Oulton Park - 19th July 2014 - PBMW

As with TTRS races the heavy rain seamed to really cause me issues. Went out to qualify, luckily the standing water from the TTRS qualifying was starting to disperse but still significant, A few mistakes on laps 4 and 5, running wide at turn 1 and missing my breaking point at the knickerbrook chicane meant the last lap had to be pretty reasonable if I was to qualify well. Managed a 1:28.890 which meant I qualified 16th out of 27th.

Got a reasonable start in race 1, but with 15 cars on a wet track in front of me the first couple of laps was about keeping the car in one piece and avoiding any issues in front, pleased to say it was a very clean race, much more so than last year where a early accident left a number of cars damaged. ended up staying 16th until the end.

By Race 2 the track had dried out a fair bit but I still struggled under breaking not to lock the fronts, again got a reasonable start but locked a ran a little wide ingot the knickerbrook chicane allowing 1is not two cars through. Had a great battle with Jerry Brown for most of the race effectually managing to pass at Druids.

As always cam home having had a great day but still with a lot to learn.

Oulton Park - 19th July 2014 - TTRS rounds 7 & 8

Rounds 7 & 8 of both TTRS and PBMW were both to be held on a single day, As the last round at Cadwell Park this proves to be a very busy day indeed. Arrived at the circuit on friday night and despite poor weather reports was greeted by glorious sunshine.

However this had all changed by Saturday morning and we face intermittent heavy rain, never good for me as I always seam to struggle with confidence on a wet circuit. Conditions in qualifying we horrendous so was quite content with qualifying 11th Overall out of 22 although 5th in class out of 8 wasn't as good as I'd hoped for. 

A couple of the class F cars who had qualified in front of me didn't make it to the grid for Race 1 meaning I effectively started 9th O/A and 3rd in class. A good start meant I managed to pass Julian Newman in car 170 for 2nd in class although Adrian Tuckley in the class F lead was pulling away, that was until lap 3 when coming round the first corner I saw Adrian having spun. The rest of the race involved trying to keep Julian behind which was a challenge I just about managed to do resulting in my first ever class win and a respectable 8th Overall. 

Race 2 didn't go quite as well, still struggling with the wet weather but without a great start I had to settle for 3rd in class behind Julian and adrian and 14th overall, still good fun but further confirming that me and rain don't get on, maybe some winter track days might be a good idea.

New addition

After many weeks and months of deliberation I finally took the plunge and opted to buy a 7.5t truck for the race weekends in the form of a Iveco 75E15. Very handy as it came complete with a sleeper cab (so no more camping) and would provide much needed storage for the car and parts as the current garage is at breaking point

Picked it up two days before rounds 7 & 8 at Oulton Park, so it was a rush to pack everything up ready for it's first run out which was the 500mile round trip from Sussex to Chester. 

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