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2011 Review

That is the end of the 2011 Stock Hatch Season, I have finished the championship in 8th place. I missed 3 races and also did not finish at Snetterton in July. This years’ championship has had it's own ups and downs. My car has felt tired, had reliability issues (mainly in testing thank goodness) and had lost the edge that it used to have. Over winter I want to rebuild it, hopefully from the ground up, reinforce any rust patches, rewire the whole thing, replace all the oil seals, replace piston rings, gaskets, pumps, refit the heater matrix for those rainy days and whatever else comes up along the way! Lets hope this year I do it. Thank you to everyone who helped me through this year. Mainly my Mum and Dad for their continual help and support.

Cadwell Park, rounds 13 & 14 October 2011

Prep: After Pembrey I only had a little to do to the car, general maintenance and hoping to improve the brakes. Me, Dad and my boyfriend Steven Ayres spent a few hours working on it to get it sorted.
Testing: Cadwell is an amazing circuit, it has sweeping turns, tight bends, inclines and declines, close walls, slippery tarmac and unbelievably narrow. This is a circuit where you need to know what’s coming next. For this reason I decided an afternoon testing was in order as, although I have raced here once, I knew I would be rusty.  Rusty I was indeed! The first session out I worked on improving my confidence through the blind corners and reminding myself of the cambers throughout various lines of the corners but before I had a chance to really learn anything the session was red flagged. I realised from that session how much I had to relearn from before and how much more I had to learn before I would be competitive. The second session wasn’t much more successful, the session was read flagged again after 4 laps but at least now I had started to get more familiar with the circuit again. Session 3, the last session of the test day, was much more productive. The whole session ran without problems and I really had the chance to gain confidence in my lines and tried different speeds and gear changes through various corner complexes. But, I was still off the pace of the other Stock Hatch B guys racing that weekend.
Qualifying: After scrutineering I got ready for our qualifying session. Wondering how I was going to compare to the front runners and preparing myself to see my name at the bottom of the timing sheets, I made my way into the assembly area. Out we went and I threw myself into it. Trying to get quicker and quicker, I passed a few people on slow laps and found some clear track, then I had 2 other competitors behind who didn’t find an opportunity to get past. I really tried to use more kerbs and carry more speed through the whole circuit but my car feels heavy at Cadwell, it feels cumbersome trying to throw it from one direction to another and it feels heavy in the downhill braking points, I suffer from understeer on some corners and oversteer in others so it really is a game of compromise. After 7 laps we saw the chequered flag and I made my way back to the paddock to await the results. My 2 best laps were 1.52’s, my personal best times, and 3 seconds off the times I was getting during the test session.
I was very pleased to have managed to get the extra time off my lap times, and I ended up closer to the fast group than the slow group which was reassuring. The times qualified me in 15th out of 20 for race 1 and 12th out of 20 for race 2. Not the grid positions I wanted, or was happy with, but better than I feared I would have ended up with.
Race 1: Before race 1 the heavens opened. Rain covered the circuit, and continued to fall. Manic rushing around checking tyre tread, choosing suspension settings, tyre pressure and rainX-ing windows was happening throughout the paddock. Races that were on track before us were adding up to 15 seconds to their lap times which gave us all an idea of how slippery it must be out on circuit.
It was still raining as we queued up on the grid, we were given an unscheduled green flag lap as the conditions of the circuit had changed to much since qualifying. From the start, the visibility was dire, I had a good start, managing to creep right up between Keith Morgan and Derek Rozier but I was just squeezed out before the first corner. The spray from all the cars made it near on impossible to see anything apart from the rain light on the car in front. The first few laps of the race was dedicated more to scoping out the levels of traction around the circuit then seriously racing, and as Cadwell is a circuit that can really punish you for coming off it really was better to be safe than sorry. As confidence improved for me and the others I was racing with, we started taking advantage of the conditions and enjoyed the added car control challenge a wet circuit provides. I found my car was strong through the bends but I couldn’t brake late enough at the end of the straights without locking up, so lost places there. Over all, even with a moment through Hall bends where the car was sideways, I made some places, lost some places and gained a few more throughout the race and finished in 12th place.

Pembrey Double Header 24th & 25th September (and testing 23rd September)

Testing:
After being off the track for nearly 2 months I was looking forward to Pembrey, and happy to be getting back out on track. But after 3 laps of testing the car started cutting out so I returned to the pits to see if there was an easy fix. Thankfully my Boyfriend Stephen Ayres, who also races in class B in Stock Hatch was on hand to help Dad and I try and find out what was up. After a few checks we decided the problem wasn’t in the fueling, so it was going to be something ignition based, we worked through the car replacing everything we had a spare of in the hope to fix the problem as quickly as possible. 

During our replacements we came across lots of aged and worn wiring which we replaced and then came across a dodgy earth which we fixed. After this the car seemed to be up and running again just in time for the last session of testing.

I managed to get out and familiarise myself with the circuit again, as well as getting a feel for the car as we had made a few handling changes since the last time I was out. Sadly I had no time to play with settings so I spent the time focusing on my lines and making do with the generic settings I chose to go out on.

Qualifying:
I queued up early for my qualifying session and was out behind Lee Scott and Martin Cayzer with the intention to stick with them and try and get up to speed more quickly than I normally do. This worked, as I started getting up to my times from testing straight away, lucky really as after 3 laps the rain came and times plummeted. I stayed out though to get a feel for the circuit in the wet conditions. My plans didn’t last as during lap 6 I started smelling oil quite strongly and by the time I was half way through lap 7 the car was filling with oil smoke so I pulled over and abandoned the rest of the session. Back in the paddock we looked at the car to see that oil had been spraying out from the rocker cover, further investigation showed that a previous rethreading attempt had failed. Steve and dad set about rethreading the hole for the rocker bolt and we resealed the gasket ready for the first race. With the first few laps I got in I managed to qualify 8th for Saturdays race and 9th for Sundays.

Race 1 (Saturday)
Wet race, we adapted the car with some theoretical wet settings. The circuit was indeed wet, and slippery, but very predictable. Although saying that, my good start was undone at Brooklands Hairpin during lap 1 when I ran wide on exit. It was a really fun surface to be racing on, but rain brought other difficulties; visibility! But even so I was in a good position gaining on Derek Rozier as the race progressed but a stupid hesitation on my part (when Derek slid off I held back to avoid any potential collision) meant I gave away 3 places during the last lap. Unbelievably annoyed with myself, that tainted my opinion of the race. I finished 10th when I should have been on for a 7th.

Race 2 (Sunday)
The weather was changing during the morning, the sky looked as if it may stay dry but the circuit was holding onto the water from the day before rather well, leaving settings to be a bit of a stab in the dark. In the end I opted for a hybrid of the settings I used in Qualifying and race 1 to try and get the best out of the car. I had a good start and as the race progressed a few other competitors were finding the limits and sliding off to rejoin behind me, Andy Philpots was one such person and after him hounding me for a couple of laps after spinning off he managed a pass, only to spin off again, this time I defended until the end of the race and finished 8th.

31st July 2011 Snetterton Double Header 200

Back to Snetterton 200 for another double header. It was an early start with scrutineering kicking off at 7.45 and Qualifying at 9am. When we were given the ‘good to go’ from the marshals in the assembly area I tried to start the car and nothing, the car wasn’t showing any signs of starting. So once everyone else had left assembly dad and the marshals bump started me and I joined the back of the queue to get out on track.

Feeling a bit panicked from the car not starting I went flying out in qualifying locked up on the second corner and ran wide at Murrays leaving me struggling through the dust before rejoining the circuit. But once id got a grip on my driving I started, as usual, working my way up to a quick time on my last lap, I qualified 12th out of 19 for both races.

