Oulton Park - April 16th/18th
Rounds 1, 2 and 3
First qualifying of the year saw us 5th for race 1 and 6th for race 2.
Managed to get up to 2nd place and couldn’t quite get past the leader who defended magnificently, good points haul.
See race action, Ginetta TV coverage here
Managed to get into a short lived 3rd place down the Avenue, couldn’t make it stick and went wide at Cascades and dropped to 6th, race long scrap eventually finished 5th, more points
See race action, Ginetta TV coverage here
Started in 5th, made a good start into 4th, feeling good and competitive ready to move forward, then safety car after 1 lap and then red flag! We were on curfew time so no restart but more points for 4th.
Donington Park - April 23rd/24th
Rounds 4, 5 and 6
Never been on the front row before so the plan was to draft with team mate but had to pit to check the car. Turned out it was fluid on the track that made the car feel strange. So set off again and didn’t expect to do too much, fastest lap involved passing a car on the grass, next fastest was without a tow. So was very surprised to qualify on pole for race 1 AND race 2!! Stunning pace.
My first pole start, tried to get a good start and led down Craner Curves but lost out to the draft up the hill, need to defend more vigorously in future! Ended up finishing 3rd but had incurred a 10 second jump start penalty and because of the safety car and red flag dropped me to 13th!!
Pole again, got away reasonable but again got a little swamped but recovered to take 3rd place at the end, yet another red flag! Good points though and fastest lap.
Started in 3rd place and battling at the front of the field, fast and competitive. Then on lap 5 had nowhere to go due to someone else’s accident! Ended up in gravel and couldn’t get out. Not the end to a very competitive weekend that we wanted, but car is in good shape and undamaged.
Try again at Silverstone in 2 weeks time.
Watch race 3 here, scroll down to the bottom and choose the GT5 option
Silverstone - May 7th/8th
Rounds 7 and 8
After testing on Friday when we were very fast it was noted that we had a straight line speed issue. Elite stripped and inspected the fuel system and improvements were made.
Early morning qualifying went well, car was still down on straight line speed but we managed to secure pole for races 1 and 2, 3/10ths quicker than anyone!
Stating on pole and got away in the lead, lost and regained the lead which we held until the penultimate lap. Still suffering with a straight line speed issue we lost the lead being ‘helped’ wide and finished in 4th.
Race 2 footage from Ginetta TV
After new plugs and a throttle position sensor we set off in pole again. Got a reasonable start but lost out to my team mate on the run to the first corner, everyone else right behind us! My team mate pulled away while we fell back. We battled back into 2nd place and held that until 5 minutes from the end when we were ‘tapped’ off the track losing many places. Fought back to finish 5th. Still suffering from a straight line speed issue, so engine going back to Ginetta for attention.
Thruxton - May 28th/29th
Rounds 9 and 10
Engine back from Ginetta and Elite managed to get it fitted and sorted ready for the race. No testing for Thruxton so straight into qualifying. Managed 3rd for the first race and 5th for the second race.
Fairly good start and managed to take the lead in the early laps and pulled away to win by over 5 seconds! Our maiden win, car was brilliant and fastest lap as well.
Fell back to 7th from the start but by the start of lap 2 managed to get into 2nd place. By lap 5 managed to catch the leader and passed him, pulling away to win by 11 seconds. Win number 2 and again the car was brilliant.
Watch the race on ITV4, scroll down to the last race and choose GT5
Croft - June 25th/26th
Rounds 11 and 12
Weather was a bit mixed but holding dry and warm. Got out at the front and settled into a rhythm, pole by over 4/10ths for race 1 and 2, excellent.
Got away well and gradually pulled away to win by over 7 seconds, fastest lap by 2/10ths. Car felt really good
Again got away quite well and kept the lead, not quite as easy in this race but managed to take the win by over 1 second, fastest lap again.
A really good weekend and now leading the championship
Watch the race on ITV4, scroll down to the last race and choose GT5
Brands Hatch - September 10th/11th
Rounds 13, 14 and 15
Back on track after 10 week break more or less, back on it and double pole again, superb.
Got a slow start and dropped back a few positions but regained the lead and pulled away for a win and fastest lap, excellent start to the race weekend.
Managed to grab the lead at the start, followed closely by my team mate who took the lead partway through, pushed to regain the lead but safety car intervention and very robust defending by the leader meant we finished 2nd, more points.
Watch the race here on Ginetta TV
Starting 2nd but fell back, took a couple of laps to regain 2nd and pull back on the leader and managed to grab the lead but incurred a penalty which meant we finished 8th after leading over the line. Disappointing but we look forward to Donington Park still leading the championship.
Watch the race here on Ginetta TV
Donington Park - October 15th/16th
Rounds 16, 17 and 18 the final round
Arrived at Donington in the lead of the championship but with a question mark over our engine, didn’t seem quite on song. Managed to qualify second for race 1 and third for race 2. Not quite on the pace and the team set about checking teh car to see what could be found.
Got the car off the line well and was slightly ahead going into Redgate but snatching front brakes sent me wide and losing places, team had fitted new pads and they were not fully bedded in! So began to pull places back but had to avoid another competitor at the Estes running over the kerbs and a rear damper snapped resulting in a DNF! Championship lead gone, disappointing. Car was still suffering with a straight line speed issue compared to my championship rivals. More pondering for the team.
Again, managed to get a good start and slotted in behind my teammate in the lead and started and race long duel for the lead. Passed for the lead partway through but could not hold it, still having straight line speed issues. But at least scored points. So this left us needing to win race 3 with fastest lap to be sure of winning the championship, now in 3rd place.
Watch the race on Ginetta TV here
All or nothing really in race 3. Managed to make a decent start again slotting in behind my teammate with the new championship leader tucked in behind me. First lap brought out yellow flags and then a safety car so my teammate and I slowed to obey the yellow flag and the championship leader promptly overtook me in the yellow flag zone. I expected to be let back through into 2nd place but that didn’t happen. So the safety car period ended and we battled hard to pass the championship leader, again able to pass but not make it stick due to the straight line speed problem. To add to the fun 2 other competitors caught us whilst my teammate pulled away in the lead. Eventually finished 5th after tremendous battles all the way through the race, nothing we could do. Post race the championship leader was penalised for passing under yellow so my teammate won the championship with us second. What a season, nearly pulled it off.
Watch the race here on Ginetta TV
5 wins, 8 poles, numerous podiums and fastest laps
