James Tucker's blog

Hi everyone,

August Bank Holiday I raced at the blustery Norfolk circuit, Snetterton.

Aim going into the weekend was to qualify in higher than I had before and finish higher in the races than I had before.
Anyone that knows Snetterton will understand how important slipstreaming is to qualify well, as there is one huge straight. Due to this we (the JTR team) decided it was best to work as a team, toeing each other round to set our fast laps, however this meant you had to give up 2 laps for 1 quick lap. This didn’t work well for me, with me making mistakes on what should have been my quick laps, I think the pressure got to me. Nearing the end of the session I miss judged my braking into the Esses causing me to run wide on the exit and losing 5 seconds and the slipstream effect from my teammates. I thought that was it my qualifying over, but I pushed on regardless. Somehow this seemed to benefit me, maybe as the pressure was off, and I managed to slowly put faster and faster laps in. As the chequered flag dropped for the end of qualifying I had got up to 7^th, my best qualifying of the year so far.

Race 1 came along with the rain. This made an interesting opener to the race, as although there had been wet testing it was only ever damp and drying, not fully wet. Even on the green flag lap a front-runner, Antti Buri, spun off down the start finish straight and into the Armco, putting him out of the race. As the race started I only managed to keep my position unsure of the conditions, with the 2^nd year drivers much more confident in these conditions. However as the race went on I gained confidence and closed down on the front pack making a pass for 5^th, on the penultimate lap, diving around the outside on the brakes into the Esses, however the move open the gap back up to the next car halting my progress. This equaled my best race finish to date, going all the way back to the 1^st round at Oulton Park.

The track had dried when it came to race 2 with me starting 9^th on the grid. Straight from the off I was stuck in a 10 car battle for the lead with no one being able to make a break. This continued in the opening laps, until lap 3 when a clumsy attempt by Josh Hill, where he ht my rear wheel flinging him up into the air and out of the race, damaged my suspension. This made the car unpredictable and different round every corner, consequently I dropped of the leading pack managing just to hold my position. Lap 7 and lightning stroke twice as I picked up a puncture from the debris left from Hill’s crash. This forced me to bring the car into the pits for a tyre change. I went back out a lap down but managed on my own to set the 5^th fastest lap of the race despite being on my own, with no slipstream effect, and bent suspension wishbone and push rod.

Even with the bad luck of race 2 I still achieved my aims and I am very much looking forward to the race this weekend at Brands Hatch, supporting DTM.

I would like to thank the team, JTR and also my sponsors; Superseal, BG Printers, Mobile Telephone Services and Sue-Sew for all their help and support.

Please feel free to visit my website, www.jamesjtucker.co.uk

Image by Nickbricket.com

I know it has been over a week since the race meeting at Silverstone, on the 14^th and 15^th of August, but this has been the first chance I have had to sit down and write up a blog.

My aim going into the weekend was to qualify in the top 10 for all 3 races and have 3 top 10 finishes.

Qualifying started very well with me running in the top 6 for the first 3 flying laps, but as the session progressed people started toeing each other around down hanger straight, this gave them around a 3 tenth of a second advantage. As this happened I dropped down to 9^th quickest by the end of the session, with 3 very consistent laps, this gave me 2 9^th place qualifications and 1 8^th. This was my highest qualification so far this year; with all being in the top 10 my first aim was complete.

Race 1 was perfect conditions for me, with a damp track that was to dry for wets. Due to my confidence in these condition, from practice in similar on the Thursday test sessions, I called slicks very early in the assembly area, leaving many other drivers panicking about tyre choice right up to the formation lap. This perhaps meant I was a lot calmer than the other drivers at the start and I capitalised on this by driving through from 9^th to 4^th on the 1^st lap. A few laps later and I had passed Josh Hill, at Abby for 3^rd and pulled an advantage. Unfortunately, just 2 laps from the end of the race, the conditions that gave me this opportunity for my first podium caught me out, at Vale I slid wide onto a damp patch causing me to go wide onto the wet astro turf at Club instantly diminishing my gap and I was swallowed up by the pack, dropping back down to 6^th.