In race one I started one the outside of the circuit, I had a brilliant start and found myself a good few cars forwards by the second corner tucking in behind Steve Ayres ready for a really good run up the back straight towards the Esses, but coming out of the second corner complex Matt Stubington lost grip and slid into me pushing me way of the circuit, by the time I had rejoined there was only 2 other competitors behind so I spent the rest of the race on catch up. I manage to pass a couple over the next 2 laps and focused in on trying to catch up with Keith Morgan and Derek Rozier but getting the line wrong in the second corner complex lots me time and left me defending from Dan Gibson for the rest of the race. I finished 10th.

About an hour before the second race we discovered a fairly considerable oil leak with the car which we vaguely diagnosed as cam shaft seals, without anything with us to fix the problem, we cleaned up what we could and tightened other bits and pieces and hoped the car would last the race.

I stared race 2 of the day in 12th again, I managed to hold my position in the pack from the line and got a good run through the first and second corner getting a good run on Keith Morgan who I passed on the back straight, I tucked in behind Keiren Forinton for the e
Esses and followed him through bomb hole and Coram before having to pick my line through 5 cars in front who all came off half way around the corner, I had free track in from of me after that and tried to keep my eye on Paul Thorpe, the last of the few cars in front and work my way up towards him. I just didn’t have the power to gain on them though and kept quite a space between us.  A bad run into Murrays also gave Keith Morgan the opportunity to get past me and his Suzuki Swift is so rapid on the straights I didn’t have the power to keep up with him. Burning oil smell was also quite apparent especially down the straights so I was spending some of my focus checking oil pressure more that usual. Keiran Forinton who had rejoined after the crash also passed me with a nice tight line through Coram and I had Dan Gibson right behind again too and was defending well. As the race continued Derek Rozier caught us too getting past Dan quickly but I held him off for 3 laps then locking up into the last corner of the last lap gave the opportunity to Derek for a drag race to the line and he pulled ahead b.03 of a second over the line. Gutted! But a good race with Derek and ended up 9th

3rd July 2011 Donington Race

A dry and sunny day at Donington, Qualifying went fairly well. I managed to get up to speed pretty quickly. I had some clear track in front of me for a couple of laps and tried to get some quick ones in. A lot of cars were running off the circuit at Redgate corner making visibility near on impossible on the exit and also at Old Hair Pin, but like normal my fastest laps came at the end of the session resulting in a 1:30:34, 10th out of 20 on the grid and lining up next to Paul Thorpe.

We gridded up for the race that afternoon and waited for the countdown. The red lights were on for AGES before we got away from the line, but I had a great start and held tenth through Redgate and up to 9th by the end of the 1st lap. I went into Redgate on lap 2 with Andrew Lightfoot, Edward Cooper, Bill Pariera, Martin Fowdrey and Paul Thorpe, sadly Bill Spun as he entered the corner leaving him beached right in my line, although I did what I could to tighten the line to avoid him it wasn’t going to happen and I sideswiped him smashing my passenger door, blowing my window out and hitting the whole rear quarter and wheel. Surprisingly I was still running, more importantly still felt fairly straight, and my rear tyre was still up so I carried on. The race was red flagged and restarted from original grid positions.

We waited ages for a restart, I was warned on the grid that I might be mechanical flagged for my door as it was barely staying closed but that ended up not being a problem, I didn’t have quite the start I had before losing 1 place, but with Bill retiring after our collision I was in 10th again. Through the race I was being hunted down by Steve Ayres who was fighting his way through the pack behind, I held him off for a good few laps but he got through at the Old Hair Pin on the brakes. Martin Fodwrey who had been in the lead group but had run wide at the chicane was now hunting me down and also got past at Old Hair Pin, I had the perfect opportunity to get back past at McCleans but hesitated for a second and missed my opportunity also giving Derek Rozier the chance to catch up, but I defended until the flag and finished 11th. My fastest lap in the race was 1:30:14.

20th, 21st & 22nd May 2011 - Testing and the Race weekend at Snetterton 200

Testing Friday 20th May afternoon, Double header race meeting 21st & 22nd May. 

We decided the best move was to rock up early on Friday morning, although we were only booked in for afternoon testing it seemed sensible (on one hand) to beat the rush hour traffic and spend the morning settling in to Snetterton, with no strain on time, for the testing and the weekend ahead, although this did mean dragging our selves out of bed just before 5am (that was the bit on the other hand).

We picked our spot in the paddock and discovered that the tent’s first outing of the year had been slightly hampered by a lack of pegs, and there was no way in the Norfolk wind was going to let us bodge this so Mum and Dad went on a mission to buy some more while I gave my car another check over for potential fuel leaks and got down to sound check in advance for the test sessions.

At the test day on the 8th I was ending up around 1.37’s on a good run so wanted to improve on that as soon as I got out on track. There was only 2 sessions and I spent the majority of the first one nipping in and out of the circuit trying to decipher where various burning and rubbing smells might be coming from, after some trimming of a new rear valance that was sitting a bit too close to the exhaust and various checks I was happy with the car and started bringing down the lap times. Still not being able to take masses off my time I was getting a little concerned about how I was gonna measure up to the other racers, having found out that 2 other class B’s were sneaking into the 1.33’s I had no idea where I was losing so much time.

QUALIFYING

I stormed qualifying, the first time this year where I got back into the paddock not really pissed off that I’d screwed it up, I achieved my personal best so far on this new circuit layout and it felt like a good run, I was focused throughout and felt like I couldn’t have done much better if I went straight back out there. The most annoying thing was that everyone else had the same feelings and there are some quick cars out there this year, leaving sitting down in 12th position on the grid, cant believe that im so far off the pace this year. Second best time for the Sunday race was even worse, and I started Sunday in 14th.

SATURDAYS RACE

I started the race from the outside of the circuit, had a good start making it past a couple of other competitors and then around the outside of the second corner in 10th place. I was in the middle of a fairly tight pack of cars through most of the race close to Steve Ayres and side by side with Pip Hammond, until an error at  Murrays where I locked up and piled onto the grass left me defending my position from Paul Thorpe as the pack in front pulled away.  It was a good race, times were still coming down, then, disaster, when my throttle jammed on coming into Murrays from Coram, leaving me with no other option than to kill the engine and roll into the grass. After getting out the car and running to the marshal post I found out it was the last lap. Gutted I didn’t get a finish but at least I had a good race.

After getting towed back to the paddock we fixed the car up for Sundays race.

SUNDAYS RACE

Starting from the middle of the grid this time I had an average start and lost a place into the first corner, but managed to gain one back again on the way through the second corner, then there were a few of us swapping places up the straight and into the Esses. A crash during the first lap saw the race red flagged, and we slowed down and gridded up for a restart.
On the restart I had a much better start getting straight past 1 car off the line but took the wrong line through the traffic in the second corner complex, dropping back to 15th. I had people close behind, but not close enough to be a threat  and I had 2 guys in front in my sights, then towards the end of the race we’d all bunched up and 5 of us together made our way through the last lap swapping places. I ended up crossing the line in 13th place. 

This year certainly isn't playing out to be a fruitful as last year.

May 2011 - Preparation for Snetterton

Before the up and coming Snetterton race meeting we needed to get the fuel tank back in, we ordered some new fuel lines too and made a point of freshening up the system. The fuel tank itself was fairly easy to get back in, but everything else involved made the job a fairly lengthily one. But we did it, and tested it, (it was a brave moment turning the fuel back on – I’m not a fan of working with petrol), we had a little leak but it was easily fixable then we were all sorted again.

