were in the region of 2:08.5.
Unforunstely after the first flying lap of qualifying the session was red flagged, really annoyingly this was caused by a competitor in another series being allowed out to complete 3 laps in order to be allowed to race in his own race. So to have red flagged our session by crashing when his lap times would ahve counted fror nothing was rediculous (rant 1 over)
Anyway back out for a few laps to try and set a decent time and ended up behind a slower car, not a problems as the marshalls were waving the blue flags so surely I'll get through, Nope blue flags completely egnored for the remaining 2 laps of qualifying. ended up with my best lap being good enough for 9th on the grid, looking at the results my times from the test day before would have been good enough for 6th.
Race 1 and the entire grid got a way cleanly, by the time I turned into turn 2 I was up to eighth having over taken Owen Darch, unfortunately Rob Cooper ran wide at the exit of cascades and Harry Goodman did the same on the exit of Island bend meaning by the end of lap 1 I was runing in a much more respectable 6th place. The rest of the race was fairly quiet early on I was holding onto the back of the fight between Mark Palmer and David Grave whist pulling a cumfortable gap back to Edd Giddings. However as the tyres started to go off the concentrateion was soon diverted to keeping Edd behind as Mark and Dave managed to pull a bit of a gap. Finished the race in 6th place.
Race 2 saw another good start managing to pass David Graves and head off in 5th position. Unfortunately the pace wasn't there to keep the ever fast Harry Goodman from coming past after he started 9th, recovering from his race 1 spin so after a few laps I dropped back down to 6th. Had another great and very fair race with Dave Graves but quite annoyingly on the last lap I loked up whilst braking for shell and he got the better run out of the corner to snatch 6th.
Over all a reasonable result which along with earning my marshalling ponts see's me promoted to 2nd in the championship behind matt Swaffer.
Wednesday, 29 June 2016
Rockingham - 19th June 2016 - PBMW rounds 7 & 8
After the previous days results in the Toyo Tires Racing Saloons races I lost a bit of the confidence gained over the last couple of rounds. Headed out for qualifying having made a very set up changes. The car felt better and the times were falling, although annoyingly what was best time was lost as I had to pass another car through the last chicane . Ended up qualifying 11th which was a little further bak than expected but I wasn't the only person who seamed to the struggling a little.
Race 1 got a reasonable start passing Matt Wileman but was passed through turn one by both Gregor Pryor and Ross Stoner. By the first coner of lap 2 I'd moved past Ross Stoner, Jamie Jeffery and Pete O'conner. The rest of the race consisted of trying to chase down Gregor Pryor whilst defending against the always fast Matt Wileman. Managed to pass Gregor into turn one on lap 6 but was unfortunately passed by Matt on the second to last lap and ened up finishing 10th.
Race 2 was a little less eventful, after I good start where I passed Rob cooper the whole race was spent either chasing Pete O'Connor or defending from Gregor Pryor, the latter of which I only just managed to do, finished the race in 9th position.
Pleased to have left Rockingham still in 4th position in the PBMW championship although Harry Goodman has already claimed his 50 Marshalling points hwich everyone else is yet to do.
Post Rockingham the top of the championship looks is
Matt Swaffer 380
Harry Goodman 348
Dave Graves 329
Andy Gay 320
Edd Giddings 284
Race 1 got a reasonable start passing Matt Wileman but was passed through turn one by both Gregor Pryor and Ross Stoner. By the first coner of lap 2 I'd moved past Ross Stoner, Jamie Jeffery and Pete O'conner. The rest of the race consisted of trying to chase down Gregor Pryor whilst defending against the always fast Matt Wileman. Managed to pass Gregor into turn one on lap 6 but was unfortunately passed by Matt on the second to last lap and ened up finishing 10th.
Post Rockingham the top of the championship looks is
Matt Swaffer 380
Harry Goodman 348
Dave Graves 329
Andy Gay 320
Edd Giddings 284
Rockingham - 18th June 2016 - TTRS rounds 7 & 8
It had been a couple of years since the last time the Toyo Tires Racing Saloons and Production BMW championships had been to Rockingham but on the last visit I'd had a reasonable weekend.
After a couple of very good results in the prevous meetings at Brands hatch and Donington I arrived at Rockingham running 4th in the championship so opted for a bit of Friday pratise time. Car felt ok in practise although the times were not really where I hoped, this carried accross to the TTRS qualifying and I ended up qualifying 5th in class F.
Race 1 brought a good start and I was quickly up to 3rd in class F but could quite keep up with Edd Gidings or Andy Strong, maybe slighty down to running older tyres for the TTRS races but I dont think this was the key issue.
Race 2 I started 2nd in class as Andy Strong was not running, again got a reasonable strat but was again frustrated to find I didnt have the pace to worry Edd. A few laps in and I was battling with Matthew Newman in his Lexus IS200 which ended up with us being caught and passed by Calum Noble and Jamie Jeffery, with the main event being the PBMW races on the following day I opted not to turn a two way PBMW battle in to a three way one as it would have been silly to risk damaging the car and either miss or compromise the PBMW races.
After a couple of very good results in the prevous meetings at Brands hatch and Donington I arrived at Rockingham running 4th in the championship so opted for a bit of Friday pratise time. Car felt ok in practise although the times were not really where I hoped, this carried accross to the TTRS qualifying and I ended up qualifying 5th in class F.
Race 1 brought a good start and I was quickly up to 3rd in class F but could quite keep up with Edd Gidings or Andy Strong, maybe slighty down to running older tyres for the TTRS races but I dont think this was the key issue.
Race 2 I started 2nd in class as Andy Strong was not running, again got a reasonable strat but was again frustrated to find I didnt have the pace to worry Edd. A few laps in and I was battling with Matthew Newman in his Lexus IS200 which ended up with us being caught and passed by Calum Noble and Jamie Jeffery, with the main event being the PBMW races on the following day I opted not to turn a two way PBMW battle in to a three way one as it would have been silly to risk damaging the car and either miss or compromise the PBMW races.
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