Kieran Vernon's blog

Qualifying
Fridays test went very well in free practice two, a good run on new tyres we ended up 5th fastest overall. Very promising pace was evident in the car, and the Nationwide Motorbase car felt great leading up to qualifying on Saturday.
Qualifying itself was very tricky to get right, it was important to look after the tyres in order to avoid a puncture or damage that could later lead to a puncture in the race, so it was a trade of between outright speed on the first few flying laps and looking after the tyres. We improved by 3 tenths of a second from Fridays lap time, which was great however once again the incredibly close nature of this years championship meant we sat 8th for both races! Again another tenth or so would have put us in the top 5, frustrating, but that’s racing!
Race 1
I didn’t make the best of starts in race one, something I am keen to get right as soon as possible! However losing the place only made my race a little more interesting, charging through the pack from 9th position. A firm nudge from Benji Heatherington put coolant down on the circuit as he retired with a burst radiator, which made things very interesting when we all came round on lap 2! It all kicked off as the pack entered Surtees, I should have known better having received the hit that forced the coolant on the circuit! However, in the heat of battle, I went wide, but didn’t lose a position… luckily! I had really good pace in the car, and I quickly caught back up to Richard Plant in front. Another moment for cars in front on the coolant into Surtees later in the race saw a huge fight for position, one I really wanted to take advantage of. I out dragged Jonas Gelzinis down the back straight towards Hawthorns and then found myself in a position to take Sam Tordoff at the same time, I took the chance and it stuck, Hawthorns bend is incredibly fast and not usually somewhere I would choose to overtake! Up to 7th now chasing Richard Plant and championship contender Michael Meadows closely, Euan Hankey made a mistake into Druids to retire being stuck in the gravel, another place gained! I pressured Plant for the whole race before he went wide at Paddock Hill which punctured his tyre, all good for me as I moved up into 5th place. On the final lap I was catching to the back of Meadows, taking the chequered flag right on his tail! 5th place, best result so far, and charging through from 9th was really enjoyable, not only for me but hopefully for everybody watching.
Race 2
Although I did lose a place again at the start! It wasn’t that bad! Much better launch off the line, but I got a bit excited I think and just released the clutch a bit early, but definitely getting the idea! Everyone filed through the first lap without too many incidents, no coolant to worry about this time! A huge battle was going on in front with Euan Hankey, Michael Meadows and Jonas Gelzinis, this bunched up the field and allowed me to switch back Benji on the way out of Stirling up towards sheen. The move done I was now back where I started! A retirement by fellow Motorbase team mate Nick Tandy with a puncture put us up to 7th, and we were charging hard with great pace in the Nationwide Motorbase car, really putting 2007 champion and title contender James Sutton under pressure. We both had a good dice, although annoyingly James was very good at fending off my attacks, we both then took advantage of a mistake from Gelzinis, driving round the outside of clearways mid way through the race! Running in 6th position now, both James and I caught the back of Sam Tordoff and both pressured him very hard, however the order remained the same, it all got very close on the final lap when traffic mixed it up a bit, it caught me slightly at the wrong time but round the last half the lap I was on Suttons case! Coming across the line in 6th place again another great result to be mixing it up with title contenders and past champions in only my 5th race meeting in the series.
Again I would like to thanks everybody who is involved for me to be driving in the car, I thoroughly hope everybody enjoyed the races as much as I did, and the great weather! It was incredibly hot inside the car, could maybe use an air freshener in there now! I’m very proud to be driving for such a great team of people at Motorbase performance and Nationwide and of course Tim Harvey for his huge efforts for me. Many thanks for all the support once again and I look forward to seeing you all at Silverstone in two weeks time.
Kieran