8th May 2011 - Missing Cadwell

The decision to miss the Cadwell race hinged on a lot of different aspects. I haven't started this year as well as I wanted - I've been a second off my personal best times from Mallory and at Brands in this years races, so while i work out if its me, the car or a combination of the both I felt that Cadwell would be an expensive and potentially disappointing race. Having only been there once before, and loving every minute I didn't fancy ruining a circuit I want to learn and love by not getting a good result. If I could have afforded the time off, the journey up there and back for a test day before the race I probably would have done it, but with the cost of fuel, the 5 hour+ journey there and back, hotels for 'the pit crew' (Mum & Dad) it wasn't quite a viable decision. Plus discovering a leaking fuel tank on Friday 6th could have also brought an early end to any time on track if I had gone up there!

6th May 2011 - Snetterton Test Day

As there are 4 races at Snetterton this season, and Mr Palmer decided Snetterton needed a rejig, I thought it best to go and have a look and the new layout. The new chicane (or more accurately Montreal and Chapman), is the first of the 2 major changes on the 200 layout, and it's good! It will pose a really good overtaking area and it was quite easy to get your head around and get a good run down the back straight. The Esses (now renamed Brundle and Nelson) are the same as before as is Bombhole. Coram is now a whole different kettle of fish, the previously fantastic flat out right now keeps winding tighter before throwing you into a minimal braking area where you're pretty unbalanced before a 90 degree left.

I tried a fair amount of different lines through that corner; double apex, wide line, late apex, hugging the corner, and I still have no idea how to get round it best to get me into Murrays for the best exit! But I did get a chance to play with some set up options and managed to get some fairly consistant lap times.

During my afternoon sessions I started smelling hints of fuel in the car, further investigation highlighted that my tank was leaking from where the fuel pump was mounted so cutting the last session short we headed home and planned some repair work for the weekend.

17th April 2011 - Brands Hatch Race

Early Sunday morning we towed the car down to Brands Hatch for round 2 of the season.

It was a fairly relaxed start to the day as Stock Hatch B were second from last on the days' timetable, meaning I had time for a quick photoshoot with my sponsor Camberley Auto Factors Ltd, who were in attendance hosting a corporate event.

QUALIFYING

Hoping to be further up the grid than I was at Mallory, I set out on my qualifying, I had huge trouble finding my lines around the circuit as I felt the car wasn't turning in as I was expecting. Luckily for me the session was then red flagged giving me time to regroup and rethink my driving and how the car seemed to be handling. When the green flags waved I got back out there and I had a few laps which flowed much better but I was still miles off my previous times. I have achieved 59 second laps at this circuit before. The times came out and showed I had barely scraped under a 1.01 putting me 11th on the grid.

The racing for the day was delayed due to huge accident in one of the preceeding Toyota MR2 championship races. My 'get better soon' wishes go out to the drivers involved. Once the circuit barriers had been rebuilt and the track cleared racing was restarted.

THE RACE

The race was good, I had a fairly good start, managing to get past Dan Gibson and holding a tight line through the first corner, all without getting any contact, which was surprising as we went 4 a-breast into Paddock Hill Bend. I was well on the tail of Paul Thorpe in the orange Fiesta and Dan Gibson in the Pimlico Plumber Fiesta was well on my tail! After a few corners, my focus on defending had let Paul Thorpe (who was on the tail end of a group with Mark Townsend, Mark Webster, Derek Rozier and Edward Cooper) pull away leaving me and Dan battling. Dan was filling my mirrors and really hunting me down, I was driving harder than i ever had before to stop him getting past, I was taking the most bizare lines and slilding into corners to protect my line and not let him past. Luckily I made headway down the start finish straight but Dan would be on my tail again through Paddock as I wasn't comfortable with how the car was feeling through the corner and therefore braking more than him. Lap after lap was defence, trying to be as quick as I could wherever I could but closing the door on Dan's attempts to get through.

We had some Locost racers sharing our grid and about halfway through the race we were coming up to them as back markers making life more difficult, this was the first time I had really come across backmarkers during a race and negotiating them while defending your line was a challenge. It was during one pass where Dan got the run out of clearways to pull beside me but I made it down to Paddock first and through the corner. Shortly after Dan's power dropped and he dropped from my mirror leaving me to complete the last 2 laps by myself. I finished 9th.

So although I left without the result that I wanted, I had a good day and worked really hard defending.

3rd April 2011 - Mallory Race

The 2011 season kick started at Mallory this year with a single header to get everyone back in the groove. I managed to get a day testing at the circuit a couple of weeks before the race meeting so I had the chance to blow the cobwebs out of myself and the car!

On race day we made our way out on circuit for qualifying for our first stand alone class B race of the season. Annoyingly, I didn't get into it quick enough and was 3-4 seconds off my times I was getting during my test day. Then before I had a chance to sort myself out Dan Gibson had a mechanical failure and left oil and coolant around the entire racing line. From then on i was driving cautiously, which never gives you the best times, but it did keep my car in one piece, which couldn't be said for all the field.

With my unsatifactory performance in qualifying I was positioned 14th on the grid. So I was determinded to move up the pack in the race. When the red lights went out I got a great start and passed 2 cars straight away, I had a bit of a dice with Rob Bennet around the flowing right hander of Gerrards, then hunted down Derek Rozier. We were very evenly matched and spent a fair few laps within touching distance of each other but I couldn't quite get the edge to get past him before the chequered flag. I finished 9th, gaining 5 places from my grid position.

The 2010 Championship was amazing. It was a fantastic year for me on track. To summarise I lead the class for 10 out of 14 races then lost my lead to Lee Scott, and finished 2nd in class. At the start of the year my aim was top 5, so to be leading for so long, then finally ending the season with the second in class trophy was a great result.

30th October 2010 - 6hr Birkett Relay

At the end of October 2010 Silverstone was home to the 61st 6 hour Birkett Relay Race. The race is open to any race license holders (exc novices), in MSA standard closed wheel cars and this year 61 teams of between 4 and 6 cars and drivers competed over 6 hours to complete the most laps of the day.

Sarah took part in her Peugeot 205 GTI as a member of a team called Pug Power, with 3 other Stock Hatch drivers; Team manager Dan Summers in his Peugeot 106 Rallye, Adam Stokes in his freshly purchased 106 Rallye (the first time he drove it was off the trailer into the paddock the day before the race!) and Matt Stubington in his Peugeot 205 GTI.

There was an amazing variety of cars on circuit competing for the win. The teams comprised of cars including Caterhams, Radicals, Clio Cup cars, Porsches, Ginettas, BMW M3s, Subaru Imprezas, Mallocks, Locosts, Toyota MR2s, Jaguar XJS, Hillman Imps, Morgans, Fisher Furys and more.

Because of the vast differences in the performance of the cars, the teams are handicapped to level the field. Slower teams are credited an amount of laps depending on the previous performances of their drivers. With the cars in Pug Power averaging around 120bhp we were within the slowest 10 teams and credited with 21 laps.

The good old English weather kept us on our toes throughout the day, we opened the day with very damp qualifying sessions, and Silverstone being notorious for being a greasy circuit when it is damp made learning the track during our short qualifying sessions a slippy experience!

Dan started the race off from 58th on the grid on a drying track and with the strengthening sun on the circuit the next few sessions were nice and dry with all of our team achieving 2min 20sec - 2min 30sec laps.

During Matts first session disaster stuck as his clutch went leaving him to be recovered from the circuit, luckily Dan was ready to get out on track to carry on building up our laps when Matt hadn’t come round. In good Stock Hatch fashion once the car was back at our garage it was all hands on deck (thanks to everyone who got involved!) to change the clutch and Matt was and running again.

