Race one I had a very good feeling about, the car felt very strong even on the green flag lap and knew if I could get the start and make turn one then we would do craners flat and try and brake the tow straight away. As it happens, that was that. The start was good and we were in the lead going down craners. The car slowed down nicely for a great drive out of the old hairpin and already Mark Shaw, James Sharrock and Ian Payne had started swopping places and my escape was made good. At the end of lap 1 the lead was already 1.8 seconds and as they continued to race each other behind the lead went up to 11 seconds by mid race. At which point it is probably best to start looking after the car. The pit board was telling me we had fastest lap so stop flat shifting and pushing the car and just bring it home sensibly. The gap dropped to 9 seconds at the flag with Ian Payne getting his first runners up spot in R300′s having managed to shed the attentions of my team mate Mark Shaw and old nemesis James Sharrock picking up his first podium of the season on his return to R300′s.

As we formed for the start of race 2 the others would no doubt have plans to make sure race one wasn’t repeated…..it worked! We were held for a long time on the red light and Ian made a jump start, stopped, got pointed at by the starter who then turned the lights out. All in all, a bit distracting and being a bit miffed that I was now technically starting a car lengths behind got jumped by not only Ian but Mark and James as well. Strange as it may seem I was really looking forward to this duel, the pace in the car was there so it was time to get down to some wheel to wheel racing. As we went through the chicane on to the GP loop lap 1 I had a much better run on James and took third behind Mark with Ian Payne still leading the race but as we crossed the line for the first time Shaw made his move on Payne and took the the lead. A 30 minute race is a long time and its often very difficult to break away, but that said I wanted to get to the front as quickly as possible, but at the same time there is no point doing anything stupid. No opportunities presented themselves during lap 2 but as we crossed the line the safety car came out followed by the red lights with 3 cars blocking the track at the chicane. As we reformed on the grid I got a surprise, reforming the original grid and back on pole for a second chance! I felt a bit bad for Mark who had done well to get to the front, but still you don’t knock a gift horse.

The restart was much better and we rounded redgate first but there was to be no easy escape. Instead for several laps the top 4 cars were glued nose to tail. I don’t mind not leading in these circumstances, but I certainly prefer to be at the front. Racing like this is difficult because you are torn between driving defensively, and yet mindful that it is a slow way to drive the track leaving you open to attack. After a few laps of this I thought I would see if they were trying to follow me and shake the others, or race so I took the normal line down the start finish….straight away Ian Payne took the tow and invitation and overtook me for the lead, with the others now right on my gearbox. The best thing to do was retake the position as quickly as possible so out of old hairpin the drive was very good drive and whilst Payne was still turning the car left up through starkeys bridge my car was already turned and lined up to out drag him up to Schwanz curve and Mcleans and I was back in the lead and back to driving defensively again.

A few more laps passed with lots of offline defensive driving, it was good fun although Dad was ageing on the pitwall by a few years. We were mid race when the chance came to get away. The line was a little deep out of melbourne loop and Ian who was sticking to the rear end of my car fancied a run up the outside to Goddards. Sharrock who was behind Ian immediately jumped into my tow and whilst Ian and I were side by side under braking James would have the inside line behind me. All of these antics slowed the pair of them down and actually gave my team mate Mark Shaw the run on both of them down the start finish straight. Either way James overtaking Ian had given me 0.5 second and most importantly the opportunity to bang in a couple of laps absolutely flat out. Instantly you can use the full track and as I looked in my mirrors coming out of Redgate you could see they were embroiled in a fight and that was that. Within a few laps the lead was 6 seconds, the chequered flag out and we had managed to grab the illusive second fastest lap and extra point as well. Mark successfully held onto second and a mighty tussle between James Sharrock and Ian Payne saw Payne victorious for the last podium slot.

Whilst the results have gone my way recently I certainly have no expectations that will continue and for sure the others will want to come back and take their turn on the top step. My plans won’t change and we will be giving it everything at Brands GP on the 23rd/24th June!

My lead up to the event had been good, I had been quicker than my team mate Mark Shaw by a couple of tenths a few weeks previous but really not a lot in it and the Friday test was frustrating. We had very little running due to the amount of red flags and come the last session of the day the car started developing gear selection issues. We felt we had fixed those for race day though. Mark on the other hand was flying and at least the equal to me or quicker.

Qualifying went very well, I ran a great time in clean air but for the second qualifying in a row when trying to go quicker didn’t get the right tow at the right time. Going into the last 2 minutes I was still 0.4 quicker than Mark in second before he got some great times in end up taking pole by 0.4 second. The stage was set for a great race then!

