Going into this weekend I had no circuit knowledge. Having elected to skip the Oulton Park round last year, an afternoon of testing on Friday had only two objectives: learn the circuit and refine a setup.

A broken head stud was the result of a single installation lap in the first of two sessions. Later, during the second session, the oil cooler was ruptured by a stone and a rocker gasket began to leak, ending what was a very difficult day in which I managed just half a dozen laps of the picturesque circuit.

On Friday evening we reappraised our situation. I had come to Oulton Park with the clear intention of winning. I wanted my fourth straight pole position and I wanted to make up for the mistake last time out at Silverstone. However, we found ourselves in a difficult situation. I still did not know the circuit well and with only a handful of laps, we approached making changes to our setup with some trepidation.

As far as I was concerned, the objectives had changed. Martin Farmer, last years Oulton Park winner and my only championship threat, was clearly fastest on Friday with the new 2008-spec GAC engine. With only ten championship points separating us going into this weekend, I had to focus on damage limitation. For me, we decided, there was nobody else in the race.

During qualifying, I stayed close to Farmer. James Birch put in an early quick lap to take provisional pole position whilst Farmer and I continued to improve our times. The session ended with Farmer improving on the final lap to take pole position. Birch ended up second whilst I was was third.

We were ahead of Farmer up until the final lap and considering the relative lack of circuit knowledge we had, it wasn’t a bad result. The car was also distinctly unpredictable and we later discovered a broken trailing arm. Since lap one of qualifying we were running extreme camber on the right-rear wheel, almost certainly a result of taking the heavy kerbing through one of the two chicanes. All things considered, I was relatively confident.

Lining up on the grid, I still had just one goal in mind: finish ahead of Farmer. For the first time ever, I was ready for big picture racing.

Over the green flag lap I was somewhat concerned with the car. It sounded more “throaty than normal and I concluded it was probably a small piece of dirt in the carburettor. What’s worse, the oil light had come on as I took my grid space.

I had an average get away but lost momentum as Hands came across to cover the inside. As I was swamped by many cars, I decided to err on the side of caution early into the turn one. I was down in sixth position but as we swooped through Cascades and down the Lakeside straight for the first time I was not particularly concerned. It was a train of cars: Hands, Farmer, Birch, Jake Oliveira, Sam Oliveira, myself and Ryan Lindsay. It didn’t think it would last and so I sat back for a lap to consider the car.

Over the opening lap the oil light continued to flash. Rationalising that I wouldn’t still be running if I really had an oil pressure problem, I figured it too was a victim of hitting the kerbing hard all weekend.

Exiting Lodge corner for the first time and we began to concertina together. I got alongside Sam up the hill and was past in time to take a somewhat normal line into Old Hall. Hands and Birch were alongside one another at the front, as were Jake and Farmer directly ahead of me.

Jake Oliveira and Farmer continued to run side-by-side down through Cascades and I managed to get to the gearbox of Jake before Farmer had a chance to close the door. Approaching the Shell Oils hairpin this time and I was back into 4th position but most crucially, ahead of Farmer.

I decided to start defending. After all, I did not have to win the race and even if the front three made a break, it didn’t matter to me.

We continued to go wheel to wheel over the next lap, Farmer getting to my outside before Old Hall. He couldn’t make it stick and fell back into line for the run through Cascades. Once again, on the run down Lakeside Straight, Farmer rocketed to my outside before Island Bend. Taking the outside line, he appeared to get on the marbles and he under-steered off the circuit and onto the grass. I could hardly believe my eyes and as I began to brake for the hairpin he was out the sight of my mirrors.

I continued to search my mirrors for any signs of the works GAC. Before we had even reached the Knickerbrook chicane I was confident that if he was still running, he was considerably down the order.

Sam Oliveira was now glued to my gearbox. Having reappraised the situation and still holding reservations about the reliability of my car, I moved over to let him past rather than risk fighting unnecessarily. What’s more, by following him, I would be almost certainly be dragged back to the front while continuing to conserve my own car.

Sam was having his own difficulties and as he went through to my inside at Druids, his car was quite literally on fire. Being a sportsman, he let me back through and I continued to reduce the gap on my own.

Exiting Cascades again and it was now Birch who was to fall by the wayside. Suffering an engine failure, this promoted me back to where I had started in third position.

As I negotiated Island Bend for the third time I could see the stricken car of Farmer in the outside wall. Once again, this changed the dynamics of my race. With a ten point lead originally and a DNF giving Farmer only 1 extra point, I would need to score 18 to take the title, the equivalent of finishing fourth. As I was currently running in third position, I concentrated on keeping consistent and conservative. Ryan Lindsay was keeping me honest and his constant presence in my mirrors gave me little hope of relaxing entirely.