As all the cars in the Pug Power team were fitted with our usual small fuel tanks we needed to have more car change-overs than some of the other teams this understandably damaged the amount of laps we could achieve so we weren’t the most competitive of teams, even so, the event was great fun, and we all enjoyed racing on the Bridge GP Circuit.
We finished the 6 hours with 128 completed laps, once the handicap was added this took us up to 149 with us finishing 46th overall, 12 places up from where we started.

It was a new and really enjoyable experience to be working with people I normally compete against and having my family and friends, and those of all the team members, getting together to help and support the team was fantastic.

Thank you to everyone who made the day amazing!

images are here

18th & 19th September (Snetterton Double Header)

My bad results at Silverstone meant I was heading into rounds 12 & 13 at Snetterton 2nd in class, 12 points behind Lee Scott, I needed to get some great results to be in with a chance of catching up with Lee again. I had a couple of test sessions on Friday afternoon to get me back in the flow of things again. I am very glad I did, as I didn't even manage a lap before throwing myself off the circuit at Bombhole, bottoming out over the kerb and taking a very grassy route around the corner. Once I'd checked the car over I went back out and managed to work my way down to a few 1.30.2s which was better than my fastest laps at the begining of the year.

Determind to match my times from testing in qualifying on Saturday morning, I went out and kept pushing and pushing, It was going well but not quite as good as the day before. I ended up with two 1.30.5's which secured me a starting position 5th in class and starting on row 12 of the grid in the heat on Saturday and Sunday - within touching distance of qualifying for the back of the final.

Saturdays Heat: I had a bad start in Saturdays heat, then getting stuck in the wrong bit of traffic lost me even more places, but I gained most of them back within the first lap. I was having a good battle with Paul Jarvis, and pulling away until my car started pulling considerably to the right during braking which wasn't a problem from the right hand turns but braking from the fastest section of the circuit into the left hander of the Esses definately had its issues, and I was having to brake earlier and more gently that I wanted to to stop the car making a beeline for the marshalls post on the right. Losing time this way was putting me under pressure as Neil Trotter and Keith Morgan began to catch up then out breaking myself into Russells gave them the opportunity they needed to get past. I ended up finishing 5th in class in 24th place - just missing out on qualifying for the final. Back in the paddock we had a look at the brakes and fount that i had worn the front left pads down to the metal gouging out parts of the disc, spare disc on, and some borrowed pads (Thank you Jack!) and I was ready for tomorrow.

Sundays Heat: Starting on row 12 again, next to Adam Stokes in his 106, I had a better start and was racing near the people I am usually near. Just as Saturday I lost places to start with but within 2 laps I had made my places back. By mid race though, I was all by myself - not close enough to be able to catch the next guys and too far away from the next car back for there to be any threat - so it was a bit of a boring race tho be honest. Nevertheless I finished in a position that saw me into the final!

Sundays Final: Very happy to have qualified for the final, I started 36th out of 38 next to Steve Noble in his KA. There were a few crashes and spinners to contend with after the start and I was overtaken under a yellow flag which is very annoying. But I was holding a good position, I had Keith Morgan in my sights and each lap I was gaining on him but then losing it again due to yellow flags and avoiding other vehicles on the circuit. Then, on the last lap, after getting a fantastic run out of Sear Corner I had the pace for a smooth overtake down the straight before the Esses. I finished 30th, and 4th in Class.

I had a great weekend, great racing, great company, fantastic BBQ and Pimms in the Paddock, but Lee Scott unfortunately got the points advantage on me to finalise the positions for this years' championship. Lee is 1st in class, and I'm second, 27 points behind. 3rd position is still for contention until Oulton Park, but as no-one is within 26 points of me I cannot lose my position.

27th August (Silverstone Single Header and Stand Alone Class B Race)

Yet again Silverstone was another new circuit for me this year and it seems that sitting at the top of Class B attracted some attention and I had a TV interview and TV cameras installed in my car for the race! Luckily I managed to get some testing in before the race day with some great results. I was just getting my times into 1.14's which I knew if I could pull off again in Qualifying I'd be near the front of the class B's on the grid, especially good for the stand alone Class B race.

Unfortunately though, not everything went to plan. In Qualifying on Sunday morning I spent the first 3 laps with a strong smell of petrol worrying me, then the next few laps worrying that the mechanical failure flag for number 83 was supposed to be 38 (my number), and only once I passed number 83 broken down after Copse, did i start concentrating on what i should be doing - but with 2 yellow flags out i had no chance to get in a good lap and was stuck with a fastest lap in the 1.16's. 12th out of 21 Class B's.

I wasn't happy about the horendous qualifying session, and with Lee Scott qualifying out right for the final I'd said goodbye to my first in class. I was determind to make up as many places as possible in the heat tho to minimise the points difference between us. The rainstorm that pre-empted the heat had other plans in mind! Silverstone is a very slippy circuit in the wet and the race became more of an exercise of how to stay on the circuit! Even though I didn't get a great chance to gain many places, it was great fun to be sliding around the circuit and getting some wet weather driving experience under my belt. I finished 10th in Class.

The Class B stand alone race was great too. It was still such a shame that i didn't get better result in qualifying, I really wanted to be starting the race much nearer the front. Nevertheless I had a storming start and good first lap appearing 8th on the board after the first lap. I was hanging on to the the lead cars and looking for an opportunity to gain places while defending from a car behind. I managed to pass another car and attempt to catch up with the front cars but the appearance of the yellow flag at Brooklands that put space between us. I finished 7th, one of the biggest movers on the grid and was lapping mid 1.14's.

31st July - 1st August (Pembrey, South Wales. Double Header Race)

Pembrey was another completely new track for me, having never been I chose to take up a place on the untimed practise session at the start of the weekend. It was a good opportunity to get into race mode and learn the lines before qualifying.

In qualifying I managed a 1.12.56 which was ok. 3rd Class B on the grid but over second away from the 2nd Class B. I had felt that the car wasn't picking up very well on the exits of the corners and worried that the timing was slightly out from our repair job in the paddock at Cadwell, or possibly that my leaky servo was draining power from my engine.

I started Saturdays Heat from row 12 and had a great start, it was all a bit interesting in the first corner and i came out with some war damage down my drivers side, I had a good few corners where the pack was close together, but as the cars spread out I couldn't keep up with the guys I'm normally racing with. This was the first time I've raced and noticably felt like i was being held back by the car, and I only managed a 1.13.76, even so i secured myself 28th, and 3rd in Class, on the grid for the 32 car final.

Saturdays Final, as I was 3rd of 3 Class B's that made it to the final I was guarenteed a top 3 result as long as i finished, I didn't get a chance to have a decent race though as I just couldn't keep up with my normal competition, but i did finish and as one of the other class Bs broke down I came out with 2nd in Class! My fastest lap was now down to a 1.14.10

Sundays Heat I started on Row 13 - I had a pretty good start, getting away well and keeping my positions through the first few corners, until losing the back end at Esses where I spent most of the straight sideways down the grass before saving it in time for Brooklands Hairpin. Unfortunately losing the speed in the slide handed my competitors positions and I didn't have the power to catch up again, I was trying to catch up again, but the race was red flagged on lap 4 after Alan Duly, my main competitor had a substantial crash, although the car ended up shorter than it should be Alan was ok. In 4 laps my fastest lap was only 1.14.90, slower again than the last race. After my slide I didn't have a chance to get places back before the red flag but I qualified for the final - last place on the grid, but still in the final, 4th Class B.

In Sundays Final I had Keith Morgan in sight to get past as I wanted at least 3rd in Class from this race. After the first few laps I realised that it wasn't going to happen, I just couldn't keep up and on lap 5 my car admitted defeat and broke down, I rolled to the outside of the circuit under the last of the power I still had I watched the rest of the race from the side. Diagnoses in the Paddock later confirmed my distributor had given up the ghost.

