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!
Monday, 20 September 2010
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.
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!
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!
Castle Combe Race 2010
Chris didn't enter this event so I was the lone Sakari Racing car. I had a lot of support at this meeting with it being the first race my Godson and Girlfriend would see, so no pressure!
Qualifying
Well for me it didn't happen! After thinking we had solved the overheating problem from Snetterton we managed to get water into the spark plugs and so the car was misfiring. This meant I would start from the back of the grid in 31st position.
Race 1
Considering I had never raced at this circuit and didn't get anytime to practice in qualifying I was quite pleased with myself. Had a lot of battles throughout the race and sustained a bit of damage but it was a great race, eventually making up 13 places to finish 18th. Plus with only one retirement and no one getting lapped I had to work hard for every place.
Race 2
The second race was great fun again with me making up a further two places to finish 16th. It could have been more as I went off the circuit losing about 5 places that I then had to battle to make up again.
Qualifying
Well for me it didn't happen! After thinking we had solved the overheating problem from Snetterton we managed to get water into the spark plugs and so the car was misfiring. This meant I would start from the back of the grid in 31st position.
Race 1
Considering I had never raced at this circuit and didn't get anytime to practice in qualifying I was quite pleased with myself. Had a lot of battles throughout the race and sustained a bit of damage but it was a great race, eventually making up 13 places to finish 18th. Plus with only one retirement and no one getting lapped I had to work hard for every place.
Race 2
The second race was great fun again with me making up a further two places to finish 16th. It could have been more as I went off the circuit losing about 5 places that I then had to battle to make up again.
Snetterton Race May 2010
I've been very lax getting updates on here so this is the first of my brief race reports to be posted up here.
Qualifying
Didn't get off to a great start with a qualifying position of 26 out of 39 and I was only able to complete 8 laps due to an overheating problem and had to be towed back to the pits. Chris did a lot better with a very respectable 8th.
Race 1
This race took 3 goes to get started with 2 red flags following on from 1st corner incidents. I had a very large collision with a sideways facing car which left a lot of damage to the front of my car but with a bit of tape I was allowed to continue. Finished 19th in the end mainly due to cars retiring and again had an overheating problem which saw me stop on the warm down lap and needed another tow.
Chris enjoyed a bit of a battle with 2 other cars with only a second separating all 3 of them, he finished in the middle of them with an improved position on qualifying of 6th.
Race 2
Again I had problems with overheating and had to retire on lap 2 which was a big shame seeing how much effort Kerry had put in to try and cure the problem and reshape the front of the car.
Chris manged to improve another position to 5th in this race making this his best result so far in MR2's and he also knocked 4 tenths of his lap time.
Qualifying
Didn't get off to a great start with a qualifying position of 26 out of 39 and I was only able to complete 8 laps due to an overheating problem and had to be towed back to the pits. Chris did a lot better with a very respectable 8th.
Race 1
This race took 3 goes to get started with 2 red flags following on from 1st corner incidents. I had a very large collision with a sideways facing car which left a lot of damage to the front of my car but with a bit of tape I was allowed to continue. Finished 19th in the end mainly due to cars retiring and again had an overheating problem which saw me stop on the warm down lap and needed another tow.
Chris enjoyed a bit of a battle with 2 other cars with only a second separating all 3 of them, he finished in the middle of them with an improved position on qualifying of 6th.
Race 2
Again I had problems with overheating and had to retire on lap 2 which was a big shame seeing how much effort Kerry had put in to try and cure the problem and reshape the front of the car.
Chris manged to improve another position to 5th in this race making this his best result so far in MR2's and he also knocked 4 tenths of his lap time.
Friday, 28 May 2010
Mallory Race April 2010
First race of the season! felt good to be back in the hot seat and it looked fantastic to see both Sakari Racing cars in the same colour scheme for the first time.
