Snetterton 300 Race June 2011

(by Chris Shackle)

The Snetterton weekend would be interesting for a number reasons. I class it as my home track so all my family, friends and marshalling chums would be there. Also, it would be the first time I would turn a wheel on the new 300 layout, and as such, would also be taking part in my very first Nippon race to get a few extra minutes of track time. I had previously qualified with the Nippons but this was the first time I was officially entering as a Nippon entrant.

So Saturday morning, and typically for Snetteron, the weather wouldn’t make its mind up. On the way to the circuit in the morning it was damp and spitting in places. But by the time we got on track for quail, it was begining to dry, or at least, stopped raining. I decided to put new boots on the car to help scrub them in for the rest of the weekend. I was treating the Nippon as a test session and was mixing up tyre pressures and ARB settings.

Nippon Qualifying

Quail went well up until about lap 2 when a miss fire had made itself apparent. Although it was hurting my performance down the straight (I was down to 2, even 1 cylinder at one point!) I decided to stay to get some track knowledge. In the end, I qualified 7^th in class and was by no means the last on the grid. Back in the paddock we whipped the spark plugs out, gave them a good clean and she was running sweet again!

Nippon Race 1

Not much of note here. Kept it clean, out of trouble and managed to finish 4^th in class.

Nippon Race 2

I got a great start down the outside of everyone and by the end of the first lap I was leading GT150! I was chasing a Celica, using it to try and keep pace as I had An MGF and a few MR2’s chasing me down. By the end of the 3^rd lap, I had cooked my tyres and they were spent. This meant 2 things - 1, I had to tip toe round the long corners to stop the rear stepping out and 2, lots of drifting fun round Montreal! Thankfully, the MGF seemed to be keeping the MR2’s at bay who were snapping at his heels. By the time the 5^th lap came by, Dave Hemingway had managed to slip past and was catching me hand over fist. We exchanged places for a while until he got the upper hand and maintained a gap until the end. Overall, a good learning curve and a 2^nd in class in only my second ever Nippon race!!

MR2 Qualifying

The next day was for MR2’s. Feeling confident from yesterdays action I went out in quail in high hopes and managed to qualify 5^th, beating my personal best from the previous day. I started on the inside and everything looked set for a cracking race!

MR2 Race 1

As the race started, I got a great start down the inside and was third by the second corner and hunting down Simon Lockey in Second. After that it all went to pot really! Everyone else seemed to have more straight line speed then me (the reason why has since become clear!). Trying hard to make up for this, I was giving it all round the corners. Until, the inevitable happened. As I rounded Montreal for the 5^th time, the back end stepped out and, instead of lifting, I kept my foot nailed to the throttle and she went into a half spin, right in front of where my marshal gang were! I was now back in 7^th place and desperate to make places up. In traffic, I went round Hamilton, where the car in front span; I panicked, and followed him off! To cut a long story short, after the race had finished, we had a look and the inside rear tyre was literally shredded to pieces!! OOPPSSS!! Still, remembered to bring a scrubbed spare with me so we swapped the tyres over.

MR2 Race 2

From 10^th, I was keen to make amends for my crap performance in race 1. All was going OK, I managed to get up to 9^th until the 5^th lap. I was chasing Avery and Hemingway into Murrays when Avery went wide onto the grass. Trying to avoid him, DH lost momentum and I got a run at him down the outside along the start/finish straight. As we approached Ritches, we were still neck-and-neck. We both gave each other room but Neil Hurren, went inside of DH, jumping over the curb bumping into him, which in turn sent him into me. This caused me to get a huge tank-slapper and sent me towards the tyre wall. Nothing I could do except wait for the inevitable! Thankful the car hit the tyre wall side on so the impact was spread. Hopefully to be back better at Brands!!

Castle Combe Race May 2011

Qualifying
This would be my first race of the 2011 season due to finances not allowing me to get out sooner, it was good to catch up with the guys again and meet some new faces. I was confident of putting in a decent performance as I felt I had really improved in my last race at Mallory and had put some good runs in at trackdays over the winter. The morning was wet and it was raining during qualifying so it wasn't getting any drier, it was lucky that I needed new tyres as these definitely helped with grip on the wet track.
Started off slowly to get myself used to the car again and the track which I have only done 40 minutes on before; then I started to increase the pace and found a good level of grip. I then started catching and passing everyone on track quite easily. I finished the session feeling like I had done a solid job but with room for improvement. I was amazed to find myself in second place, occupying the front row of the grid, by far my best qualifying ever! Although I was about 0.8 seconds off pole I was 0.9 seconds faster than 3rd place so this gave me some confidence going into the race to be able to maintain my position.

Race 1
After a long agonising wait we eventually got around to starting the first race at 4pm, I was getting concerned that the rain was easing off as the set up of the car and style of my driving obviously favoured wet weather. I didn't make a good start loosing several places going into the first corner but then one of those who got past me spun and I narrowly missed his front end as it came in front of me. This left a reasonable gap behind me and I was in 3rd place; I then lost a place going into the last corner putting me in 4th as we completed the first lap. Coming back into the first corner 2nd place spun off the circuit which left me in 3rd place right behind 2nd place and I had noticed he seemed to be really lacking grip going into the corners. A couple of corners later he went very wide and I was easily able to pass up the inside. I then pulled out a bit of a gap and noticed a few laps later that a different car was now catching me so I increased my pace and managed to maintain a gap all the way to the finish despite delays behind back markers. After what seemed like forever I came home in 2nd place! Mine and the Sakari Racing teams best result ever! Such a great feeling to finish so well although I was a bit disappointed at the total lack of any kind of podium or award ceremony after the race especially this was my first time in this position.

