Race Commentary

Friday testing suggested quite how close Saturday would have been. The full GAC team were out in strength, with ex-BTCC works Toyota driver Ian Flux testing Farmer’s car during the morning. Daniel Hands returned to the track after his Brands Hatch misfortune and to the best of my knowledge, Farmer, Hands and myself were separated by a matter of hundredths all day.

Come Saturday and the forecast of rain, qualification was neither wet nor dry. Damp patches covered the circuit but as I was in the second of two sessions conditions were invariably better for me. However, it was of little advantage as Martin Farmer, James Birch, John Hughes and Jake Oliveira all contested this session too.

As the session got underway, I settled in behind Birch, Hughes and Farmer and quickly worked up to the front, using each of them as a spring board forward. After four laps the session was stopped due to oil down between Brooklands and Copse. Whilst waiting for the session to be restarted I was told that I was fastest by eight tenths, ahead of Farmer. Knowing that Farmer would also be told this, he would certainly be pushing hard once we got going again.

By the time the session was resumed, circuit conditions had improved. However, the remnants of oil at Brooklands meant I couldn’t improve on my previous best lap. Never-the-less, neither could Farmer and it was good enough for my third consecutive pole position by little over four tenths of a second from Martin Farmer and James Birch.

The Clerk of the Course later deemed that the two sessions had different enough conditions to justify staggering the results and so joining me on the front row would be Sam Oliveira, with Ian Buxton and Martin Farmer making up row two.

So, an hour before the race the rain settled in, the full extent of which I did not know until we made the grid. Large puddles of standing water lined the circuit, at Copse, Beckets and Brooklands.

Getting off the line was a struggle in itself. Even the most extreme clutch finesse gave too much wheelspin. Sam made an equal start but by the time I made second gear, Ian Buxton had already jumped us for the lead.

Benefitting from an absolutely storming start, he moved to the inside and led into Copse for the first time. Feeling the need to make it back to the front I got to the outside of Buxton under braking for Brooklands and we ran side by side until I had the inside line for Luffield.

Now back in front I could start to think about running at my own pace. Unbeknown to me was that as entering Becketts on lap one Farmer had touched wheels with Birch, spun and was now trailing at the back of the field.

I started to push reasonably hard but it was short-lived. I stretched out a sizeable lead over Buxton on that lap but after making the apex at Brooklands, continued to aquaplane off towards the gravel. Realising the potential that I would get beached was high, I got back on the throttle fractionally before reaching the end of the track. This gave me just enough momentum to power through the gravel, over the grass, across the tighter, disused Luffield corner, over some more grass and to rejoin just behind Buxton in the middle of the corner.

I had lost a few seconds to Buxton but remained in second position. After regaining my composure, I decided that I needed to chase down Buxton for the win as I had no idea how Farmer was progressing.

Within two laps I had caught him and in the process set a new fastest lap, 1.2 seconds faster than his and a second faster than anybody else. Starting lap six and on the run down to Becketts I had a think about going down the inside of Buxton. We were millimeters apart and on the exit I was completely out of shape. I couldn’t hold it and spun. Keeping the engine running I had to wait for Birch, Lindsay and Oliveira to pass before I could rejoin. It was at that point that I realised Martin was no longer towards the front.

So I got lucky. Yes and I admit it. The red flags were thrown due to an incident between Alan Robinson and Ankit Love at Luffield, therefore on count back, I retained second place.

Martin struggled to make up positions and finished down in 18th position, scoring just three points. He will now drop that round, his worst finish of the season and with my 22 points for second place and the extra point for fastest lap, I have retaken the championship lead and have a ten point buffer heading into the final two rounds.

However, whilst the dynamics of the championship have changed (I can now finish second to him even if he wins and gets fastest lap), it is far from over. A DNF at Oulton Park or Snetterton would put me largely out of contention, albeit not mathematically, but practically. It may only be 30 minutes of racing but there is a long way still to go.

Overall, I can’t help but be slightly disappointed at myself for not winning. I was quickest in qualifying and in the race by a sizeable margin. The truth is, the conditions caught me out.

Congratulations to Ian Buxton on his first win of year. He may not have been the quickest but he did manage something I didn’t – he kept it on track.

Next up, Outlon Park.

Related posts:

1. Formula Vee: 3rd at Oulton makes me Champion (Video)
2. Preview: Next up, Snetterton
3. Preview: Castle Combe (UK Formula Vee)

Pole Position Lap

Race One

Race Two

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2. Race Report: Brands Hatch GP (UK Formula Vee)
3. Formula Ford: Brands Hatch Review