After a successful test on the 300 layout the week before (the first test day since the beginning of the season), I was hoping to have a good weekend and looking to close in on Tom Ingram’s championship lead. I didn’t, however, think I would be nearly leading the Championship coming out of the weekend!

First practice on the Friday was a very encouraging start. We were using old tyres and my pace confirmed what we thought from the test, that we’d gained some pace since the previous round due to some changes on the car that we had tried at the test. I came in after about four laps just to feed back to the team and then I would go out and try to set a faster lap time as I had now got back into the groove of the track. I managed to set a 2:00.235 on my last lap, which turned out to be my fastest of the session. As there was just enough time, the team and I decided to try a race run to see how the car would behave over that distance. I found the car to be very consistent and was happy with my overall pace. I ended third fastest just 0.2 off fastest, and had a gap of 1.3seconds back to the next person in class, so a very encouraging start.

Session 2 the team and I decided to not do that many laps – do a few on old tyres and then a qualifying simulation for the last few laps. I therefore set out to try and set a competitive time on the old tyres. When I came back in I had done the fastest time of the people on older tyres (as far as we could tell), so it was looking good to do the new tyre run. I came in, the tyres were fitted, and away I went. Immediately, on my first flying lap, I went fastest by a couple of tenths on a 1:59.2 lap, the fastest of the weekend so far. I could feel there was more time to come as that lap wasn’t perfect, so I believed a high 1:58 lap was possible. I was then faster through the first couple of corners, not by much, but slightly, on the next lap, when the red flag came out, ending the session early. Therefore it was an encouraging lap and good information to take into the qualifying session, but it wasn’t perfect as I wasn’t able to get the full run in. I still managed to finish the session fastest, however.

For the qualifying session we decided to not go out immediately and waste the tyres, so waited in the pits for a bit to see what lap time I had to aim for. This plan was nearly undone when there were a few spots of rain but luckily it subsided – I went out with about 12minutes to go and spent the out lap warming everything up. Once again, I set the time on the first flying lap which was, at that moment and for most of the session, 0.6seconds up on everyone else, which I was very happy about! I tried to do one more flying lap after that but got blocked towards the end of the lap, the time being 0.2 off my previous lap. I parked the car after that as there was no point pounding round when I had a gap to the rest and I wanted to save my tyres . The gap shrunk to 0.2seconds by the end, but it made no difference as I was still on pole. On my lap back to the pits, I changed down to second once and there was an awful crunching noise, and it sounded like stones were dropping out for a couple of corners afterwards. I went through the gears again and everything seemed ok though, so we decided to just check the oil – which turned out to be fine.

In race 1 I managed to get a good start and kept the lead for a few laps before Jake Hill came by into the Esses with very minor contact. Rather than fight too hard, I just thought about championship points as my rival Tom Ingram was quite far down the field, and as there was a bit of a gap to third place, I conserved the tyres and the car and brought it home. There was a slight scare, however, in the middle of the race as a strange noise came from the gearbox through the left-hander at Palmer. There was nothing after that, but after the qualifying issue as well, there was a bit of concern. Once again the problem didn’t come back though. Also, after Jake went past, the car didn’t feel quite right, and when I came back into the pits the team found there was 6mm of toe out on the right front wheel (where contact was made when Jake came past). We also discovered a cut tyre which meant that we would have to use one of the older designated tyres for the rest of the weekend.

For the second race, which was also on Saturday, I started second on the grid. I got a good start and maintained second place in class. However, at the Montreal hairpin on the first lap there was a spun car and everyone had to slow down. The person behind me didn’t slow down enough and whacked the left rear of the car. Furthermore, gong into the corner into the back straight, I felt a tap from behind, which sent my car into a slide. I was therefore on the marbles and heading towards the foam barrier placed on the outside of the kerb due to it breaking up. Therefore a bit of left had down was required (!) to keep out of that. This sent me on a bit of a bucking bronco ride across the grass and to the back of the field. Therefore I had 11 laps to come back through the field! After a few laps I was back into a podium position and chasing down Louise Richardson. I caught her up quickly, but her defending meant I couldn’t get past for a few laps. Going into the middle hairpin Louise defended so I decided to try to cut back on the exit. This worked, and I got my nose inside on the run up to Hamilton. She came across and put me slightly on the grass, but I got the position, and as I was on the racing line and she spun on the marbles. This then released me into second place, but the leader was too far in front. By this time the car’s grip had gone, especially at the rear, so rather than ruin the tyres for race 3, I backed it off and brought the car home once again for good points.

During the race there was a problem with 5th gear – it was much noisier than the other gears – so I had to short-shift so I didn’t use it very much in case it failed, which in a sequential gearbox especially wouldn’t have been good at all! When we got back to the awning it was found that my suspicions were true, and along with the other problems we were having with it, it was decided that the gearbox would be changed for the Sunday race.

There was a long wait for our only outing on Sunday (1:45) but when the time came, I was more than ready and I knew that there was a real chance that I could get into the championship lead coming out of the race. I got a good start, and there was an incident at the first corner, which delayed the G50 polesitter. This meant I got past and I tried to build a gap. This worked initially, and the second place driver was preoccupied with G55s, but after a few laps the rear tyres really started to go away, getting worse every lap, meaning he closed back in again. There was also a bit of understeer, but that remained about constant through the race so although not ideal, I could adapt to it. Once he got past I really had no reply as the whole car was moving round a lot, so I let through the following G55s and settled into a rhythm, securing yet another second place.

That second place finish means I am now just 1 point off the championship lead! What a fantastic weekend, and I am hoping that I can continue the momentum when we go to the next rounds of the championship North of the border at Knockhill in about a month’s time – my birthday weekend!

See you at Knockhill,

Jody #27

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.