Qualifying
With 40 cars out on a less than one minute circuit it was fairly busy! Still managed to get a couple of half decent laps in as Chris and I were working together to give each other space to get flying laps in. The session got red flagged because of a spin at the hairpin and most of the cars were sent back into the paddock, we thought that was it but then they opened the circuit again! I had already got myself undressed and so didn't go out agian. Would have been nice to have been directed into the pitlane to go out again but oh well. I qualified well down in 22nd, I had hoped for something just outside of top ten. Chris did better just outside the top ten but still hoped to have been further up the grid.
Race 1
I made a really good start and got past Jason Jesse just in front of me very quickly and made up several other places. Got stuck into a really good battle with several cars in the first few laps and made a few more places up. Unfortunately Chris didn't have such a great start and made a mistake somewhere which meant I was able to get past him on the first lap. He followed closely behind me as I struggled to find a way past Simon Lockey in the Gulf car. Then as I was about to make a move an incident up ahead made Simon slow unexpectedly and as I was unsighted I had to take avoiding action onto the grass. Just managed to keep hold of it but Chris just managed to get past me and thats the way we stayed until the finish line.
Chris finished 13th and I made up 8 places to get up to 14th so it was a pretty good race for me.
Race 2
Chris and I lined up side by side on the grid which looked really good! But that would be the last I saw of him in the race cus I made an awful start and lost a couple of places, this did however give me the oportunity to do some overtaking! Managed to make several manouvres mostly coming out of the hairpin and along the start finish straight, the new engine is working really well. Also made a move on the back straight into the esses and another last minute decision going up the inside into Gerrards from about 2 car lengths back! However this all happened in the first half of the race and I then started to stop catching the guy in front and dropped back into the clutches of 6 cars. I had got my tyre pressures all wrong and really struggled around the corners so it was just one long defense to keep the cars behind me. Very tiring work but I managed to keep my place. Me and the 6 cars behind me all finished within 2 seconds of each other, thats how close it was! Chris had a much better race this time getting up into 6th and making a good move to pull up into 5th breifly down the start finish striaght but pulled out going into Gerrards and Simon Lockey made a daring but very well timed move up the inside to take another place.
Chris finished 7th in the end and I made up 4 places to finish 10th.
Both of us in the top ten on the second race was a good team result particularly as niether of us rate Mallory as one of our better circuits, roll on Snetterton!
Matt Smith, Team Principal / Driver #30
Qualifying
With 40 cars out on a less than one minute circuit it was fairly busy! Still managed to get a couple of half decent laps in as Chris and I were working together to give each other space to get flying laps in. The session got red flagged because of a spin at the hairpin and most of the cars were sent back into the paddock, we thought that was it but then they opened the circuit again! I had already got myself undressed and so didn't go out agian. Would have been nice to have been directed into the pitlane to go out again but oh well. I qualified well down in 22nd, I had hoped for something just outside of top ten. Chris did better just outside the top ten but still hoped to have been further up the grid.
Race 1
I made a really good start and got past Jason Jesse just in front of me very quickly and made up several other places. Got stuck into a really good battle with several cars in the first few laps and made a few more places up. Unfortunately Chris didn't have such a great start and made a mistake somewhere which meant I was able to get past him on the first lap. He followed closely behind me as I struggled to find a way past Simon Lockey in the Gulf car. Then as I was about to make a move an incident up ahead made Simon slow unexpectedly and as I was unsighted I had to take avoiding action onto the grass. Just managed to keep hold of it but Chris just managed to get past me and thats the way we stayed until the finish line.
Chris finished 13th and I made up 8 places to get up to 14th so it was a pretty good race for me.
