ROUNDS 13 & 14 | SILVERSTONE NATIONAL
August 18th 2024
Silverstone is the home of UK Motorsport and we returned to the National Circuit after a few years away. It was like coming home - one of my favourite venues and a really fun place to be and race.
So much history, I remember my first visit as a child with my mum back in 1978 and have been coming back ever since, as a spectator and a driver - so a lot of great memories. I got my first podium at Silverstone and had my biggest crash to date.
But less about the past and more about the TCR weekend! We arrived Friday morning for testing in our Opel Astra and started to make some good progress. Jamie Goring (#jamsport) was coaching me and my times were improving, lines were getting better and we were making positive progress.
That was until the last session of the day, when the Astra decided it wasn't hot enough and start to add additional heat to proceedings. After a stop in the pits the team advised that the over heating issues were sadly not a quick fix. So we were left with two choices - pack up and go home or move to plan B and bring out our secret weapon!
We had purchased a new car that we were planning to use in 2025, but under the circumstances we had little option but make the 8 hour round trip back to base and collect our un tested and prepared Audi A3 LMS.
After a lot of time and effort from the Team, we woke Saturday morning to a beautiful sunny day and a fully ready and prepared car. Lacking the usual Matrix colour scheme - but still looking mean and fast - we were ready to go!
Qualifying went well having looked like we would be P2 with a few mins to go, we got bumped back to P3 on the gen1 grid, but still not too bad for our first outing in the Audi. Clocking a 59.6 time around the national circuit, missing out on P1 by 4 hundredths of a second.
Race 1
Race one was going well, after a slow get away we made up ground and were in p3 and challenging for p2 at the half way point. One failed pass at Luffield and we were on the tail of Will Beach and looking fast, in fact we were the fastest Gen 1 car on track. But then it all went wrong, a bit wide and pick on the rear tyres out of Woodcoat, we entered Copse within striking distance of p2 only to lose the rear at over 100mph and have a glancing blow on the Armco. Race done with the car needing a few repairs and an acceptance that my limited talent had run out!
Race 2
Race two was a better effort after a late night for the team repairing the car (#dwracing) it looked as good as new and we delivered a P2 finish fighting hard with Rick Kerry. A fair result for both me and the team. We made a good start from the back of the grid, due to our error in race 1. A safety car period and acted flag did not stop our progress.
Race 3
Race three promised so much, we were getting faster and more used to the new Audi, which was performing really well. However after getting to the grid and the lights going out, the car faltered and the ow fuel pressure light flashed red in front of me! We made it back to the pits and the team tried to solve the problem, but by now we were 3 laps down and our day was done.
So a weekend of highs and lows, but we look forward to our next event at the end of September. The high speed Thruxton circuit In Hampshire.
Ends