In race one I got a great start, but not as good as Fauldsports James Sharrock was had his nose ahead of my car at the 15 meter point in the race! Unfortunately for him that would be it as his throttle cable snapped and he cruised to a halt with the rest of the grid taking avoiding action around him. As I reached turn one in the lead I had SPY Motorsports Ian Payne right behind me with Mark back in 5th place. The only thing I try and do in this situation if you believe you have the pace is to try and break free and so I effectively did a qualifying run trying to ignore the attentions of Ian behind. By lap 6 I had edged the lead out to 1.3 seconds and most importantly out of the tow window. Also Mark had caught Ian up and those two were now battling however Mark had demonstrated how quick he was in qualifying there was no way I would be easing up and carried out flat out until the last couple of laps. Mark couldn’t shake Ian off his tail until the last 5 minutes when Ian made a small mistake but by which point I had a 4 second lead and wasn’t going to give it up. I took the chequered flag by just over 3 seconds in the end having lead from start to finish. Mark managed to get fastest lap by 8/100′s of a second. Frustrating but there you go! Still, I’d now won the first 3 races of the year so I can hardly complain! The only slight concern I had was the gear selection issues creeping back in for the second part of the race. I half put it down to how hard I was having to drive the car and it isn’t really an issue until mid race. SPY’s Ian Payne scored his maiden podium in R300′s, a just reward for his pace given the lack of seat time he had after his RD1 Silverstone damage.

Race 2 later on in the day I managed another good start from pole position and lead the pack round Old Hall, this time with Team Leos’s Peter Ratcliffe’s right behind me. Mark again hadn’t got the greatest of starts and had lost a few places in the run down to turn one. The problem though this time was Peter was really coming at me, on lap 3 out of druids I had to go defensive. My pace was okay, but certainly not as good as it was earlier and I wasn’t able to break free. Part of this was self inflicted due to the new tyre rules. My plan had always been to run the first 2 race meetings on the season on 4 tyres, and my back right literally had nothing left to give. I would of swopped it for my other rear tyre in my declared allocation but it was on the other side and by the time I realised Avon had packed up. Worried it might be wet I chose to simply leave it and make do but it gave me a wondering rear end and I was having to wait to fully get on the power out of important corners, noticeably Knickerbrook and Druids.

Still, I thought I got a break when through Druids when on lap 4 a load of water washed across my helmet. Were we finally about to get rain? I pushed on, the track still bone dry. Through Island I was a bit more cautious than normal but again still dry. Out of Shell Oils and on the run to the first chicane at Foulstones the track was now wet (despite 50m away and 10 seconds earlier Island was dry). I realised going in just how wet it was and got the car slowed down, but not enough and ran off the track on exit onto the grass. Fortunately I had slowed down enough, and despite losing several seconds the others were all struggling as well and I rejoined in the lead. Whilst I had “got away” with a little off track excursion at the chicane I was finding out by leading which corners were wet and which ones were dry. Having experienced rain at Druids a lap earlier I went in more cautiously (you don’t get second chances there) and it was dry…however Mark Shaw behind had been able to read my car’s behaviour and carried more speed in leaving me defenceless on the run down to lodge. Down to second then. Despite my rears the car felt really good in the changeable conditions and I was ready to take advantage. Through a now damp Island next lap Mark had run a bit too wide and I was able to get down the outside of him for Shelloils and then drive two abreast through the corner and somehow I made it stick on the outside, find some grip and I was back in the lead.

Now was my chance to break free and I managed over the next couple of laps to take the lead back up to 1.3 seconds with over half the race gone…and then the gear selection issues came back. I noticed them first on lap 7 and then once or twice a lap thereafter I couldn’t get clean shifts from 4th to 5th. My lead was coming down at an alarming rate and on lap 10 I didn’t get the change out of Druids and Mark was able to clean drive by me. The symptom was literally getting stuck momentarily between gears and could be clutch or gearbox. It was pointless defending as he would get through regardless and at that point of the race the last thing I wanted to do was hold us both up and others join the party.

I sat on his gearbox until the last lap waiting to make a move and got a great drive out of lodge over the start finish line. Mark went defensive but I wasn’t pulling out of it and I retook the lead at Old Hall with only the remainder of the lap to see out. Mark was straight back at me on the run down Cascades but I held the position through the corner but as soon as I exited the corner I had a massive sense of Déjà Vu. Here I was, having lead most of the race 2 at Oulton Park now on the run down to Island on the last lap defending from a DPR car. Last time it was Gordon Sawyer and I ended up spinning across the grass backwards and finished 9th. Gordon ended up wearing the tyres and a large bill.

