Kieran Vernon's blog

Qualifying

With a good idea of what to expect with new tyres from Friday’s session, I felt much more confident with the car as I left the pits. My first flying lap was my fastest, taking the daunting banking of the Indy oval flat out was a huge buzz as I entered the braking zone for turn two. I managed to qualify in fifth position after the first run, which was a big surprise for me to find out! With a second set of tyres ready, we waited a few minutes for traffic to clear and set about getting another good lap for race two. However it seemed the track fell away in pace as the session went on, with nobody improving their lap times in the last half of the session.

Once I got out of the car, there were still eight or so minutes remaining. Never have I watched a timing screen with such anxiety as I feared being bumped down. However, to my great delight no one improved, the best qualifying of the year and a huge step forward from the previous race, by far out-performing the top ten goals.

Race1

It was a tricky start off the line with the left side of the grid being damp. My best efforts off the line could not hold back Richard Plant, as he got a better drive off the line on the dry side of the track. I caught him very unexpectedly on lap two, as I took the banking of turn one much faster than him. I looked to the inside where he forced me down on the damp area of the left, making it very hard for me to slow the car down!

It got very tight into turn two between Stephen Jelley, Plant and I, however, we all managed to come out without any contact. This lead to pressure from behind, as I tried to battle with Jelley in front, and a small nudge from Jonas Gelzenis pushed me across the gravel trap in the final chicane, damaging my front splitter. The loss of the front splitter meant that the turn one banking becoming more and more difficult each lap, and the front tyres were worked extra hard throughout the race.

It was a great battle between us and it was a big talking point of the race. I would hope to say I skilfully kept them behind! We crossed the line nose to tail, to my great relief, in what felt like one of the longest races I have ever driven, marking our best result of the season so far in sixth position.

Race2

We started Race two further back in eighth position. I made a good start to hold my position, which became seventh when Sam Tordoff retired on the formation lap with a clutch issue. However, a small contact with Benji Hetherington sparked a slow puncture, and on lap three the tyre gave up. We got back to the pits and the team did a fantastic job to quickly get a spare on the car.

I rejoined at the back, just being put a lap down by the two leaders out front. To my surprise, even with an older tyre on the front and the tracking out slightly, I was able to keep the two leaders of Euan Hankey and James Sutton very honest, lapping only a couple of tenths off each lap. This was a very encouraging pace considering the circumstances, a shame not to be genuinely in the mix but I got a grandstand seat of the lead battle! I also managed to pick up a few places back from twentieth to sixteenth position. Even though I had dropped back, I drove every lap the best I could. It’s not over until it’s over!

Although race two was a disappointment, I am thoroughly proud of the weekend’s achievements. A massive step up in qualifying and our best race result so far. I have to thank everyone for the support, Nationwide and Motorbase for a great job preparing the car, but must apologise to Tim Harvey for costing him two cream cakes! I am so honoured to be a part of such a great team of people, and racing in such a great series. Brands Hatch could not come soon enough.

Kieran.

I am delighted to annouce that this weekend I shall be making my debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series. Winning the Scholarship was the best moment of my career so far, and not being able to take it up was one of the worst!, so I have to say a big thanks to Tim Harvey, Nationwide and Motorbase Performance for giving me this once in a lifetime oppurtunity to take the seat.

I have completed one day in the car working with the team and Tim at Snetterton, and I have to say it was one of the best days in my life, never have I felt so much excitment getting into a racing car, and working with Tim, an icon in British motorsport was fantastic. I could not be better off with the guidence of Tim and the team Motorbase.

This weekend then at Oulton Park is the first race in the car, I just want to make a good impresion to begin with, hopefully two good strong finishes, and then we can work from there, along with hopefully providing some exciting races for everyone watching too!

Aside of the Porsche Carrera Cup, I will still be competing in the Barc Formula Renault Championship, with Fortec Motorsport, where we had a great weekend, where I finished 2nd and 4th, with another Fortec 1 – 2 – 3, another great team effort.

Again, I would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who is supporting me, West Chiltington Golf Club, The Resident, Millers Oils, and of course new partners Nationwide and Tim Harvey.

KV

A late deal after being forced to drop the Porsche Scholarship was put in place for me to run in the Protyre BARC Formula Renault championship with Fortec Motorsport!

We have completed two rounds at Donington Park and Brands Hatch, and its been a great start to the season.

Donington, we managed to come away with a podium in race two! A fantastic result considering the late switch, and only one pre season test under our belt!

Brands, was also great, a first pole, and win with a new lap record set in race one was perfect, and for me unexpected, and I have to say, the field is mighty close! With 0.2 of as second covering the top 10 drivers!

Race two unfortunatley ended with a DNF as I entered Graham Hill bend, the throttle stuck open, causing me to drive straight into the wall. It was very disspapointing, as we would be looking very handy in the championship! Its not over, one drop score is available, so well have to take that then!

More exciting news to follow, tuesday I am testing something very interesting! Im very excited to get to drive it.

Next round is Oulton Park! Be sure to keep following!