Race 2
Chris and I lined up side by side on the grid which looked really good! But that would be the last I saw of him in the race cus I made an awful start and lost a couple of places, this did however give me the oportunity to do some overtaking! Managed to make several manouvres mostly coming out of the hairpin and along the start finish straight, the new engine is working really well. Also made a move on the back straight into the esses and another last minute decision going up the inside into Gerrards from about 2 car lengths back! However this all happened in the first half of the race and I then started to stop catching the guy in front and dropped back into the clutches of 6 cars. I had got my tyre pressures all wrong and really struggled around the corners so it was just one long defense to keep the cars behind me. Very tiring work but I managed to keep my place. Me and the 6 cars behind me all finished within 2 seconds of each other, thats how close it was! Chris had a much better race this time getting up into 6th and making a good move to pull up into 5th breifly down the start finish striaght but pulled out going into Gerrards and Simon Lockey made a daring but very well timed move up the inside to take another place.
Chris finished 7th in the end and I made up 4 places to finish 10th.
Both of us in the top ten on the second race was a good team result particularly as niether of us rate Mallory as one of our better circuits, roll on Snetterton!
Matt Smith, Team Principal / Driver #30
Mallory Trackday April 2010
Seeing as the next race is nearly upon us I thought I had better update the blog! Mallory Trackday saw a total of 13 MR2's dominating the day, really good hot sunny weather all day and enjoyed by all. We provided a BBQ for all the drivers which went down well and the discount on the day, I was able to negotiate, was also appreciated!
Chris had a reasonably trouble free day providing passenger rides and getting used to being back in the seat, he also gave me a few passenger laps and I returned the favour to see if we could learn off each other, heal toe does actually seem to work although I can't do it!
My day was a little busier as I had a new engine to run in. To start with the engine really didn't sound good and I was getting a bit worried but then someone pointed out the ignition leads were the wrong way around, changed them and it sounded great! First time out oil was everywhere creating lots of smoke, so we tightened a few bolts, topped it up and went out agian. Still lots of oil everywhere so my master mechanic Kerry set to investigating and found the cam seals used were too thin; luckily one of the other drivers at the day had a set they let us have and once these were installed we had no further problems for the rest of the day.
I gave several passenger laps and had a session out by myself, the scariest moment came when I let Dad drive the car! Sorry but never again!
All in all a very useful day out that set us up nicely for the first race at the same venue the next week.
Matt Smith, Team Principal / Driver #30
Chris had a reasonably trouble free day providing passenger rides and getting used to being back in the seat, he also gave me a few passenger laps and I returned the favour to see if we could learn off each other, heal toe does actually seem to work although I can't do it!
My day was a little busier as I had a new engine to run in. To start with the engine really didn't sound good and I was getting a bit worried but then someone pointed out the ignition leads were the wrong way around, changed them and it sounded great! First time out oil was everywhere creating lots of smoke, so we tightened a few bolts, topped it up and went out agian. Still lots of oil everywhere so my master mechanic Kerry set to investigating and found the cam seals used were too thin; luckily one of the other drivers at the day had a set they let us have and once these were installed we had no further problems for the rest of the day.
I gave several passenger laps and had a session out by myself, the scariest moment came when I let Dad drive the car! Sorry but never again!
All in all a very useful day out that set us up nicely for the first race at the same venue the next week.
Matt Smith, Team Principal / Driver #30
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Snetterton Trackday January 2010
The day turned out to be a lot better than it looked first thing in the morning! It took us 2 hours just to get the motorhome and trailer off my Aunts drive, problem was trying to pull 4.5 tons up an icy road. Eventually got going by purchasing 7.5kgs of table salt from the local shop and deicing the road and finally by me pushing!
We eventually made it to the circuit about 10am just in time to unload, attend the shortest briefing ever (have you done trackday before? - yes, do you know flags? i'm a marshal, off you go then) and do the sighting laps so didn't actually lose any time in the end.
It was quite nasty and greasy for the morning and I managed a 360 at the end of the start finish straight, still unlike spins before I remembered to get the clutch in and got going straight away. The track conditions got progressivley better throughout the afternoon and I would say that for my last two sessions the track was virtually dry. I felt a lot quicker than I had before (even with passengers) but still room for improvement on a couple of corners, track knowledge really is key.