From the weekend, with Alan's unfortunate results, Lee's very good results and my mixed bag the championship has taken a different stance - I am now only a few points ahead of Lee who is definately challenging my for the championship.

10th/11th July (Cadwell Park Double Header Race)

As I had never seen Cadwell Park I booked a test afternoon on Friday 9th to prepare for the weekend. I needed to learn where the track went, pin point some turn in and braking points, and start to get to grips with the best way round! So we arrived early in glorious weather which ended up lasting the whole weekend, set up camp and I signed on. 2 laps into my first session and my head gasket went. I started running on 3 cylinders and had puffs of steam out the back, by the time i'd limped to the paddock I was pouring out steam so cut the engine and with the help of Jack and Ken Adlard diagnosed the head gasket was indeed the issue. Once we sourced a head gasket over 20 miles away mum and I went to get it while Jack, Ken and Dad started taking the engine apart. With fingers crossed that no other problems surfaced during the strip down. We finally arrived back at the Paddock at 7pm and got involved with the repair job. It was all hands on deck to get this unexpected challenge conquered! We couldn't have done it without Jack and Ken, their help was invaluable and by 11pm the car was back together and we squeezed in a quick 10 second test before 'engines off' time.

We were awake early in the morning waiting for someone else to start their engine so we could follow suit and get the engine flushed through. Scruitineering followed shortly after, then I was out, very tentatively, on track for qualifying - I remembered rather rapidly that I had learnt next to nothing in the 2 laps I managed on Friday (I learnt my car was broken, the track is very narrow, and you can't see where you're going!) so I was thrown in the deep end trying to learn the way, while making sure the car was ok and trying to get the quickest times I could in the 20 minute qualifying session.

I qualified with a 1.59.35, i was glad to be under 2 minutes but knowing the fastest people in class were hitting 1.49's I knew I was miles off the pace. I started Saturdays heat 18 out of 28 on row 9. I spent most of the race defending from Mark Webster and Matthew Stubbington, both Class B, I was keeping them at bay until I was a little eager at the Gooseneck and ended up taking the grass option and losing a place to Mark Webster before I returned to the track. The Last Lap board came out that lap and I pushed hard to get back past Mark, then at Mansfield he spun on exit and I slowed to avoid him, giving Matthew Stubbington the opportunity to get through in the process. With DNF's taken into account I finished 4th in Class in the heat (5th in Class when you include Lee Scott from the final!). During Saturdays race I achieved a fastest lap of 1.57.47

On Sunday I started 22nd in the heat, further back than Saturday, as it's the 2nd fastest lap time from qualifying that dictates positions. For the first time this year I had a great start - I gained 3 places even before the start/finish line getting in front of Mark Shears, Mark Wester and Matthew Stubbington, and sitting right on the tail of Alan Duly. I came out of a few corners with great drive where I attempted to pass Alan, but he defended well and kept me behind, Mark was also sticking with us at times but between Alan and I he didn't have the option to get past. Alan and I had a great race and by following Alan I pulled my time up by another 2 seconds to 1.55.54. I finshed 3rd in class in the heat (4th in Class when you include Lee Scott from the final again!)

From the weekend, with only 3 sessions ever on this circuit, I managed to get into a fairly good race pace where I could be competitive. I'm already looking forward to next year and getting my lap times down even more.

My closest competition in the Championship table before Cadwell unluckily had engine problems and didn't have the chance to pick up more points which means the points I scored have kept me at the top of the class B table!

29th/30th May (Anglesey Double Header Race)

After 8 hours door to door we finally arrived in Anglesey, Friday afternoon, in nice weather, we set up camp for the weekend, prepped the car, walked the circuit, then settled in for the night. At 4am the rain started, and it didn't stop until gone lunch time. I was queueing up for scrutineering in the pouring rain with my car steaming up more and more - knowing this would be a massive issue for qualifying I got mum on the case with some rainx antifog! it worked a treat!

Qualifying was in the rain, and having never taken my car on this circuit before, this was an experience that needed a really steep learning curve. I built up my confidence in the circuit and the grip levels and gradually started reducing my lap times. Then braking a little late into Rocket left me on the waterlogged run off area which turned into grass and a slide over the next corner of the circuit and onto the grass on the outside of the circuit. Thankfully no one hit me during my escapade but once I'd restarted the car and rejoined the circuit there was no time left for any more laps. I ended up with a best time of 1:34.75 putting me 21st on the grid for my heat, the 6th class B.

The rain just stopped in time for the heat but there was no sign of a dry line appearing on the circuit, and with marshalls informing us that 'there is oil everywhere' just before leaving the assembly area I was fairly prepared for a slippy race. With no green flag lap we didn't even have the opportunity to see what grip there was out there before racing, so not having the confidence that people weren't going to be sliding into me I surrendered a lot of passing opportunities that looking back I should have taken. Wanting my car in one piece for the rest of the weekend I was playing it safe. As I had suspected, the 2 cars I had been following closely for a good part of the race, very closely in fact, as I was wheel to wheel with Liam Sargent's Class A Peugeot 106 at one point, did in fact take each other out, leaving me with free track, but unfortunately not enough time left to make up any places. I ended up 22nd overall and 7th in class. Not the result I wanted but not surprising as I hadn't raced at Anglesey before, I haven't had much experience on a wet circuit and I wasn't really 'in the zone' during this race.

We woke up on Sunday to a gloriously sunny day, the complete opposite to Saturday, so we changed the tyres over and prepared for the heat. I had loads more confidence for this race but I was worrying about having enough fuel to get through the whole thing - the majority of 750MC Stock Hatch races are 13 minutes + 1 lap, but this Sunday's was 18 minutes + 1 lap with a green flag lap. As I wasn't able to use wet race fuel consumption as any sort of benchmark I just had to wait and see if my tank held enough to get me through at this race.

As soon as the red lights went out the race was on, and it was a great one, I had some close racing with Alan Duly (Class B) and spent a few laps side by side with Trevor Gregory. As the race progressed there was still plenty of close racing, in the last few laps I passed Dan Gibson (Class B) and caught up with Kirk Dewell and Andrew Lightfoot (Class B). Kirk Passed Andrew leaving him next in my sights and over a couple of laps I managed to gain on Andrew, achieving my best lap time of 1:25.69 , and on the way out of Church I took my opportunity to pass. At the end of that lap I saw the last lap board, and a lap later, the chequered flag. The whole race was great fun, I finished 17th overall and 4th in Class. Second reserve for the final.

May 2010 (repairs)

From the damage sustained at Brands Hatch we had a repair job on our hands, after repairing as much of my car as we could we admitted defeat and contacted Just GTI's/Broadbridge Heath Garage in West Sussex who worked magic on pulling the front of the car out again ready for Anglesey.

The TV coverage of the Brands Hatch Race meeting was aired on Motors TV, including when I crashed into Steve noble

24th/25th April (Brands Hatch Double Header Race)

The second race meeting, and 3rd and 4th races of the calendar, took place on 24th and 25th of April at Brands Hatch, racing on the Indy circuit, with 61 signed on competitors.

Sarah had a superb qualifying achieving a 59.47 second lap, meaning she was on row 4 (P7) for the heat, ahead of her usual compeition on the grid. A fairly unsuccessful start though ment she lost a few places early on, but fought back and finished 7th. Due to the small grids and number of competitors entered to race at this meeting, this result made her 2nd reserve for the final, but wasn’t called up. Even so, she finished th day third in class.

Sunday’s heat wasn’t so successful; A good start from row 5 on the grid kept her well in the front group of cars racing on the wet and greasy Indy circuit, 3 abreast around Graham Hill Bend on lap 1 resulted in some contact and losing a wing mirror. Then a few laps further on, some evasive driving from a competitor in front put him into a spin leaving Sarah fighting to take a tight line to avoid him, but on the greasy surface the traction ran out and she hit him, leaving them both with front quarter damage and taking them both out of the race.