Thanks! KV

The off season is always a time I find massively frustrating waiting to get back in the car. Off the back of winning the Porsche Scholarship, 2011 has kicked of brilliantly. I really enjoyed working with Porsche at the Autosport show in January, I met the fantastic team of people that I will be working with throughout the year in the Porsche Carrera Cup series. Setting the fastest time of the day on the simulator was also a please!

Recently, I visited a certain race team and I am now hugely motivated looking round the workshop and meeting the team and how they operate. The team in question will be annouced shortly so watch this space!!

Testing kicks off on the 14th of March for the initial shakedown, then it is off to Donington to put the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car through its paces… and lets not forget myself! Still with only 20 laps under my belt in the car there is a lot to learn before the first round on the 2nd and 3rd of April.

Off the subject, thoughts go out to Robert Kubica after his career threatening accident. My thoughts are with him. I personally disagree with the critism he is recieving. Racing drivers know the risks of motorsport, and its rare for something like this to occur in todays high standard of safety. However, id like to know what you all think?

In the mean time, find me on twitter, (kieranvernon) and watch this space for exciting announcments and testing updates from myself.

I hope to see you all at the first round at Brands Hatch!?

KV

Having contested the two day assessment at the Porsche Centre, I am massivley exctied to announce that I have been selected as one of the Scholars for the 2011 season in the Porsche Carrera Cup UK championship!

I am very proud to have been selected, and have a fantastic oppurtunity for next year. The prize of becoming a Porsche Scholar is ?50,000 towards the season budget, including a new race suit, helmet, support from porsche with fitness training and participation of some very exciting events with Porsche leading up to, and during the season.?I cant exactly put into words how much it means to me, and how honoured I am to be a part of the Porsche team, racing against proffesional racing drivers. Its going to be tough, but I am definatley up for the challenge and cannot wait to get started!

Before heading to Silverstone for the final rounds of the 2010 Formula Palmer Audi championship, I received some very exciting news from Porsche that I had been selected to contest as one of the final six in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scholarship for the 2011 season. Two winners would be selected from a two day assessment of driver skill, media coverage and fitness. But before this took place, it was time to decide the outcome of the Formula Palmer Audi championship.

Having had a gearbox failure on friday where the selector fork decided it was time to give up! Little testing milage was completed. Qualifying after two poles at brands hatch was a little dissapointing. 5th on the grid, however only two tenths of the pace of pole position. This was to be expected however after no running on the friday test.

With strong results of 5th, 4th and 4th in the first three races the final round was to decide between Jose Alonso Liste and I for 4th in the championship. All three races?I showed good pace, but everyone being so matched and so consistent it was very difficult to pass. Alonso was starting on pole position, I was starting 5th. Is was a mountain to climb!

However when the lights went out, I made a mega start to jump straight into 2nd position into turn one. The fight was on! I managed to hunt Alonso down, and pass him a few laps into the race. It was then a straight fight of fastest laps as we battled each other on lap time right till the final lap. The gap never went to more than half a second! It was a hard fought race to be part of, but very enjoyable and great to go out with a win in the final round of the championship!

4th place in the championship was great result, and testiment to a great year. 3 race wins and 6 podium finishes is fantastic, and to be the last race winner of a Formula Palmer Audi race is something that?I will cherish.

A huge thanks goes out to my partners and sponsors for putting us in the fight. Mary How Trust Cancer screening, Go Fast energy drink, Harwoods group, Millers Oils and the West Chiltington Golf club have been massive in terms of our success this year and great to work with.

Next up, the Porsche Scholarship! Check back soon!

Having got my first podium’s at Rockingham one month ago I have been feeling good about my chances of making the top 3 of the championship and the possibility of moving up a little higher in the races. Competition is fierce however, with so many good drivers in the championship.

In qualifying this was once again proved as the top four qualified within a tenth of a second!! I made 2nd position, 0.005 of pole! However the pole lap by Ramon Pineiro was deemed as unfair after cutting the track at graham hill, so had his time taken away. This left me with two pole starts in both races for the weekend!

Race one I made a great start and held the lead into turn one. Ramon from 3rd managed to take Melroy Heemskerk at druids, and then set about taking the lead off me. Ramon persued me hard through the first half of the race, as we traded fastest laps, pulling well clear from Melroy in 3rd. I then found my groove where I managed to break the lap record on two consecutive laps, and managed to pull clear of ramon, eventually pulling out a 4 second lead by the end of the race, and crossing the line to take my first win since the Ginetta G20 days in 2008! It was such a great feeling, and one I will never forget, the biggest achievment to date to win in such a quality field of drivers!

Race two was much easier, the first win monkey off my back, I once again made a good start but by lap three I was already pulling away and by half distance had a 3 second lead.?I backed off for the last half using the boosts to keep the lap time up, and came home with my second win and a full house of two poles, two wins, two fastest laps and the lap record! I could not have wished for more!

The championship has now closed dramatically as there is now only 15 points between myself and 2nd place in the championship! so it is all to play for a for sure?I will be going for it once again at Croft in two weeks time!

A big thanks to all our partners for making this happen:

Mary How Trust, Harwoods Group, Go Fast Energy and Millers oils, please check them out, and be sure to watch the latest showing of Formula Palmer Audi on Motors TV in the next few weeks!