Credit to Chris for the Sakari Racing BBQ idea, when he first told me I had wondered if he realised what time of the year it was but it turned out to be a really good idea. Although with the amount of support we are now getting between us i'll have to remember to bring a second BBQ next time!
Good time had by all and I think a bit of good promotion for the series.
We eventually made it to the circuit about 10am just in time to unload, attend the shortest briefing ever (have you done trackday before? - yes, do you know flags? i'm a marshal, off you go then) and do the sighting laps so didn't actually lose any time in the end.
It was quite nasty and greasy for the morning and I managed a 360 at the end of the start finish straight, still unlike spins before I remembered to get the clutch in and got going straight away. The track conditions got progressivley better throughout the afternoon and I would say that for my last two sessions the track was virtually dry. I felt a lot quicker than I had before (even with passengers) but still room for improvement on a couple of corners, track knowledge really is key.
Credit to Chris for the Sakari Racing BBQ idea, when he first told me I had wondered if he realised what time of the year it was but it turned out to be a really good idea. Although with the amount of support we are now getting between us i'll have to remember to bring a second BBQ next time!
Good time had by all and I think a bit of good promotion for the series.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Brands Hatch October 2009
I know its a bit late but I thought I had better put something up here before the new season starts!
Qualifying
Useless would be a good word to describe my qualifying place! It was very wet and raining all through the session and I was well off the pace, eventually qualifyed 24th out of 26.
Race 1
Had a very good start and made 6 places off the line but then got nudged wide on the second corner and lost them again! Still very wet so my tactic was to just keep the car on the track; I was overtaken several times only for that driver to then spin off and rejoin behind me. I did have one off myself when I broke slightly too late got onto the wet part of the track and headed off onto the grass. Rejoined just behind the leaders (one lap down) and only lost one place eventually finishing 17th.
Race 2
Again another good start to make up a couple of places but then the race turned into a defensive one as I had one car right behind me the whole race. He managed to get past me once on the entrance to the start/finish straight but I held in there and out-braved him into paddock hill bend around the outside to ge the palce back. Shortly afterwards he made a mistake and I was able to pull away and catch the guys in front. Started to make a move up the inside of them both going onto the start/finish straight but had to back off quickly as one of them closed me out; probably would have sent him sidewides into the pit wall at about 60mph if I hadn't of backed off. Had another oportunity on the penultimate lap to get past but due to Ross Stoners spin the yellow flags were out and so I couldn't make my move.
Finished in 13th due to others falling off the circuit, definately need to work on my wet weather driving but not too bad for my first time at Brands.
Qualifying
Useless would be a good word to describe my qualifying place! It was very wet and raining all through the session and I was well off the pace, eventually qualifyed 24th out of 26.
Race 1
Had a very good start and made 6 places off the line but then got nudged wide on the second corner and lost them again! Still very wet so my tactic was to just keep the car on the track; I was overtaken several times only for that driver to then spin off and rejoin behind me. I did have one off myself when I broke slightly too late got onto the wet part of the track and headed off onto the grass. Rejoined just behind the leaders (one lap down) and only lost one place eventually finishing 17th.
Race 2
Again another good start to make up a couple of places but then the race turned into a defensive one as I had one car right behind me the whole race. He managed to get past me once on the entrance to the start/finish straight but I held in there and out-braved him into paddock hill bend around the outside to ge the palce back. Shortly afterwards he made a mistake and I was able to pull away and catch the guys in front. Started to make a move up the inside of them both going onto the start/finish straight but had to back off quickly as one of them closed me out; probably would have sent him sidewides into the pit wall at about 60mph if I hadn't of backed off. Had another oportunity on the penultimate lap to get past but due to Ross Stoners spin the yellow flags were out and so I couldn't make my move.
Finished in 13th due to others falling off the circuit, definately need to work on my wet weather driving but not too bad for my first time at Brands.
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