Friday Practice

What would a race weekend be without unpredictable weather…

After a dry session early on in the day, we spent the rest of the afternoon swapping tyres every session in attempts to match the changing conditions. Although we didn’t leave with that ‘ideal lap time’ that would be good to know for qualifying, we had a good idea towards the cut off points between the wet and dry tyres in changing conditions, something that would be very useful for the following days racing!

Saturday

Early showers meant we headed out onto a very greasy track for Qualifying…

The plan was to put in a few banker laps early on, get the tyres heated up and to the optimum pressures, then dive into the pits mid-session and swap them round so that the front tyres were now on the rear and vice versa. This would give a very balanced and planted car in the challenging conditions, as the rear tyres are always the hardest to get up to temperature. However, two red flags in the session meant we only had two laps left at the end to put in a competitive lap time. After finding a gap in the traffic, I disconnected the part of my brain that is associated with danger and put in a lap right at the end to put me on pole position by half a second!

Race 1 was dry; however, a sizable accident mid race meant the majority of it was spent under safety car. Luckily, we were told that there would be one lap left at the end after the safety car pulled in. After backing the pack up and getting a good gap to P2, I finished the race in P1 and walked away with a great set of points from the day.

Sunday

Great crowds for the final day of racing at the MINI festival as we headed out for race two, and what a show we put on…

From the second the lights went out, the drop of the chequered flag, it was door to door touring car racing. Any of about eight cars could have walked away with the win it was so close, and a P3 finish from myself was far from disappointing! The pace was strong, but the tire marks on the sides of the car were stronger, and a P4 start from reversed top 6 grid for race three was set to be an even better race!

And it didn’t disappoint! After a great start, I managed to work my way up to P2 by lap 2, and eventually took the lead of the race before the first 5 laps! From then it was full focus on keeping it consistent and building a gap from the dogfights that were occurring behind me.

As the clock ticked down, the gap grew, and as the chequered flag dropped, I took the win by over a second. Great weekend, and a nice bag of championship points to come home with as well.

Huge thanks to everyone at Exclr8 Motorsport and Credo Asset Finance and Pearson Insurance for the support.

Roll on Round 4!

Saturday Practice

A wet start to the weekend, no surprise there! After a red flag in the first session, we spent the rest of the day chasing the dry line and eventually managed to get a couple really productive sessions on a completely dry track. There isn’t a huge amount of set-up change available in the coopers, unlike the JCW class which has 3 way adjustable dampers, aero and top of the line Powerflex black series bushes. However, pace was really good and the car felt great so we were looking strong for qualifying.

Qualifying

Unfortunately, being the first cars out on track meant there wasn’t a huge amount of grip and within the first minutes of the session a full course yellow was brought out as a small accident from another car left him stranded in the gravel. It took a while to clean up and maintaining tyre temperature was a challenge. Conscious of the little time left to get a lap in once we went green, I held back to get some space from the cars in front and weaved across the track, desperately trying to get the car ready for the two laps left of the session. After one warm up lap, I crossed the line with seconds to spare putting me in pole position for the race by over a second. Great result, and a new track lap record!

Race 1

Pressure was on for the race! A good start and opening laps awarded me with a slight gap to second place. The cooper class never ceases to offer fantastic, close racing and this race was no different! Whatever gap I was able to pull through the corners, the slipstream advantage gifted to the car behind meant I found myself back to square one after each straight. After some defensive driving and unsuccessful attempts for position from second place, I was confident for the second half of the race. Unfortunately, the race was cut short. A sizable accident through the fastest corner of the track involving my teammate brought a red flag out and due to the little time left, the race was called early. Never nice to win like that but everyone was OK.

Race 2

A top six reverse grid for race two meant I was starting from P6. The race was started under safety car and the track layout had been adjusted due to the damage dealt to the tyre barrier from the earlier crash. Once we went green, I managed to work my way through to P3 after a few laps and started the hunt for the front two, who were both jostling for position. It was great racing and I fought my way in to second place. With two laps remaining I focused on closing down the nearly three second gap that first place had built. To my disappointment, we crossed the line mere tenths of a second apart. If only the race was full length… Great result however and the fastest lap of the race has given us a strong points haul going into Round 3.

Friday Testing

If there’s one thing to learn from racing in the UK, its to never trust the weather forecast! “A dry morning with some light showers in the afternoon” was what was agreed on over breakfast, however within the first hour of being at the circuit we soon realised just how wrong we were.

Session one was effectively a write off, an early oil spillage brought out a red flag and by the time it was cleared and the session was safe to resume, there wasn’t enough time for any more running. By the time session two arrived the rain had really hit and what can only be described as a monsoon was slowly washing away any hopes of dry running before lunch. Never the less we decided wet practice is still practice, and headed out on track. Pace was good and after a mid-session red flag myself and another championship contender went at it, slightly sideways, for the remainder of the session.

