July 2008

Next race 19th Donnington Park - the new home of the British Grand Prix 

June 2008

Considering last weekend was essentially the first outing for the new car it was very encouraging. Testing on Friday went well; just an issue with a faulty oil pressure switch losing me some time. The lap timer showed my best time being 1 min 1.39 secs which was 0.6 secs quicker than in the XR2.  

Qualifying – thankfully the overnight rain had stopped and an almost totally dry track greeted us. Traffic was a real issue during qualifying with 32 cars trying to set a quick time, halfway through the session I spun the car on wet grass. I had visions of another nightmare, but thankfully I stopped before the barrier this time. I achieved my fastest lap right at the end of the session 1 min 2.03 secs putting me 14th on the 32 car grid.

 Race 1 – a good start saw me climb a couple of places that were subsequently lost avoiding a spinning car later on the 1st lap. By the end of lap 1 I had dropped to 17th holding this for the next 6 laps in a battle with a 205 and Saxo. Over the last 4 laps I passed the Saxo, XR2 and another Saxo, putting me 13th with a best lap of 1 min 1.9secs. 

Race 2 – again I was off the line well but then blocked by a Suzuki Swift which would continue to hinder my progression. I was determined to finish the weekend with the car sustaining no damage, so despite being quicker I just pressurised him without any attempt to pass. I finished the race 15th. 

So, overall the weekend was a great success with huge potential. Despite the car being 50 kilos overweight and only having driven it twice, I was quicker than the XR2 without taking any risks. With further development due before Donington we should be back in the top 10 and hopefully the final

May 2008

We made the decision to make limited changes before testing : new radiator, oil cooler fitted, new brake pads& discs, brake bias, seat changed

The test at Mallory was successful despite an early scare dropping oil on to the exhaust as the dip stick was blown out. The lap times were within 1 sec of that in the XR2 so onward to the double header at Brands Hatch.

April 2008

I must admit after the accident I thought the season was over before it had really started. Motor racing is a bug and I've bought a Ford Fiesta Xr2i - the car has been raced only twice so has the roll cage but is very short of development.

 We have taken the decision to miss a couple of rounds in order to fully prepare the car.Initial work to be carried out - replace sun roof, fit brake bias, new radiator, oil cooler and general over and weight reduction.Parts salvaged from the xr2 have been put on ebay to try to recover some funds.