At this point in the race season, even with the DNF, Sarah is leading the Class B Championship.

Sarah would like to thank Jordans Car Storage, RMA Track Days and Camberley Auto Factors for all their support.
Next up - fix it, then Anglesey.

13th/14th March (Snetterton Double Header Race - first race of the season)

A fantastic weekend resulting in a 1st and 2nd in class over the 2 races of the weekend...

Friday morning I headed off to collect the car from Jordans Car Storage with Mum and Dad, we spent a couple of hours doing a little more preparation before loading it onto the trailer and heading off to Snetterton. Once we arrived and unloaded I looked in my car and, as if there was a great big flashing arrow, the expiry date on my fire extinguisher shone out clear as day - 6th March 2010. Couldn't believe it - an instant fail in scrutineering and no racing if I couldn't get it serviced. Luckily Bill Gregory, the Stock Hatch representative, knew there were fire extinguisher servicing people coming along (exactly for people like me!) and put me in touch that evening. So with the fire extinguisher serviced and the car wrapped up for the evening it was off for dinner.

Saturday morning we got down to checking fuel and pressures, sticking the championship stickers on the car, setting up the camera and getting down to scrutineering. Bizarrely the car cut out in the queue, but seemed to start ok again, and I thought nothing more of it. After passing scrutineering I prepared for my first qualifying session since August last year.

This race meeting was arranged so the 56 signed on competitors (of which 15 were Class B cars) were split over 2 qualifying sessions - the times from these sessions went to creating the grids for the 2 respective heats - then the top 19 finishers from the 2 heats would go onto the 38 car final.

Qualilfying felt like it went fantastically, I had some clear track and felt like I got some good times in, my lap timer wasn't picking up the sender signal though so I had no idea how I was doing. Turns out I was terrible. 3 seconds slower than last year's qualifying and leaving me 21st out of the 27 in my qualifying group, putting me 21st on the grid of my heat, behind 4 other Class B cars.

Back in the paddock we prepared the car for the heat and as the first call went out for competitors to go to the assembly area I jumped in the car ready to go and it wouldn't start. It wasn't battery, or any electrics and after fiddling around for ages I thought I wasn't going to get out. The fisrt group's heat was red flagged and the cars were being held on the grid for a restart and just as they went again my car started and stayed on. I shot down to the assembly area with seconds to go before the other heat was red flagged again and the cars returned to the pits - then it was our heat.

It was a good heat, fairly neat and tidy for SH with only a couple of car casualties that I was aware of. I had some close racing, and for the last few laps I had as found myself moving up the pack. I finished my heat in 18th position which qualified me for the final!!

My brakes had started feeling a little worse for wear and with only an hour or so before the final we decided to try and sort them out but one thing after another seemed to be going wrong and I ended up going out down to the final with a brake pedal which was nearly on the floor.

For the final I was on row 18, in 35th position, next to Trevor Gregory, I had 4 Class B cars in front of me. First corner carnage ensued and avoiding the mess became a priority, this took a few cars from up front out and the race was red flagged. We came around and lined up again and a few reserves joined the back of the pack. The race was restarted. I had some close racing with some of the fiestas, and other 205 and a KA, including a very satisfying '2 in 1' pass where I got past the KA and 205 down Senna Straight then drove like a bat out of hell to get away but had Mark Webster's Fiesta filling up my mirror for the last couple of laps. Luckily I made up ground on the straights and around Coram Curve but with my brake pedal so low I was losing time at the corners and it was a case of making my car as wide as it could be to try and defend and I crossed the chequered flag with Mark still behind me.

When the results were published I had finished 28th - and First in Class! I couldn't believe it! trophy and everything! and to think I was seconds away from not even making it to the heat - I was very very happy and surprised with my results for the day.

Sunday morning we made the decision to get an early start on the car and sort out the brakes, with the first heat not starting until 12.30, (we use the 2nd best lap times from Saturday's qualifying for our grid positions) there was plenty of time to get working, so we did, and we fixed them!

On Sunday the heats were split on the timetable so there was one before and one after lunch, which gave the rare opportunity to watch the other heat as a spectator, Stock Hatch racers are nuts! it's great to watch, then slightly bizarre to think i'm out there too, but i wouldn't have it any other way!

Sunday's heat saw me starting from 21st again, I gained a few then lost a few places up to and around the first corner. One of the guys in front had a moment coming out of the Esses which held up another Fiesta and I gained a couple of positions there, then it was fairly plain sailing til the chequered flag securing me my second place in a final that weekend, this time on Row 16.

The final saw me starting next to Trevor Gregory again but a couple of rows further up the grid. I didn't get a great start and lost a few positions early on, there were no crashes in the first lap which meant the pack was still fairly close together and there were lots of position changes all around me. I sneaked through past Mark Webster at Riches where there were 3 of us going into the corner side by side, and was looking for an opportunity to get around Matthew Stubbington's 205 but going for 5th instead of 3rd out of the Bomb Hole lost me another place to the KA and left me contending with the 205 and KA again for the next few laps, we changed places over and over and there was some seriously close driving, I did manage to get a decent move and pass them both again with space to get away a little but screwed up Russell Bend which gave Steve Noble in the KA the perfect chance to get past again. We passed the chequered flag shortly after that but the KA being in Class A meant I still walked away with 2nd in Class, trophy number two and a weekend without a scratch to the race car - can't ask for more than that!

And at the moment, with a 1st and a 2nd in class for the 1st two races of the season i'm currently leading the Class B Championship!

A pretty good weekend on all accounts!

February 2010 (pre-season)

After I had the car back from Xsport and the paint shop, it was time to get back out on track and make sure everything was still doing what it should; it wasn't.

A track day, at the fairly local RAF Odiham - thanks to RMA Trackdays, luckily gave me the opportunity to discover a few little problems the car had developed that needed attention. Trouble with the steering, rubbing wheels and power failure all played their part. Some quick diagosing lead us to believe the alternator had given up the ghost which seriously wrote off the rest of the day. Xsport Racing then pinpointed the steering problem was down to a bent front suspension strut and that the rubbing wheels was down to part of the inner arch needing slightly more adjusting. An alternator from Camberley Auto Factors and some man power from Xsport meant the car was ready before the end of the week, and more importantly ready for my track day at Snetterton on the 26th February.

On Friday 26th February, full of anticipation, I convinced my parents (pitcrew and catering!) that they wanted to get up at 4.30am and hit the road in good time to secure us a pit garage when we arrived at Snetterton. With the sky the colour of rain this was a popular choice. The track day was superb, I felt like I had my car back again and managed to get loads of time on track. I have a huge lack of experience of track driving in the wet as nearly every race and track day I have been on the track has been dry, so getting a day of rain and sitting water was just the sort of practise I need.

Bring on the race.

Winter 2009/2010

Managed to get my car on a jig and get it untwisted! so now knowing my car is still straight I'm getting a move on with getting it ready for new year. Xsport Racing in Basingstoke has sorted out the chassis and bodywork panels, off to the paint shop next...

The 2009 season is already over and its been a bit of a rollercoaster. From the off I needed to be sensible with which races I entered, purely from a financial point of view, which destroyed my hopes of competing in a full season fairly rapidly. It was even more of a disappointment when after the first 3 races I was sitting Fifth in class with some of my best finishes so far. So after missing out on a few races I tumbled down the points table and it was down to taking each race as the race and nothing more. The times I was out I had a fantastic time, with some great races and good finishes but it was Mallory in August which ended up writing off the rest of the season. After being taken out on the last corner by a fellow competitor the car needed quite a bit of attention to get it back up to scratch, unfortunately not something I had the time or money to. Anyone looking to start in motorsport needs to have a back up fund of money they can effectivly throw away because 1 accident can ruin your fun otherwise. I had really hoped to get back out again before the end of the year but one thing rolls into another and before you know it all the opportunities are gone and you are out of time. Fingers crossed for next year!