Race 2 never really got going due to an early safety car that took up over half of the race. I had managed to get up to 7^th before the safety car period, but an error on the restart caused me to drop 3 places into 10^th.

Finally it was here Race 3, my highest ever grid position. I got a great start from the inside of the grid, the slippy side; this allowed me to gain 2 places straight away. At the end of the 1^st lap the safety car boards had been put out due to a first corner incident. The restart and straight away Emi Bernstorff, Silverstone lap record holder, made his way past me followed by Finish driver Anti Burri. The race for me was very much a case of follow the leader from then on for me until the last lap. On the last lap the pack was split by contact between the 2 championship leaders, I thought this was my time to strike but I was only able to re pass Burri into Bridge, however investigation into the last lap are still on going.

This meant that I had achieved my 2 goals, with 9,9,8 in Qualifying and 6^th, 7th, 10th in the races.

I would like to thank the team, JTR and also my sponsors; Superseal, BG Printers, Mobile Telephone Services and Sue-Sew for all their help and support.

Please feel free to visit my website, www.jamesjtucker.co.uk

Hi everyone,

Just back from my first race meeting, in a Mygale chassis, at Rockingham Speedway, in Northampton. Which to my surprise stayed dry, for my time on the track, with all the weather forecasts prior to the weekend showing rain.

My aim going into the weekend was to finish qualifying in the top 10 and have two top 10 finishes.

I had a hard qualifying session, with a red flag causing a pause to my progress as I settled into the session; at this point I was running 14th. However when the session was restarted I managed to claw some more speed out of the car and up until the last lap was running 10th, being beaten back into 11th by just 1 thousandth of a second. At the end of qualifying I was 11th for race 1 and 9th for race 2, which I was happy with as I felt that averaged out to reach my goal.
I made a poor start on Race 1 from 11th on the grid, due to never making a practice start in the Mygale, as it uses a different clutch system to the Van Diemen, this left me in 12th by the end of the first lap. I then spent the majority of the race fighting, with the likes of, Josh Hill down, son of World Champion Damon Hill, and Nathan Freke, the 2006 MSA Formula Ford Champion. I finished the race despite the fighting still in 12th, which disappointed me, but really showed me the importance of a good start.
Race 2 and this time I made a much better start, with me not losing nor gaining any places. After fighting for several laps, the pack settled down into an order with me up to 8th. I spent the remainder of the race Chasing Down Josh Hill once more, but never making any headway, as when I managed to up my pace so did he constantly maintaining the gap.
This meant that I had kind of achieved my goals, in one way or another, and had learnt about this different chassis and how it should be driven.
I would like to thank the team, JTR and also my sponsors; Superseal, BG Printers, Mobile Telephone Services and Sue-Sew for all their help and support.

All of you that have been following me lately may have noticed, that after my blistering start to the season, my results have wained slightly. This means that I am not able to challenge for the championship this year, however we can still challenge for podiums, due to this my sponsors have decided this is to be a learning year. Therefore I will be switching chassis manufacture, in preparation for next year, so we know where the seat is that will most likely drive me to the tittle in 2011.

This means that this Friday (tomorrow) I will not be testing in a Fluid run Van Diemen but in a JTR run Mygale.

Just back from my first ever car race meeting, at Oulton Park, in Cheshire. Which to my surprise stayed completely dry, after the awful forecasts leading up to the Easter weekend.

My aim going into the weekend was to have three top 10 finishes, which I exceeded.

I had a hard qualifying session, as when I had found myself a piece of clear track and had warmed up the car, someone’s engine had dumped it’s coolant on the track. Having said that my three fastest laps left me 10^th, 10^th and 9^th on the grid, for the races, right where I needed to be to achieve my goal.

I had a good start on Race 1 from 10^th on the grid, leaving me in 7^th by the end of the lap. I then spent the majority of the next few laps defending from a hungry pack to keep my place, but by lap 6 I was back on the attack having closed Josh Hill down, son of World Champion Damon Hill, and pulled away from the following pack. I managed to squeeze past around the outside on the brakes into Cascades, only to toe josh down the straight and back past me into Shell. Unfortunately my race was cut short when I kissed the inside tyre wall at Knickerbrook, bending my wishbones, force my early retirement. However in the race I set a lap time a full second quicker than my qualifying time.

