Heading into Brands a month ago, the team and I were all out to enjoy ourselves, thinking it would be our last outing this year. However, after a successful meeting, I was really pleased to be on the grid for Oulton (a track I love driving and have had good success at in the past), and so grateful to Ben and Lesta Foskett who got me there. I can’t thank them enough for giving me another chance to enjoy the BTCC! I also want to thank all of the fans that voted for me in the HiQ Champagne moment from Brands Hatch. It was such a surprise and a thrill to win this. It’s so nice to have my efforts recognised.

I had spent all of the week leading up to the race weekend jumping between jobs, starting at Oulton Park with TH Motorsport and their SportMaxx Ford Focus driven by Tim Saunders, to plumbing with my dad, and back to the TH workshop come Thursday in order to help put the finishing touches to the weekends preparations.

Friday was an early start, with the team meeting at Oulton just before 9; my family and I were up at 5.30 to begin the long journey. I was excited to get to the race track and start the weekend. As well as the racing, I was looking forward to seeing my sister, who I get on very well with, and hadn’t seen for over a month whilst she was away at university. She was driving straight to the track from Cardiff, and would meet us there! After a hot day setting up the garage we all headed back to our hotel to relax where my dad went on to give me a quick lesson in how to play pool!

Saturday was another hot day and I knew it would be hard work in the car due to the fact that we do not have a cooling system set up at moment other than winding down the window, something that would cost valuable time out on track. The idea of practice was to ensure I was happy with the car and have a quick reminder of the track in as few laps as possible so as to not wear out the engine, which was feared to be on its last legs. This was achieved and we were happy with the balance of the car and I felt that I had used the practice sessions well, working on a few tweaks to the rear dampers in order to lose a little grip at the back of the car.

I knew that with the heat of the track and the air, my qualifying time would have to be set early before the engine and brakes began to overheat. As a result I completed two three lap runs, and with 10 minutes to go parked the car as it was evident from feel, and from looking at the data, that the engine in the car had begun to run hot. This would not only cause a slight loss of power but also risk a blow-up, ending the entire weekend. After getting out of the car, I slipped one place in the dying seconds ending 16th of the 22 runners.

Race day began overcast and with a chance of rain in the air; I was getting excited. I had been hoping for the rain all weekend to repeat the Brands Hatch showing of a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it didn’t come to anything and all three races were dry.

Race one began well, but was ended rather quickly when a battle ahead of me bunched up in the chicane and I was tapped into a spin from behind in the backlog. It was a disappointing end to the race after just 3 laps but when racing closely in a chicane these things happen. It was just a racing incident and the car was not too badly damaged, so once the gravel was hoovered out of the car, and the dents knocked out, I was able to take the start of race two, albeit down in 21st position.

Race two was far more enjoyable, after narrowly avoiding an accident on the opening lap I was able to get racy for the first time in the weekend. The car was handling great, however, running closely with other cars, it soon became apparent that our engine was beginning to tire. The top end speed was still competitive and I was able to make a challenge towards the end of the long straight, however I was really struggling with pick up from all of the 2nd and 3rd gear corners leaving my car vulnerable to attack in the uphill sections of the race track. Despite this, and losing my rear bumper after a small tag during the race, I was able to finish the race in 12th position, just getting the better of old team mate John George into Old Hall corner on the last lap.

Starting from 12th position in race three we were all hopeful of points. We knew we did not have the fastest car and there was nothing we could do about the engine, so the plan was to stay out of trouble, hang onto the midfield pack and hopefully get a decent result. I was looking forward to mixing it from the start, but unfortunately disaster struck. With the pitlane open, I went to pull away, but my clutch would not disengage. The TH team worked wonders in a small space of time, including sprinting from the P12 grid spot to the end of the pitlane where my car was stopped. After the work was done I had to join the tail of the grid on their green flag lap and start from the last position. I soon began to make progress, including my favourite BTCC move in my short career, around the outside of Martin Johnson at the 4th gear Cascades corner! I also had a great battle with Lea Wood in the opening laps that involved a small amount of contact and put my rear tracking out from lap 3. My steering wheel was 20 degrees to the left, just to travel straight!

After I had adapted to the new steering arrangement, I settled down in 13th place and ran close behind Wood and Pinkney until the end. The exciting race was not over yet though, on the penultimate lap, I made a small error on the exit of the Knickerbrook chicane, caught the kerb very hard with the front left wheel and immediately felt the front left side of the car drop. With just a lap to go, I radioed to the team that I had made an error and picked up a puncture. Team boss Trevor, instantly replied, it was the last lap of the last race, drive it until it makes you stop which is exactly what I did. The dropped front end even straightened out my steering wheel! Thankfully I had built up a big enough gap to the BMW’s behind, and held onto 13th place.

After the race it soon became clear that I had not picked up a puncture, in fact, the front left suspension had collapsed. After seeing the damage, I was amazed I had made it to the end.
All in all it was a frustrating weekend that was hindered by engine trouble, however, I just had to get on with it and enjoy the races. That is exactly what I did and I really enjoyed the close racing all weekend. I took some knocks in the races but I think in the BTCC you need to expect the racing to be like this. At one point I felt like the entire grid was queuing up outside my garage to apologise to me. At least one driver after each race entered my garage to offer an apology. All of which were greatly appreciated but not really needed, all of the incidents I was involved in were just tough racing, and even if I didn’t always come off best, I truly enjoyed them and the race long battles.

Once again I would also like to thank the TH Motorsport team who did a great job all weekend. I feel bad for them that I was not able to repay their hard work with more points but I still really enjoyed myself and I hope that they all did too!

Finally, I was thrilled with the generosity of the Oulton Park fans who gave so freely when we were collecting for the Help For Heroes Charity at the Pit Lane Walkabout. It was also great to have Luke Pollard from Motorsport In print painting pictures of my car in the teams hospitality tent which would also be auctioned off for Help for Heroes. Altogether we raised nearly £400.

Photo Credit: Pete Mainey (www.psmmotorsportimages.co.uk)

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.