September 2009

Ebay strikes again... I found a promising sounding 205 with a rebuilt race engine in it so won the auction with the plan of combining the 2 cars to create some kind of hybrid 205 race car for next year. I have taken it for a test drive at Snetterton and Brands Hatch GP circuit with RMA track days (it was great to be out on track again), the engine has a fairly substantial oil leak but shows potential. So now I have the task of getting the 2 cars into one with as little financial burden as possible!

11th September 2009

Feeling fairly annoyed with myself for not being able to get my car sorted, I bit the bullet and cancelled my Snetterton race entry. Looking back i'm gutted i've missed so much of the season. It will be a concerted effort now to get the car running as it should and try to find some money for some testing over winter.

Sunday 2nd August 2009 - Mallory Race Meeting

I have never been to Mallory in my race car before, only been there once in a MX5 for a track day, so apart from knowing the way the circuit went I had a lot to learn in my 15min practise/qualifying. Predictably I qualified a little further back than normal starting 22nd out of 30 on the grid for my heat, but with a fairly good start I was hoping to make up some places. First corner had a few cars off, inevitably causing me to slow down, leaving the opportunity for a few people behind to get past on the inside. Once first corner was conquered the pack settled down and I was sitting right behind Toby Harris in the white Fiesta he shares with Lisa Selby. The rest of the race I was watching the track through his windscreen as we were so close, and with a nudge up at Shaw’s Hairpin and getting my nose in front at The John Cooper Esses, before having to brake for the Hairpin, I was eager to get past, at Shaw’s again on the last lap, Toby ran into the Nova that was near us, giving me the perfect opportunity to get out of the Hairpin just in front. We came down from Shaw’s mirror to mirror, all around Devil’s Elbow wheel to wheel, for a drag race to the end…

Shame that wasn’t the case, Toby pushed me wide, right off the track onto the grass towards the entrance of the pits, bouncing over the grass and access roads, I did everything I could, and luckily achieved, to make sure I didn’t hit the end of pit wall, as we must have been coming out the corner at around 70, it was a fight to get the car back on track, I passed the finish line sideways, ending up backwards, side swiping the Armco on the left with my drivers side and coming to a stand still on the track, facing the way I came, at the exit to the pit lane. But I finished, I passed the line and finished 15th, Toby 16th. (Unexpectedly this put me as 5th reserve for the final!)

So off to medical centre, even though I was angry that it felt like he pushed me off, I saw Toby and asked if he was alright as in the event he managed to take himself out too. Turns out with the outside video and interviews by Clark of the Course, Toby was in fact found to have pushed me off the circuit, meaning all of this was avoidable, 2 crashed cars, 2 bruised bodies (thank goodness it wasn’t more), 2 empty wallets, and points on Toby’s license.

It didn't stop at the medical centre for me unfortunately, because of my symptoms the medics wanted to be on the safe side and transferred me to Leicester Royal Infirmary to be kept under observation for liver damage. I spent the rest of the day there before coming back to the circuit, where some other stock hatchers had loaded my car onto my trailer - thank you!! and i could see the damage for the first time. I knew then it wouldn't be a quick return to the circuit.

To be honest the drag to the line would have been in Toby’s favour, I didn’t have the power yesterday as my exhaust repair blew out in qualifying leaving a hole I could get my hand through on my silencer so I didn’t have the power I needed to get away from him so he would have finished ahead of me.

Going back and looking at all the skid marks, gouges in the grass and dents in the Armco told the story really, especially the skid 6 inches away from the end of the pit wall.   

So I will probably be out of action for a bit now while diagnosing all the problems with the car and then getting on the quest to get it all fixed again.

July 2009

One of my sponsors; RMA Track Days supported Help for Heroes and other charities by hosting the Odiham Extravaganza in July. Have a look at the photographs of the day and the photoshoot with the RAF Chinook

Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st June 2009

Brands Hatch again!! A double-header over the Summer Solstice weekend. I had been hoping to get near 1 minute lap times as from looking through old results I thought this would be fairly respectable considering i was doing 1.05's last year, the new tyres only take 2 seconds off so knowing the track a bit more and with knowing the car a bit better now I was hoping to lose those extra seconds. Qualifying on Saturday morning (after a massive delay in getting the times) brought fairly good news. My fastest lap was 1.00.06 not quite under a minute but fairly close! Talking of close the qualifying times of the first 61 cars in our series were separated by less than 4 seconds!

For Saturday my qualifying time set me up in 13th position on the grid of a full heat of 32 and second best times for Sunday had me starting in the same place. There was some close racing from the off and I managed to avoid the crashes before the first red flag, then after the restart I gained and lost and gained some places again before settling down in 9th position hunting down the next group of cars, the rest of the race was just about not making mistakes as I tried to catch them, but then chequered flag was out and i finished a happy 9th (which made me 11th in class overall).

Sunday was a little tidier; there were no major crashes although there was some contact between other competitors and some fairly close racing on my part squeezing through gaps which weren't really as wide as my car and going around the outside of no85 at Clearways towards the beginning of the race and I was fairly disappointed when I was over taken under a yellow flag after a couple of others cars had come off, anyway I broke away from the cars behind me and started to gain the next group over the next few laps and if the race was a little longer I would have been fighting for positions but chequered flag came out and I walked away with 11th place (which for Sunday made me 9th in class overall).

Monday 13th April 2009

Castle Combe Race - Fantastic weather for Easter Monday and the Castle Combe Circuit hosted race meeting. We took to the track about 9 am for a split session of qualifying, I had a rubbish session feeling really slow and not getting a chance to find a rhythm before the chequered flag. So I was surprised to see that i had qualified 23rd in a 42 car heat.

The heat ran just after lunch and for the first time i avoided the first corner carnage without losing places. After a scattering of cars around the circuit the safety car was deployed for 4 or 5 of the 10 laps we were allocated, once it pulled in I was on the defensive for the remaining part of the race finishing 18th (5th in class) fixing myself with postion 35 out of a full 42 car grid in the final.

The final was second to last race of the day, and due to other incidents with previous championships the race was cut to 7 laps. I had a good start from my grid position on the bend of Camp Corner gaining a few places and staying tight in with the group. All 42 cars were close through the first few corners but incident free before the pack started to spread out. A substantial crash from a front runner led to the safety car coming out on lap 3 until lap 6 leaving us with one lap and a frantic dash to the finish line. I finished 34th overall, 5th in class and 2nd Peugeot 205

14th/15th March 2009

First race meeting of 2009 - Snetterton Double header... Very brief highlights would be... qualified in the middle (19th) for saturdays heat and 23rd for sundays heat (out of 38)

Saturdays race - I got tied up in first corner carnage spinning the car along with another 5 or so other competitors then the car took a few tries to restart leaving me right at the back. By the end of the first lap I'd caught up and gained a place back and was hunting down the next cars when the race was redflagged. The grid reformed for a 7 minute race but was redflagged again before I was even past the gantry giving us a total of less than 4 laps. Lots of crashing in the final too everyone complained about not being given a green flag lap to warm our new tyres up before we race, so they decided to introduce it from now on (why didn’t they listen first!!! Before all the damage).