Race 2 and again I managed a good start, dragging myself from 10^th on the grid up to 6^th by the end of the first lap. On the second lap a good exit from Britten’s gave me a chance to attack, second year driver, Philippe Layac over Hilltop and down into Knickerbrook, taking me up to 5^th place. However this left me 8 seconds behind the leader. I chassed the lead pack down the whole race setting the 2^nd fastest lap of the race, at the end of the 11 laps I had reduced the gap to only 4 seconds, crossing the line in 5^th only 5 hundredths of a second off 4^th.

In Race 3 I did not manage such a great start only retaining my 9^th place grid position. However I kept my head down and kept pushing, slowly picking of cars one at a time to claw my way up to 5^th by the end of the race. Showing my exit speed from the corners by being the fastest through all 3 sector speed traps and putting in the 3^rd fastest time of the day.

My efforts through the weekend were acknowledged by the head of Ford Motorsport Europe awarding me the Spirit of the Weekend Award, ”We have been very impressed with James this weekend, his positive attitude and great performance on track. I think he has a great future ahead of him and in the championship this year and this award is a reflection of that.”

This has left me 7^th in the Dunlop MSA British Formula Ford Championship, higher than if I had achieved my goal of three top 10 finishes, so I am very happy with my performance and really looking forward to the next race at Knockhill, a track where the Van Diemen Chassis is notorious.

I would like to thank the team, Fluid Motorsport in particular my mechanic, Joe Abreu, engineer Sam Owen, and team boss, Lindsay Allen, for all their hard work and help they have put in the last few weeks.

Yesterday I had my final preseason test, at Oulton Park in Cheshire. The track is where the first round will be held come Easter weekend, where we are supporting the British F3 and GT races. I ended the day posting the 6^th fastest time and being the quickest Van Diemen driver on the track, which is a real buzz. This makes me feel I should be able to race near the sharp end, with my sites set on 3 good top 10 finishes over the weekend.

I am now really looking forward to the first race but at the same time a little apprehensive, as it is something completely new, never having raced a car before.  But the team, Fluid Motorsport, are giving me great confidence seeing how hard they all work on the cars and data 7 days a week, making my car the best it can possibly be.

I have never, in my 12 year racing career, got my plans, for the coming year, together as late as I have this year.
It was only at the start of February that we, me, my Dad Paul Tucker and Grandfather Nigel Bailey, decided that we would tackle the Dunlop MSA British Formula Ford Championship. However coming from Superkarts and Karts we did not know how to go about getting into cars. This is where the great help from Greg Symes and Tom Gaymor, from the MSA Academy, really pushed us forward.
In the Space of a month I have gone from having no plans to being a signed ‘works’ Van Diemen (Fluid) driver. I can now really focus on my driving.
This leaves me with a clear goal of winning races in the Dunlop MSA British Formula Ford Championship. I feel this is a very achievable goal in conjunction with Van Diemen, who have won the championship 22 times in the last 32 years, and my sponsors 1st Choice Superseal, BG Printers, MTS and Sue-Sew.

On the 18th and 19th of January I attended the Porsche performance centre at Silverstone to work with the top fitness coaches in the sport (who train the likes of Mark Webber and Jenson Button). As part of the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) I did various different fitness tests – which was very interesting and showed exactly where I need to improve my fitness and how. David Brabham Le Mans 24 hour and American Le Mans Series champion in 2009 was there to give us young drivers an insight to what it’s like to be at the top end of the sport as a professional driver. This has given me a greater drive to achieve my goal of being a Le Mans driver.

On the 2nd of February I, was 1 of the lucky 10 from the MSA Academy, invited to attend the Skills Active event held at Lords Cricket club in London. I received great inspirational and goal setting tips from 3 former Olimpians, Sarah Winckless, Sarah Stevenson and Francesca Jus-Burke, an insight into becoming a world champion from, from former Featherweight Boxing Champion of the World, Barry McGuican MBE and great Media Training from Sky Sports News presenter, Graham Little.