Silverstone International, Sunday April 12th

Testing on Friday 3rd of April had resulted in a mildly blown engine and the front wheel falling off. All repairs were carried out and we also fitted a new front splitter arrangement to ensure we complied with the new regulations. Testing on Friday 10th was very wet but allowed us to run in the engine, ensure the splitter did not fall off and generally get used to the car. Handling problems meant that we then spent Saturday making radical changes to the set-up.

So wet qualifying on Sunday with a car that was handling significantly differently to Friday. I hope my spin in the second corner after leaving the assembly area left no doubt with my fellow competitors about how hard I was trying. I had another spin mid session again with no damage. Rick Johnson, last years champion, very quickly put in a lap time of 1 minute 38 second. I managed to get down to a low 1:40 but with a very leery rear end was unable to match Ric’s time, so second on the grid.

Major changes again to the car, this time to sort the definite rear end issues. The main problem was that our set up changes on Saturday led the car to roll onto the bump stops on the shock absorbers during cornering effectively giving the car a very high spring rate. So bump stops were changed and I nervously set off to the assembly area with yet another major alteration to the handling.

A cautious start got me into the lead into Copse for the first time. With the suspension changes it was very hard to know how quick to go but after a couple of laps I managed to learn the new traits and start pulling away from Rick. My 3-second gap was unfortunately reduced to less than 1 second when I got stuck behind a back marker.

Rick got by into priory on lap 5 as I lifted for a yellow flag and we then began an almighty battle. Numerous times we were alongside each other wheels spinning in the very slippery conditions desperately trying to get traction. Both of us had a number of very near spins which allowed the other to get by. I had a number of lock ups that I though were going to have me in the gravel but managed to stay out. Starting the last lap, I knew if I arrived in the complex in the lead then I would win, as I was much better through this section. Rick defended into the Abby hairpin allowing me the wide line and I cut back up the inside as we exited, this gave me a 4 car lead through Bridge and into the complex. Unfortunately half way through Priory there was big jolt as Rick slammed into the rear of my car. During the first spin I thought I was going to avoid the gravel, but no. Despite getting into first gear before the car stopped and getting the wheels spinning the gravel worked and stopped me.

So race over whilst leading with 3 corners to go. Rick had also ended in the gravel leaving Harry Chapman to take the win – congratulations.

So next weekends work on the car will be delayed whilst we remove gravel from every single nook and cranny (3 bin bags so far!). On a positive note the car was working very well and with sometime to set it up for the dry I expect we will be blindingly fast at Brands Hatch in 3 weeks time.

Looking forward to Brands. Development has been on hold whilst we carry out repairs following the clash at Silverstone but I love this circuit
Qualifying - Friday 1st May 12.20pm
Race - Saturday 2nd May 12.05pm

We had planned to leave for Brands Hatch early Friday morning, but a phone call from a fellow competitor at 8pm on Thursday evening, advising us that qualifying had been moved to 10.30am instead of 12.30pm changed our plans. We finished the car, packed and arrived at Brands at 4am Friday morning. I managed to sleep until the forklift trucks started moving the A1 GP shipping pallets at 6am.

Not an ideal start and qualifying was not to be much better. I completed 3 laps (1 flying lap) before coming in to check tyre pressures. Driving into the pit lane I noticed that the water temperature was off the gauge, over 110 degreesC. I parked up and was engulfed in steam. It was only Dad and I in attendance on Friday so I leapt out the car and we both removed the bodywork. There was water everywhere. One of the main water pipes had become disconnected. Dad re-attached it whilst I went on a water hunt.

Our race was supporting the very high profile A1 GP series and it was team Mexico who were in the adjacent garage. They were great bringing more and more water out as we discovered exactly how much we had lost. Many thanks must go to them for helping out getting us going again.

So back onto the circuit with 7 minutes to go. Out lap to warm the tyres, 2nd lap I got held up and 3rd lap I noticed the water temperature was 110 again approaching the last corner. Quick decision to keep going to the line, after which I turned the engine off and coasted into a safe location.

Somehow my last lap had been good enough for 2nd on the grid, 1 second behind Rick but still 2 seconds faster than Robert Oldershaw. But what to do about the engine?

In the end we decided to take the engine out and change the cylinder head gasket as a precaution. We also had to remove some of our development parts in order to ensure we had enough cooling for the race which we anticipated would be very hot. Many thanks to MCR Racecars for our excellent supper when we had finished the engine repairs at 8.30pm.

A red flag during the qualifying session of the A1 GP cars meant we were called to the grid early. And I was not ready! Arrived to the grid nearly last and had to weave my way through to the front row which was surprisingly hard with the cars so close together. Our start was delayed due to a warm up lap incident, but then we were started with no further warm up lap. Rick and I made equally good starts but Rick moved over and started to push me to the outside. It appears Robert Oldershaw had made an awesome start and was squeezing Rick into me. I backed off and turned into Paddock Hill bend in 3rd. Rick was making some desperate attempts at getting by Robert and entering the back straight I decided to back off and wait for the accident to happen. They went down the straight side by side with Rick holding on round the outside into Hawthorn. Robert thankfully (for Rick’s safety) backed off although he still pushed Rick wide on the exit. They again tangled at Westfield with Robert continuing straight on and me following Rick past him.

Rick pulled out a small gap whilst I learnt the new handling characteristics of the car. It was working very well with excellent balance round the high speed and low speed corners and I quickly caught him up. Even better as the tyres got hot I could see Rick struggling. I tried to get past a few time only to be chopped. I again had problems with backmarkers but each time was able to close the gap within a few corners. Then the safety car came out. What a relief with the engine temperature again at 110.

As the safety car pulled in I managed to stay close to Rick and the following lap was right with him heading towards Paddock Hill bend. I went wide whilst Rick defended and when he drifted off the apex mid corner I went up the inside. This time I was alongside before he could block and got into Druids hairpin in the lead. So head down and push. I pulled out a good gap over the rest of the lap and then broke the lap record on the next. A safe final circuit and over the line to take the win!

How satisfying, especially as I was carrying the Motors TV onboard camera and the whole race was played out in front of a large A1 GP crowd.

We now look forward to Donnington. I have only done 2 dry laps in this car at Donnington but still hold the formula Vee lap record.