Sunday was better, after the problems with the first corner on Saturday, in the heat and the final, 750MC introduced a green flag lap to give us a chance to warm up the tyres. This helped hugely with the whole pack making it through the first corner!I stayed pretty neutral off the grid then lost a couple of places around the second corner, but got into a rhythm and fought my way back. I had a good, fairly close race, actually ‘encouraged’ someone around a corner at Bomb Hole, breaking my indicator, bending my wing and breaking my bumper! Managed some good overtakes, and finished 16th, 7th overall in my class. This made me 3rd reserve for the final which I think is closest so far.

February/March 2009

Winter prep has been going well, managed some testing at Brands Hatch and Snetterton, where I got some practice on the new tyres. Really looking forward to the Snetterton race next week.

January 2009

New Year, new season, new calendar. Updated website and the car's looking gorgeous again - huge thanks to Jordans Car Storage for arranging the bodywork repairs - no more Dame shaped dent in the side!!

I've come out of the 2008 season with first hand experiences that I can really work on and develop for next year. I've been through a variety of challenges through the 2008 season with having so much to learn - the car, the circuits, the racing line, defensive driving, (I'm working on the aggressive driving), close contact, grid starts, and much more, all on top of having a pretty substantial crash - luckily no injuries to me although the car came of a bit bruised, then being disqualified from another race for being underweight.

Thank you again to all my 2008 sponsors for making it possible to get out on track; BCMS Corporate have been the backbone of my season, RMA Track Days have proven to be invaluable, Jordans Car Storage is fantastic with flexibility. Motoringinwestberkshire.co.uk, Guildford Tyre Company and TRS have all been brilliant too. Please show your support by visiting their websites on my sponsors page. And a big Thank You also goes to my mum, dad, brother and Sam for their continuing support - I really couldn't do it without you.

Winter 2008

It's currently time to get the car feeling and looking lovely again! I am also hunting for sponsors to keep me going through the 2009 season. I'll be trying to get out on track for some test days over the winter season hopefully with the new tyres

28th September 2008

The Snetterton race is all done and dusted - a great day with new experiences again Snetterton was wicked, we had a 4 day break camping there! which was brilliant, the weather was great, the only bit of summer we've seen this year! The Race was great, I didn't qualify as well as i expected though, getting a 1.35 and sitting 30th out of 38 cars on the grid but i had a great start, made up about 6 places off the start line, was wheel to wheel (literally) with another up to the first corner and was making really good progress. unfortunately tho in the race before a car had dropped oil around the whole circuit on the perfect racing line and the marshalls put cement dust on it to stop it being slippy - which is great - until there is so much dust being kicked up by the 20 cars in front of you that you can't see anything, glimpsing brake lights I decided to let off through fear of crashing full pelt into other compeitors at the end of the straight, so I lost 4 places there but worked my way back up again finishing 22 out of 38 and it was so much fun.

August/September 2008

I really want to say how fantastic RMA Track Days have been to me, i am eternally greatful for all the help they have given me, so a big thank you to Graham and Leyton, track time really is the key to improving on the track and having the opportunity to visit tracks such as silverstone GP circuit and Brands Hatch GP circuit have been very special.

Thank you also goes to Jordans Car Storage for being so flexible with collecting and dropping off my car.

3rd August 2008

I throughly enjoyed Thruxton, overall it was a pretty scary weekend, it was my first ever time on a wet track and i was convinced i had totally screwed up qualifying, I had major issues with the car steaming up on the inside, and had to find my feet on the wet track so i was surprised to find myself on the 13 row of the grid with another 12 cars behind me. I had high hopes for the race, the weather forecast looked good and the car was happy with a dry set up, i had a great start gaining a few places off the line but was sent way off line avoiding the usual first corner carnage, which lost me about 10 places. A couple of laps in the rain started but I was 'in the zone' so it didn't bother me. I really enjoyed the race i had some close dicing with a few other cars and managed to finish 26 out of 38 - 2 positions short of qualifying for the final, sad to have missed out but happy with the race as a whole and happy that i have a wet race under my belt.

July 2008

Donington Park - a lovely track and I was very happy to finally feel at home again in the car and on the track, my car is great, I'm pleased to say I am getting better and better results everytime I compete. I fully intend it to continue and as i learn more tracks and take advantage of more track time I can see myself really improving.

June 2008

Brands Hatch double header; first time i've been back on track since being on my roof at Brands Hatch in April. It took some time to get back into it, but i did it, and I finished. I'll be uploading some pictures and videos soon. 2 chequered flags! Very happy. I managed to get to the end of 2 races on all 4 wheels, definately an improvement from the last outing. unfortunately though I was disqualified from saturdays heat for being underweight. but I did manage my personal best laptime.

May 2008

The car is gradually getting back into shape, I miss it! and i want to get back out there. Good luck to you all racing at Pembrey this weekend.

20th April 2008

After a Saturday of checks and maintenence we were set for Brands Hatch on Sunday. Sunday was a day of more new experiences. I had a rubbish practise but managed to qualify 4th from the back on the grid. The heat was a messy one with cars coming off all over the place and red flag came out for a restart. The second grid start was great, I gained a few places and stuck with the pack until another competitor crashed into me sending me off the track and onto my roof.

I would like to say sorry to mum, dad and Sam for the worry caused. and thank you to TRS for there awesome harness (yes you do land on your head when you undo a harness upside down), Safety Devices for making a very effective roll cage, the marshalls for helping me out of the car and the medics for being so lovely, picking me up, checking me over, giving me the all clear and showing me pictures of the whole event.

5th & 6th April 2008

I did it, my first racing experience, 2 races started and 2 races finished. no spinning, no crashing, 2 signitures on my licence, a couple of good starts and a really good taste of things to come (I hope!)

Late March 2008

I spent the last weekend before the Lydden race tweeking this and that and getting the car prepared, it was all hands on deck getting the car sorted with Mum, Dad, my Brother and boyfriend Sam all helping out tonnes.

Early March 2008

Preparing for the start of the season, my licence has arrived, I now have a trailer and my new harness - thanks to TRS. I've decided to make my first race Lydden as I haven't had a chance to practice at Mallory. I have some track time booked soon to get the car set up and then the last minute bits and pieces to make sure the car is up to scratch and stickers are on order as well as some other bits and pieces.

Feburary 2008

All sorted, Medical signed off and ARD's passed, another step closer. New harness ordered through TRS but still looking for a trailer.

January 2008

My ARDs and medical are booked, now I'm on a serious hunt for a 11ft twin axle trailer (if you know of a second hand one available email me!!)

Winter 2007

The old stickers came off, and now i'm dedicating spaces for my new sponsors.
Fitted new boot springs to the boot to adhere to the new regulations.

October 2007

My first sponsors came through. Newbury Weekly News/motoringinwestberkshire.co.uk and BCMS Corporate.

September 2007

Sam and I spend evenings and weekends working on a sponsor information pack so we could get some sponsors backing the season. There is no way I will be able to compete through the year without financial backing.

August 2007

We collected my new car. It took up residence in Mum and Dad's garage while they were out!

July 2007

Watched NSH at Brands Hatch and after seeing how amazing it was we decided to go ahead and get the car. Massive thank you goes to Mum and Dad who bought it for me.

Spring 2007

I started to research racing clubs and formulaes with the help of my boyfriend Sam, and he encouraged me to take my first steps my buying me my Go Racing pack. We decided on National Stock Hatch with 750MC, one of the most affordable ways to race. As I had a 205 GTI which even as standard was a great car on the track, It seemed a good car to start stock hatch in. Sam found a great example of an x-stock hatch racer for sale and it shot straight to the top of my wish list!

2000 - 2007

Once i passed my driving test i realsied the road wasn't the place to play, I craved the chance to put my foot down without the fear of oncoming traffic, I did experience days and track days whenever i could and spent many of my weekends at car shows with my modified civic and the car club I founded, BadBoy Performance. But I was missing the track too much.