Brands Hatch - 17th August 2014 - PBMW rounds 9 & 10

After the 2nd race of TTRS I lined up at the front of the pack for PBMW qualifying with Harry Goodman behind, Initial plan was to let Harry passed and as one of the front runner try and follow him and hopefully lean a thing of 2. The firs part of the plan was executed with pin point precision the following (and keeping up) didn't go quite as well. A number of the other front runner came passed and  in moving off line to allow this I may have slightly hampered by lap times, Ended up qualifying 21st of 35 which was reasonable with a time of 1:55.302. Even if I'd matched my best time of the weekend so far I'd have only been 19th.

As with the first TTRS race the day before I got a good start and made up a number of places however due to a large pile up involving 10 or so cars on the exit of Clark Curve the race was red flagged after just 1 lap. The restart didn't go quite as well and the remaining time was spent battling over 21st and 22nd places with Steve Turtill, Lots of close and clean racing which was great fun and what makes these's long tiering weekends worth while.

Again got a good start in race 2 although whilst turning into Surtees to start the Grand Prix loop for the first time Steve carter moved across to the left to try and pass Ian Francis and in doing so didn't really leave me anywhere to go as I was on the inside, my front wing just caught his rear and resulted in a spin for Steve. Had another great race with Mark Palmer which again was close at times without any trading of paint. Ended up just about managing to keep Mark behind and finished 17th with a best time of the race and weekend of 1:54.241 if only I'd managed that in qualifying.

Brands Hatch - 16th August 2014 - TTRS rounds 9 & 10

The 16th of August arrived and another great opportunity to race on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch was here, been looking forward to this after a very poor showing on the gp circuit last year in part due to the suspension issues with the car. 

Annoyingly had issues with the tail lift on the truck on Friday night but luckily the car was already out so we put those worries to one side and set about qualifying for rounds 9 and 10 of the Toyo Tires Racing Saloons, having not run at brands hatch for a while I approached the first session a little too cautiously and ended up qualifying 38th of 47 and 14th out of 21 in class which was a reasonable result. The time of 1:59.102 was also faster than I'd been on my only previous visit to Brands GP although some way off where I wanted to me, looking at last years times I was hoping to lap around 1:53.000 to 1:55.000

Had a great start to race and by the end of the first lap I had moved from 38th to 28th including a brief time in front of one the M3's (until the first chance he could use the 150bhp advantage on a straight) unfortunately dropped a few places as the quicker cars got passed but it would appear front runners were retiring at the same rate so ended up finishing 28th overall and 7th in class with my best lap time falling to a much more respectable 1:55.036. 

Race 2 didn't really go as well, got another good start, was gaining on and starting to pass the two cars in front when bother moved across slightly leaving me nowhere to go, this resulted a a little contact and me somewhat loosing concentration for the lap. Think I ended up in last place by the end of the first lap before regaining concentration and picking the pace back up. Had a great battle with Kevin Hodgin and Declan Russell for the rest of the race, although shortly after passing both I managed to spin at Dingle Dell and had to do it all over again before the end of the 15 minute race. By the time the chequered flag was in sight I'd only moved up to 31st although on a more positive note my fastest time had fallen to 1:54.978. 

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