First outright win of the season
Updated: Feb 22
Having only ever experienced the National and International circuit at Silverstone, the opportunity to race on the full grand prix circuit was a very rare and special treat. As you would expect from a Formula one circuit, it's wide and fast with three long straights; Hangar, Hamilton and Wellington. It was going to be important get a tow (A tow is the driver who gives you slipstream to make you faster on one lap pace) around this circuit as this can be worth a good second a lap.
Qualifying
A fantastic start to the weekend with a front row lockout for Tucker Motorsport. A brilliant qualifying session for teammate Declan McDonnell and I topping the timings with only 0.043 seconds between us. This was going to be another close and very fun day of racing! It was going to be important in the races to work together and break the tow from the cars behind.
Race 1
A great launch by pole sitter and teammate Dec sees him take the lead through the first corner.
15 minutes is not a long time for a race so it was important to settle in quickly and keep as close to Dec as possible. It wasn’t long however before my lack of engine power became evident again. James Tucker had fortunately set the car up beautifully to handle like it was on rails. Catching up through corners was all I could do to not lose out when hitting the long straights found at Silverstone.
The only way I was going to get into first place would be to get on the brakes late and make a move up the inside and so a late lunge coming into Brooklands saw me do exactly that... I was in the lead. But all too soon I had lost it again heading down the Hangar straight on the next lap.
With Dec and I starting to battle, it wasn’t long before the pack behind had stopped fighting and began working together to push each other close to us. Knowing time was running out, I looked for a gap coming into Village but Dec saw it coming and managed to hold me off.
All of a sudden I wasn’t battling for first place, but I had third and fourth coming in on me from both sides down the Hangar straight. Out-braking them and being as defensive as possible was all I could do to keep them at bay. The finish line couldn’t come soon enough as I crossed it in second place with teammate Dec only 0.275 ahead. The top 4 cars all crossed the line within 0.722….who said MX5 racing was boring!
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Race 2
Another incredible start by pole sitter Dec….an area I clearly need to work on! Dec was able to pull a few car lengths on me by the first lap but by staying out of trouble and not battling with the cars behind, I was able to wind him back in. A good exit out of Chapel and being in the tow allowed me to slingshot passed first place and take the inside line into Copse Corner. I was now in the lead and this time had enough pace to stay ahead for the remainder of the race, giving me my first outright win of the season with teammate Dec coming in a close second. The smile says it all.....
A second and first place respectively still gives me the championship lead but Dec and the rest of the field are still hot on my heels.
Race footage below courtesy of the BRSCC with live commentary.
Race 1
Race 2
A massive thank you to my sponsors and everyone who has got behind me on this incredible journey this season. Again a huge shoutout to my amazing team Tucker Motorsport and to Lillywhite Garage. James and Paul Tucker yet again setting the car up beautifully and Mike Lillywhite for all the maintenance between races.
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