Related posts:

1. Formula Vee: Victory at Mallory Park! (Video)
2. Formula Vee: Pole Position, Fastest Lap and 2nd at Silverstone
3. Formula Vee: Pembrey (Video)

Race 1

Race 2

Thanks to Elite Photography for the photographs.

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I’d like to reiterate thanks for everyone’s support up to this point and also looking forward, it will continue to get better. The next two rounds of the championship are held at Snetterton in two weeks time with a race on Saturday and Sunday. Another two weeks after that it’s the 40th Anniversary Festival at Brands Hatch with two further championship races and a separate festival contest. These are my two home races, both equidistant from where I live.

Finally, just to congratulate Daniel Hands and Martin Farmer on their 2nd and 3rd place finishes with which we completed the first GAC 1-2-3 and to Jamie Conyers with his strong 6th position.

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Pembrey is a circuit set low within the Welsh valleys, surrounded by undulating hills and beautiful countryside. Yet the track itself sits on the grounds of a former Royal Air Force Station and is almost perfectly flat. The circuit is categorically not suited for Formula Vee. Our fixed gear ratios put undue stress on the engine and at almost every corner you are forced to compromise to some degree.

Changeable weather conditions on the Friday made finding a good set-up difficult. What we consider our “base-line” set-up patently wasn’t working and for the first time this year, we struggled for grip at the rear as well as the front. Going into Saturday I was a bit unsure as to what to expect.

As we waited in the assembly area for qualification it began to look as if it might rain. It was therefore important to put in a least one fast lap early on, just in case. I initially began to work with Martin Farmer up until lap three when he spun on the exit of Spitfires. Martin, like me, was struggling to get the car fully working at Pembrey.

I noticed that my tyres were beginning to overheat and so I backed off for a lap to try and let them cool down. I then pushed for a single lap and backed off to do the same again until they were completely over-worked.

It was good enough for third on the grid for both races. Daniel Hands took pole position on the Saturday and Sam Oliveira did likewise on the Sunday. Considering that I was fighting the car, I was somewhat relieved.

The rain stayed off and as I lined up on the grid for the first of two races the sun was shining – reminiscent of last years summer heat. After the first lap, it was clear that I had faster race pace than I was expecting. It was only just under-way when it was red-flagged after Ryan Lindsay and James Birch came together at the Hairpin.

On the restart and I got to the outside of Hands under braking for the Hairpin. He maintained the lead until Sam reached the front on lap four. Later that lap I made it past Hands at Honda and tried to close the gap to Sam. After a lap of pushing, I had pulled out a gap from the cars of Hands and Jake Oliveira behind. However, it wasn’t to be as a quick look in my mirror revealed plumes of blue smoke trailing my car together with a metallic rattle as I progressed up to maximum revs. A broken cylinder head stud meant I had to nurse the car home as quickly as possible, eventually losing sight of Sam.

I continued to battle with Hands, once losing the position as I was held up by a back-marker. I then passed him again at the outside of Honda. In the end it was a reasonably comfortable second place but by all accounts, it was a long way from first.

Hands and Farmer were both landed with 10 second penalties for jumping the start meaning Jake was promoted to the final podium position.

For race two I was feeling a little more confident. Knowing that I could replicate second place on pace I tried to focus on what I could do about Sam. I concluded that the most I could do was get on his gearbox as early as possible before he got a chance to break away. Hands and Sam swapped places for Sunday’s race and I lined up 3rd once again.

As the lights went out Hands moved over to the right and we went line astern into the Hairpin for the first time after making fairly equal starts. I held back through Honda the first time and got a run on Hands past the start and finish straight as he went defensive, taking the inside line under braking. I went to the left and got the switch back on the exit as he struggled to find a gear.

It was only the second lap but Sam had already stretched out a gap. Nevertheless I got my head together and tried to close him down. I broke away from Jake in 3rd but after two laps of trying I wasn’t really getting much closer to the car I was chasing. Sadly, it wasn’t long before my tyres were completely overheated and I was at times perilously close to throwing the car off the road. Unsurprisingly, my pace dropped off and Jake gradually caught me. This came to a climax on lap eight when he spun at Honda after struggling with his gearbox.

Now with a reasonable distance to Hands in 3rd, I managed the gap until the flag, again finishing second but by my own admission – light years away from first.

So after two races and two 2nd places, which came relatively easy, I guess I shouldn’t be disappointed. I think that overall the weekend was a success, especially considering how uncertain I was on Friday night.

It is not long until Cadwell Park – in fact just three days. I have always enjoyed the circuit, it is a unique challenge hidden amongst today’s safety-conscious climate. I hope to be able to match Sam’s pace, as we did at Castle Combe and if we do, anything is possible. I am looking forward to qualification as I cannot afford to be caught behind anyone during the race. I need to run at my own pace. I guess I need to start on pole…

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1. Race Report: Pembrey (UK Formula Vee)
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