Thanks for reading,

KV

The previous round at Oulton Park was very good in terms of improving my results, and in the championship. The top three of the championship within reach, to be a realistic target to aim for.

Testing went very well on friday, where I managed 3rd fastest in both sessions. I was confident that I could qualify high up, and on Saturday, I managed a time only 0.2 off the pole time. However with the field so close, this put my 5th! However I was very confident of being able to make progress and at least attack to move forward up the field.

Race one, I finished the first lap in 4th as I took Vincent Beltoise into the Tarzan hairpin. Nigel Moore in the lead looked strong, and as myself and Thiemo Storz battles Alonso – Liste the polesitter for 2nd and 3rd position, Moore managed to pull away. Around lap 5 Storz and myself reeled in Alonso for a move. Storz made his move out of the banking and into turn 2, he went wide taking Alonso with him, which allowed me to just sqeeze through on the inside! It was very close, but it stuck. This now saw me in 3rd position and on for the podium! The race was not over yet however, as my pace against Storz was very good, and we managed to close in Moore slightly. Storz however used a few of his boosts to pull away. I managed to reel back in the gap to within a second once again, with three boosts in hand to use at the end of the race. It was all looking promising to attack, however I was not aware that the?races this weekend were only 20?minutes unlike the usual 30 minutes! This due to me not reading my?timetable very well,?and?I?was quite suprised to see the flag come out! However,?it was our first podium of the year in FPA, a brilliant race and a fantastic feeling to be up on the podium again!

Race two was a very simular race to race one. I managed to take?Storz off the line this time, and ran most of the race in the lead four before the safety car came out. Once?it pulled in,?The?order was Alonso, Moore, Beltoise and myself, pulling away at the head of the field. We all ran in a train, however?I?got a good exit out of the last corner onto the banking, and with being very late on the breaks made an almost suprise move on Beltoise into turn two! I didnt actually plan the move, but?I caught ?him at such a speed on the brakes it was more of a lunge! I took down the cone, however the move was done. I put in a quick lap and managed to pull away from Vincent, however the move had cost us a lot of time, and the gap to Moore and Alonso was around 3 seconds. I managed to hold on, there abouts if the top two were to come together, however?I could not make any time up on the leaders. However another 3rd place, on the podium once again was a great result to finish the weekend! The string of consistent results has put us up to 5th in the championship now, and 3rd is very much in reach, who knows!

I would like to thank everyone again, for all the support, and everyone who is helping me get this far.

To top of this post of good news, I am a nominee for the Mclaren BRDC Autosport Award! I feel great just to be nominated. I have tough competition but I can only hope and ask for all your support to vote to get me into the final.

Rockingham coverage is on Motors TV as of writing this post, so please do tune in!

Next meeting is Brands Hatch, September 25th.

KV

After two rounds of Palmer Audi under my belt, a new learning curve was definitely in progress! The difference with the Palmer Audi car against Formula Fords that I have been driving for the past year is the turbo charged engine! Something that I still need to get used to close that small gap to run up at the front. It is however very close, I currently lie 7th in the standings, however only 25 points separates me and 2nd place! A hard shunt out at Snetterton hindered my progress in the table, where the rear suspension gave up, leaving me with little hope of stopping into turn one.

Two top 6 finishes at Brands, and a top 5 in the spare car in the last race at Snetterton though is showing promise, and after a podium finish at Oulton in Formula Ford at the start of the year, I fancied my chances of good top 5 results.

Qualifying went well with setting the fastest time early stages, however yellow flags around the circuit made it difficult to improve without getting penalised. I improved my time slightly after a check on the tyres, however we were bumped down to 6th for both races.

Race one was very tough with the pace so even. I ran most of the race in 5th as i tried to close in on Alonso-Liste in 4th. The penultimate lap saw me make my move, using my last boost to out drag Jose down the straight into Island bend. I managed to reel in Vincent Beltoise very quickly and tried to influence a mistake but Vincent held his ground well. 4th place in the end was a very good result!

We sat in the holding area shortly before race two wondering what tyres to run! With light but constant? showers covering the Oulton Park circuit, it was a last minute call from all drivers to run wets. This was the first wet race I had done in this car, the turbo proving to be?tricky to master as it kicked in, lots of sideways action would have been good to watch! My start was not brilliant with a bit too much wheel spin, as i dropped to 7th. However?I managed to re-pass Melroy Heemskerk and Vincent Beltiose by the end of lap 2.?later in the race Nigel Moore made a mistake forcing him to retire promoting us into 4th again.?By the?end stages of the race?I was 2nd fastest on track, but there was not enough time to catch?Alonso-Liste in front.

Two 4th place finishes at Oulton?Park was a solid weekend. Progress is being made and the support from Go Fast energy drink and?Mary How Trust has been brilliant. The next race is Rockingham at the end of august, be sure to be there. Tv coverage for Oulton Park will be shown on?Motors TV starting this Thursday (5th August) with the onboard camera on our machine!

Many thanks everyone for reading, please subscribe?to this blog and dont forget?to check?my profile?page!

KV