Race 2
Unfortunately the track had dried up for the 2nd race as we were the last race out on the circuit, this wasn't going to be good for my set up but I was still going to give everything I had to finish as high as possible. Again didn't get a good start and got passed by several cars on the first lap, eventually coming around in 5th place to start the second lap. I then managed to get past one car into 4th and maintained this position for 3 more laps until I was caught up by Jonny White. Coming into the 2nd chicane I could see him closing behind me but a couple of car lengths back and knowing that you can't fit 2 cars around that corner took my usual line. However he came up the inside of me and barged me completely off the circuit. I had to take to the grass and just managed to keep it in a straight line to rejoin in 7th place. I wasn't particularly happy at this point and managed to catch up to the back of 6th place but then as I was about to enter the chicane again the engine spectacularly blew up! All I could see where large flames coming from the engine bay so I pulled off the circuit and stopped at a marshals point. This video (http://vimeo.com/24473674) shows just how bad it did go. The engine is a write off and I am having to miss the next race in order to pay for a new one but I still left the circuit in a good mood with the days earlier results.

My first podium achieved and the teams second in only its second season, now Chris just has to get pole position and a race win to go one better!

Brands Hatch Indy Race May 2011

Chris started his season off at Brands Hatch with a fine top ten qualifying run getting 9th place only a second off pole position. He had a consistent run maintaining his 9th place to line but finished only half a second behind 8th place. For the second race Chris had a good start gaining a place on the first lap but then had an excursion and dropped down to 15th place. He then battled his way back up the grid to 12th by lap 10 but was then left with too much of a gap to the next driver to improve any further.

A solid start to the season and, with Chris missing out on Castle Combe, he'll be looking forward to his next race At Snetterton his home circuit.

Chris Shackle 3rd Placed Driver of the Season 2010

I've been a bit slow keeping this page up to date so here's the first of several updates seeing as we are half way through the 2011 season!

The end of season awards took place in November 2010 and I need to give a big congratulations to my team mate Chris Shackle for achieving 3rd placed driver of the season. This was given to him based on his consistency throughout the season of obtaining top ten qualifying positions and race results including Chris's and the teams first podium at Mallory Park.

The pressures now on Chris (mainly from me) to improve on this next year and lets see some more podiums for both of us.

Mallory Park Race September 2010

This would be my last race this season due to financial restraints but Chris should be appearing at Brands Hatch in October.

Qualifying
Didn't go as well as I had thought being down in 19th position so I decided to change my very badly worn tyres with a set of part used ones I had. Chris put in another great qualifying performance to mirror Cadwell getting 5th on the grid.

Race 1
this was a really fun race for me and not a lap went past that I wasn't battling someone. I made a couple of places on the first lap but a couple of people got past. I then started carving my way through the field with a great battle with Paul Corbridge, eventually finishing in 9th place. Chris had a reasonably good race losing a couple of places to Dave Hemingway and Aaron Pullan but gained one from the retired Sarah Wherry to finish in 6th, despite having a spin. He also set the fastest lap for the race.

Race 2
I didn't get the greatest of starts losing a couple of places but I soon managed to get them back over the next couple of laps. I then had another big battle with Paul Corbridge swapping positions about 6 times over just 3 laps but I eventually managed to get past him and then get some space between us. I was catching Roger Pullan and could see Chris just in front of him but then the chequered flag came out and I was 5th! My best result ever and a great way to finish the season.
Chris put in yet another a great performance to get past Aaron and Dave, and with David Pittard going off into the gravel he was able to claim a podium place to finish in 3rd place! This is Chris's first, of hopefully many, podiums and the first time we have had both Sakari Racing cars in the top 5. Chris was obviously delighted with his finishing position, now just those two orange cars to get past!

Cadwell Park August 2010

Qualifying
This being my home circuit I was a bit disappointed with 12th place in qualifying but it wasn't too bad considering I was running on fairly old tyres. Chris put in a great performance to qualify in 5th place.

Race 1
I have always loved racing around Cadwell and this race was no exception! I had a long battle with Richard Avery who I eventually got passed then after I had opened up a bit of a lead on him the last couple of laps were a bit quiet for me until the race ended early due to a red flag. I was very pleased with my 7th placed finish. Chris had a reasonably quiet race too with a 3 second gap in front of him and behind him, he maintained 5th place.

Race 2
This wasn't so great for me as I was struggling for grip and we had some of the faster cars coming up through the grid after problems in qualifying and the previous race; I managed to hold onto 10th place for a while towards the end of the race but somehow managed to knock my engine cut off switch losing all power going into the hairpin, finishing 11th in the end.
Chris had a solid race just losing one place to finish 6th with a fast charging John Winter finishing just 4 tenths of a second behind him.

Lydden Hill Race 2010

Qualifying
This got a little complicated as we had so many MR2's some had to qualify in the Nippon Challenge and we had 3 races separated in 3 groups of the fastest 12, middle 12 and slowest rest of field. I managed an overall 15th which I was happy with as it meant I would start 3rd in one of the races. Chris did really well seeing as it was his first time at the circuit and managed 6th.

Race 1
Chris was the first out on circuit with the fastest 12 and slowest where he lost a couple of places to finish 8th.
I had an awful first race as I was made to make a modification to my exhaust because it was apparently too loud (previous and subsequent noise tests showed it was fine). I finished 12th and it was really frustrating not being able to be able to do anything about the other drivers getting past me due to my lack of power. I was a little angry to say the least!
The final race of the day Chris and I would be in together, with Chris starting 6th and me starting in 15th. I wasn't particularly focused after the first race result and having removed the make shift silenced I lost one place to finish 16th. Chris didn't particularly enjoy this circuit earlier with a 12th place finish.
I for one certainly won't be making the 6 hour journey to race here again!