Having saved the car and myself from disaster in Spa after a brake failure at Les Combes, I was looking to make the Rockingham round of the Avon Tyres British GT count in the team’s bid to win the championship.
The Century Motorsport Ginetta G50 – ably piloted by my team-mate, Jake Rattenbury, and myself was leading the championship earlier in the year, and circumstances since have not been in our favour.
We led the championship going into Snetterton [Round 2, 14th-15th May], but came out of the weekend well down the order after an incident with another car took us out of the race. Since then – despite having the pace to win races – we’ve been playing catch up, but fortune hasn’t been on our side.
We scored a 3rd place podium position at Brands Hatch, only to have the points awarded to the 4th place finishers on a technicality.
The team that came in forth were actually a lap ahead of us in the race, but failed to pass the finish line after burying the car in a gravel trap. After the podium ceremony had taken place the issue was raised by the other team, who were subsequently awarded the points. During the race we spent four minutes in the pits as a result of an problem with the wheel nut studs – clearly we had the pace to make score a solid result, but four minutes is too much time to lose in such a competitive race.
Spa was a similar mix of bad fortune and great pace, leaving us wanting in terms of an improvement in the championship standings.
This weekend, we had nothing to lose, we were going all out for the win. We were only three tenths off of the cars on new tyres, and we were on old rubber.
Jake took the first stint in qualifying and – following a good run and early fast lap – handed the car over to me in a decent position. Shortly after taking the wheel however, I reported what appeared to be a lack of fuel – the G50 was bogging down in corners. Despite this, we managed a respectable P2 in qualifying for the first race.
The second qualifying session played out the same way with Jake setting an early benchmark before handing over to me once again only to be blighted by fuel issues. The problem led to a frustrating and premature end to the session for us.
As it turned out, a pipe had worked loose and moved up into the fuel tank, reducing the amount of fuel that was available to power the car. It wouldn’t have affected Jake’s drive, but became a problem during my session.
Despite the challenges, we kept our heads up and we were determined to make our best chance of the weekend – the P2 in the first race on Sunday – the best it could be.
Saturday’s glorious sunshine over Rockingham Motor Speedway, dubbed ‘Europe’s fastest race track’, was replaced by heavy showers on Sunday morning. Tyre choices could – and would – make the difference during the races.
Jake took the first session in race 1 and, after another good drive, presented me with a glimpse of a good podium result. I put in a pretty good performance, putting the G50 into P3 in the final laps of the race. Hopes were raised and the team dared to dream that it would stick until an incident with the 4th place Lotus caused damage to the rear quarter and drive assembly, giving the Lotus the steal on 3rd.
Again, swallowing down the frustration and disappointment, I put the situation behind me and headed out with determination for the final outing of the weekend.
We were on brand new tryes for the last race and we had the pace to convert the bad luck into a podium. That’s what we were aiming for. I had the confidence.
After frantic repairs, the G50 barely made it to the grid on time, when it did, I was at the wheel. Taking the first stint of the second race I backed up the ‘bravado’ with a fair drive, giving rise to applause and exclamation from the team and fans alike. Even a drive-through penalty for ‘not respecting track limits’ could not stop me from handing the car to Jake in a position of power. Jake gave a similarly exciting performance and, without himself obtaining a penalty for the same reason, would very likely have brought home a top-step finish. A very respectable third place at the chequered flag, left us 4th in the championship heading for Donington Park and the penultimate round of the season.
It was a good result – the Donington Park round is a three hour race with bigger time penalties. We’re going there with the same attitude we brought to Rockingham – to take every chance we’re given to put ourselves on the top step.