Unfortunately, the rain never gave up and even after a two hour plus lunch break, Session three was more of the same. Finally, the rain subsided and a dry session four was guaranteed. Its always tough as a driver in these situations. The whole weekends testing before the races comes down to twenty minutes and any feedback on the cars handling can severely alter the success had on the weekend. The session was clean, with no red flags and we were able to gather some valuable data with a decent lap time in addition. Tomorrow’s qualifying and race one and I’m confident we will be fighting for the win, rain or shine. We just need to make sure we wake up for the 7:30am drivers briefing…. hardest part of the weekend if you ask me.

Saturday Race

Snetterton’s unpredictability was in full swing. Heavy rain hours before qualifying, left me and the team wondering why we even bother planning for the weather! A few laps into qualifying, I backed off, having done a decent time to put me P1. Plus the rain eased off... so the track was only going to get faster. I caught up to a group of AM class cars which ran the risk of interfering with my next attempt at a faster lap so sought some clear track, weaving to maintain tyre temperature + pressure. I knew I had two laps left to get another competitive time in (at this point I had dropped down to P2). My first of the two laps were faster than my previous attempt but still left me P2 by mere thousandths of a second. I had one last lap to make something happen.

Just a few corners later, I found myself crossing the timing line after going over a second faster than P2 at the time, putting me P1 by 1.2 seconds! So, race 1 was dry, full slicks all round. Still a bit greasy on some areas of the track so we kept the wet set-up for the handling of the car and hoped the slicks would do their part in the dry bits. After a great start we managed to pull a slight gap, however the race was promptly red flagged due to a sizable accident into turn one from the AM class involving my teammate, who also did a great job to put it on pole (he was ok, just very disappointed). The full race restart was our downfall. The track had fully dried and the wet set-up wasn’t working. On jostling for 1st with P2 for a couple laps I went for a move round the outside, lost grip, and had to bail out of the corner entirely to prevent a head on collision with the tyre barrier, putting me onto the still wet grass. At this point the brake and steering inputs were not working and I eventually made side-on contact with the barrier on the exit of the corner which spun me round.

Finishing was my priority and we did it! (Giving me some points for the race at least).

Motorsport is all about margins. If the track had been a 'bit drier', tyres a 'bit warmer', weather a 'bit sunnier', I might have made the move stick and the day could have ended differently. I saw the gap, made a split-second choice, and went for it, only this time it didn’t work out. I always believe that in racing, if you’re not willing to put yourself and the car on the line for a win, then the sport's not for you and as Ayrton Senna famously said “If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver.” I guess there are many positives to take away and we're looking forward to tomorrow - starting from the back of the grid!

Sunday Race

Clear blue skies! Not a cloud in sight as we headed back to the #circuitfor our last #race of the weekend Snetterton on Sunday May 12th 2019. Saturday was difficult to digest (see Toby Goodman Racing) but I came to the track with a fresh mindset and really looked forward to having some fun from the back of the gird 😉 #TOBYTIP: the key to a good start in the #MINI’s is all in the green flag lap. Working the tires well to get them up to temperature will insure minimal #wheelspin off the line and allow you to push from the word go.

I think it’s fair to say we did just that, as I don’t remember any part in the lap where I wasn’t violently throwing the #car from left to right to try and get everything to the optimum condition for the #race start. It worked! We had a great start right on the back of the pack, ready to take advantage of any first corner tussles. Patience was the one thing on my mind as I slowly but surely worked my way up the #grid, getting into P4 by the mid-race mark. What became apparent very quickly was just how well the car was working in the conditions and after closing down, and overtaking P3 we set a #lap record, nearly a second quicker than the next fastest time in the race. First and second place were a considerable gap away from P3 at the time and as the clock moved into the five-minute mark, they went at it, slowing down their pace immensely… allowing me to close up to the back of them. I tried a couple moves, but ultimately ran out of time and came home in third. Amazing result to end the weekend on, and the pace we had shows our potential going onto round two. Huge thanks to everyone at #Exclelr8motorsport for working all night to fix mine, and my teammates cars ready for the races. Furthermore, a massive thank you to Credo Asset Finance & Pearson Insurance Services for being a huge part of #TEAMTG

So at the beginning of the weekend I qualified in first place with a clear 1.2 seconds lead on the driver placed second. And finished in third. #Motorsport is a ride of emotions with low points such as those I experienced finding myself at the back of the grid. Inevitability, this weekend involving reflecting, learning and coming back stronger. What’s important is we showed that in our end results. Roll on #CooperPro #OultonPark BTW - I also need to give a big shout out to my school #LordWilliams for allowing me training time. And our outgoing Mayor - without the help of these people there is no youth in Motorsport.