So, was a repeat on the cards? Fortunately not. Not only was Mark very good out of the corner and going to have a run at me anyway as I was defensive going in, the gear change caught just enough for Mark to be past me like a flash. Back down to second, half a lap left. I tried to hassle him through the chicanes but knew my best chance was on the run out of Druids. As expected Mark went defensive and whilst I had a good drive it wasn’t good enough. On the brakes maybe into lodge? I’d say half a gap was offered to me…..some people would of gone for it, but to be honest there was no way I was going to get past Mark without significant contact damaging one or two cars and frankly thats never what my driving has been about. I probably wouldn’t make a very good touring car driver…..

So the win streak was over, I took second with Mark getting his first well deserved win of the season.

Still from the last 8 races I’ve taken 6 wins, a second and a third so I can’t be too unhappy. Mark took fastest lap which means despite us both getting a win and a second Mark has narrowed my lead in the championship to one point. All to play for then? Just a bit!

Every win is special, but the emotion going over the line in this photo will be hard to forget.

The Friday test had been very tricky, Silverstone had resurfaced several areas of the track which made handling and grip interesting to say the least. I do like to change the setup on my car frequently but I think we changed just about every setting on the day to get the car where we wanted. Ironically it wasn’t a million miles off where we started the day but you don’t know if your leaving time on the table unless you try!

Race day came around and I opted for my preferred method of qualifying in clean air. The tow is probably worth a good second around Silverstone and I’d banked on running the first half of qualifying on my own to get a banker lap and then maybe catch up with a few cars to see if I could improve my time. As it happened my best lap came fairly early on and when I caught up on people later in the session the cars never came at the right point. Fortunately my time was still good enough for pole position by 0.1 seconds and if I could put that in by myself I knew the pace should bode well for the race. It also meant I had managed to secure pole position for the first round of R300′s in 2009, 2011 and 2012. 2010 will be remembered by me at least for the qualifying session where my engine lasted half a lap and blew itself to pieces.

Despite the fact you know you have good pace, racing especially in packs is always fraught with unknowns with a car not known for its aero. Whilst I don’t mind being behind or around other cars being out in front on your own is preferable if not difficult to engineer! The start off pole for race 1 was good but Mark Shaw, my teammate had made a similarly good start with Jamie Orton and Ian Payne in his first R300 race close behind. The first lap we stayed ahead, trying to pull a gap but not really succeeding. Shaw was hanging on pretty close but not really able to challenge. On lap 2 through Village and Farm I spotted the Red and Yellow stripped flag and general debris on the track. There had obviously been a lap one incident and fluids were down, as it transpired a healthy mix of engine oil and coolant. The car slid nicely over the first huge patch, but from there there was a oil drop pretty much on the racing line around the loop onto the wellington straight. Judging how quick to take it with Mark closely behind me I went in a fraction too quick and understeered clean off the track. Fortunately around the outside there is grass and then more tarmac so I was able to quickly rejoin in second place. Only later did I find out what had happened to cause the slick. Jamie Orton had gone for a move on Ian Payne for third place into farm and not made it stick turning Ian around who was subsequently clouted by Adam Balon ending both of their races, Ian’s permanently for the weekend. My off track excursion only cost me a couple of seconds and I was able to rejoin behind Shaw down the wellington straight and with a good set of corners through the complex and onto the start finish straight I was back in the lead half a lap later. Orton hadn’t lost too much time with his incident and was soon battling Shaw for second and that allowed me to slip away and leave them to fight it out for the remaining podium slots. I eventually finished 4 seconds clear for my first win of the season.

However the drama didn’t end there. Orton was subsequently penalised for the incident with Payne and excluded from the race results. Peter Ratcliffe was promoted from an already best result 4th to take 3rd place, with Shaw having got pipped on the line for second duely promoted to runner up.

Race 2 was a repeat of race 1 by and large. The start was good, aided by an empty grid slot where Orton’s car should of been and I could see in my mirrors as I rounded turn one Shaw hadn’t made the best of starts, but infact series returnee and former R300 championship runner James Sharrock had made a belter of a start to reach second. Whilst they all argued amongst themselves I was already out of the tow and finished lap 1 with a 3 second lead. My team mate Shaw soon made it into second and as we both had clean air between ourselves and other cars it just became a competition via the pit boards who could go quicker. I had the lead over Mark out to 7 seconds before the last couple of laps slowed it down a notch fearful of making a stupid unforced error, the gap at the finish to Mark was over 4 seconds but impressively it was another 25 seconds before the podium line up would be complete with Paul Brannan taking third for Fauldsport.

DPR scored a pair of 1-2 finishes with a fastest lap (to Shaw) giving us a near perfect start in the championship. Anything can and normally does happen so we won’t be resting on our laurels just yet. Adam Balon had a storming drive from the back of the grid after his DNF in race 1 to finish in 4th place with DPR’s Madg Mohaffel in 5th.

With Shaw scoring such solid points again already 2012 looks to be all about consistency. The lead in the championships is a slender 3 points.

Next round Oulton Park – 21st April.

Race report to follow.