It was an early start to proceedings on Friday morning as I drove down to the Rockingham circuit from university to meet the TH Motorsport team. Setting up in the sunshine of Northants was a vast improvement from the lashing rain at Thruxton a fortnight ago. The car looked great as it was rolled off the truck; my team had been working very hard over the previous two weeks to strengthen the front of the car as well as giving it a fresh coat of paint and some new body panels.

All of this hard work to strengthen the car was certainly put to the test 6 laps into Saturdays free practice one, when I made a small error on the exit of one of the long left hand bends in the infield and was thrown off the kerbs, head on into the tyre wall. The 4th gear impact was by far the biggest accident I had encountered in a touring car and due to our limited budget I was gutted. Before stepping out of the car, I believed the weekend could be over. Coming from a single seater background I was expecting to see wheels hanging off the car. However, a combination of the work that had been put in over the previous weeks and the TH team working extremely hard after the crash, I was even able to make it out for the second half of free practice two.

Qualifying capped a troubled day for me and the team. Starting the session on old tyres to give myself 3 installation laps, allowed us to pick up on some set up issues that needed to be sorted. Unfortunately, those 3 laps would be all I could run in the session as a faulty starter motor prevented my car from restarting after being called to the weighbridge, and put an end to any more running. All my times were removed, and this resulted in a lowly grid position of 19th for race one of the day on Sunday. After an hour long debrief with my engineers, we had decided what the way forward would be and it was time to head back to the hotel for the night and relax before Sunday’s races.

Race day arrived with a tricky decision to make. The rain had been falling overnight and with the track drying, teams and drivers were left with a difficult tyre choice. We opted for wet tyres on the rear of the car and slicks on the front. The team and I thought this would be the correct tyre to start the race on. I had moved from 19th to 10th in just 3 laps, however, as the track continued to dry, my rear tyres began to overheat and I started to slip down the order to an eventual 15th.

The opening laps were great, I was able to carve through the field and put some good and enjoyable moves on other drivers. One driver was particularly unhappy with this and proceeded to squeeze me onto the grass on the fast run into turn one. Not wanting to be being a push over, I was not going to let my car run on the grass at the fastest part of the circuit, and stopped moving over at the edge of the race track. He, however, did not and tagged the side of my car, sending himself out of control in the braking zone and into the unfortunate James Nash who was already on the apex. This driver decided it was a good idea to ‘approach’ me in my garage after the race. Not a good idea really!

Race two was fairly uneventful for me; starting 15th this was my first real dry running of the weekend due to our unfortunate day prior to the races. I was able to make up one place by the end of the race bringing the car back in 14th.

We had made some small set up changes in race three to combat the tyre wear we were getting and the resulting under-steer. Starting from 14th I was able to make a stirring start and challenge the mid field on the opening lap. However, I was held up at the right hander of turn three due to contact with Dave Pinkney. Dave was placed on the inside of Alex McDowell and went to take his normal racing line into the corner, however I was on the inside of him as he moved over, and contact was made. The accident cost me my passenger mirror, something that later in the race went on to cost me a position to Rob Collard.
I know that Dave was unhappy with me, but the stewards accepted it was a racing incident, and I certainly feel that I did nothing wrong. However, I am very sorry for Dave, as I know that he sustained substantial damage, and that is no fun for anyone.

I am now beginning to get to grips with my Honda Civic, and because of this I am getting involved with the pack more frequently. I am a hard, but fair racer. If another driver beats me to a corner, then well done, I’ll settle in behind and try and re-pass. However, I am not a soft touch, and will not concede a part of the track that I have won, just because another driver thinks they can move over on me.
Race three was my strongest showing of the day and I was pleased with my improving pace, ending the day in 12th position.

I would finally like to say a huge thank you to my team for all of their efforts on the weekend. They had a fair bit to work on after the damage I picked up in Saturdays accident and from the collisions that occurred in Sunday’s races. I am very appreciative of what they did over the weekend and the weeks prior to it! They have even more hard work now to get the car ready for Brands Hatch this coming weekend.

Matt

Photo Credit: Pete Mainey (PSM Motorsport Images)