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24-11-07 : Annual Awards Dinner Dance


Effingham Park Hotel, nr Gatwick, was the venue for the 2007 annual Caterham Awards Dinner Dance (aka bun fest).

Chaired by Andy Noble, Caterham's Sales & Marketing Director, an excellent turn out saw awards presented to all the 1st, 2nd & 3rd places in the major Caterham Championships, from the Academy Group winners, through Roadsports B, Roadsports A, Superlight, Eurocup and the CSR Masters series.

Some fantastic video footage was provided during the awards ceremony by HayFisher Productions who had filmed at some of the major events including the Caterham 50th anniversary festival meeting at Donington in June and the overall Championship finale meeting at Brands Hatch in October. A superb montage of "incidents" was also put together by them and shown at the end of the formal ceremony to huge critical acclaim.

The evening finished between "midnight and 5.00 a.m.", depending on who one talks to (!) but was hailed a great success by all attending.

Pictured are 2007 Roadsports B Championship 2nd placed man, Gareth Thomas, "resting between engagements", ably assisted by other 2007 Roadsports B drivers, Mark Bowles (seen taking care of Gareth's cup), Richard Jennings & Simon Naylor.


24-11-07 : Annual Karting Challenge


Some 36 racing drivers gathered on a rather dull Saturday afternoon to field a total of 9 teams in the annual Caterham Inter Championship Karting Challenge, an event which is now traditionally staged in the afternoon ahead of the annual Caterham awards dinner.

Teams from all the major Caterham Championships were well represented from Academy, through Roadsports B and Roadsports A, the various Graduate series and Eurocup, as well as a Caterham "Allstars" team of all the talents.

Roadsports B was represented by the very able bodies of Steve Mansell, Richard Boughton, Andy Thomas and a "guest appearance" from Peter Young who drove in the Academy Championship last year, this year stepping up to Roadsports A.

The race was an endurance race of 90 minutes giving each of the 4 drivers roughly 20 mins in the kart.

There were no surprises at the front with the overall win going once again to the Allstars team. Jeremy Ellis, winning the 2007 Roadsports A Championship, headed Team Plaza Racing who took 2nd place and the relatively inexperienced racing drivers making up the Academy 2007 team came in an excellent 3rd.


20-10-07 : 2007 Roadsports B Championship decided


Original photograph by Daniel Overton Photography 2007.
Going into the last two races, the season long Championship leader, Gareth Thomas, was some three points ahead of Andy Thomas. The only other driver who could still win the Championship, mathematically at least, was Chris Legg but that would require Chris to win both of the last two races with Gareth not scoring any points at all. Unrealistic but nevertheless, possible.

Gareth qualified on pole for the penultimate race of the Roadsports B Championship and Andy left himself everything to do, being on the third row. But in the race, both cars actually tangled at Druids with Andy taking the race lead and eventual win, Gareth recovering to finish 6th. The incident meant both drivers were called before the Clerk of the Course after the race, but no action was taken and no blame apportioned to either. So a three point pre Brands advantage in Gareth's favour, was turned into a two point deficit for the last race and Championship decider. Everything to play for and a very exciting finish to the season beckoned !

So Andy would line up on pole in the final race and only needed to finish anywhere ahead of Gareth, himself starting on the 3rd row, to take the 2007 Championship. But nothing was going to be that easy !

On the very first lap of the last race, Andy tangled with Simon Naylor at the Druids hairpin knocking him down the field. The odds had suddenly swung back in Gareth's favour. Andy worked his socks off to climb back through the field and then, with Andy in 6th position, Gareth pushing very hard, span going into Clearways, effectively throwing away the Championship ! Presumably nerves had finally taken their toll in what must have been a roller coaster of emotions race. Andy swept past surely briefing a massive sigh of relief when he saw Gareth in the middle of the track facing the wrong way, to once again take up the Championship lead.

Gareth was not to get in front of Andy again and so, in what must have been one of the most thrilling Championship finals for years, Andy Thomas became 2007 Caterham Roadsports B Champion, with a final points score of 214 to Gareth's 210.

Sincere congratulations to Andy and of course commiserations to Gareth. A great Championship and one which I was delighted to participate in.


20-10-07 : Maiden Race Win

winner!

Starting on the very back row of the grid, in 18th place, due to being pushed off the track in the race the day before, at just the 2nd corner, I came through with car and driver firing on all cylinders to take a maiden win, in the very last race of the 2007 Caterham Roadsports B Championship.

12-09-07 : TRACK DAY : Oulton Park

Given my inability to attend the formal test day at Oulton prior to racing there on the 22nd of this month, I decided to at least try and get a little track time in the Caterham by attending a track day at Oulton organised by the excellent Bookatrack.

The weather couldn't have been better and the attendance was good but still allowed for plenty of track time. Fortunately there were very few stoppages through "incidents" as well.

I travelled up with half a dozen friends who took an eclectic mix of cars including a Mitsubishi Evo, a Porsche GT4, a Porsche C4S and a Porsche 968. There were also about half a dozen of my fellow Roadsports B racers there and towards the end of the day, a few of us went out and did quite a few laps in close formation. I brought my session to a close after going wide at the chicane and riding heavily over the kerbing.

The tyres took a fair beating in the heat but I couldn't fault the car's apparent relative performance.


12-09-07 : TRACK DAY : Palmersport, Bedford Autodrome

winner!

The Palmersport 2007 experience gives drivers the opportunity to drive six high performance cars on four different tracks, not in a racing environment as such but each run being set "against the clock" so that there is a winner on each event as well as an overall winner.

I was lucky enough to be invited to attend one of the days by a business connection. Leaving home at 6.00 am to arrive at the purpose built Bedford Autodrome for 8.00 am., I was delighted to see that the day was going to be great, weather wise.

98 of us were going to compete against each other for a selection of prizes. The scoring system is that everyone does a number of timed runs round a particular dedicated circuit within the Autodrome complex, in each high performance car. The fastest timed run from each driver then counts. With 98 competitors, the fastest in each car would score 98 points, 2nd fastest 97 and so on, all the way down to 1 point for the slowest placed person in a particular car. With the exception of the single seater race car, the winner in each car is simply he/she who scores the fastest laptime. The overall winner on the day is he/she who scores the highest overall points throughout the day. The winner of the single seater event, is he/she who drives a lap with the closest telemetry (comparisons of wheel speed, engine speed, throttle settings and gear shift) to that of ex F1 driver Justin Wilson.

During a video briefing by ITV F1 commentator, Martin Brundle, we learned we were to drive the magnificent brand new 420 bhp Jaguar XKR but prepared for the track with Bilstein racing suspension and an aerodynamics bodykit, with 6 speed sequential paddle gearshift, a Caterham 7 Superlight (286 bhp per tonne), the stunning Jaguar JP1 Le Mans prototype "lookalike" using a race tuned V6 Jaguar Cosworth engine and producing 370 bhp per tonne (0-60 3.6 secs, 0-100 6.9 secs), the surprisingly rapid Renault Clio Cup racer (stripped out car, 6 speed sequential box, 198 bhp per tonne), the Porsche 911 JP3 producing 320 bhp and finally, the Formula Palmer Audi single seater race car producing 400 bhp per tonne, with data telemetry available for post run analysis.

"Filler" events during the day, included karting and an off road course in a Land Rover Defender.

Come prize giving at the end of the day, I was delighted to learn I had scored the maximum 98 points and therefore secured 1st PLACE, in the Porsche 911 JP3, with a fastest lap of 58.25 secs.

I also secured 1st PLACE in the Jaguar JP1, with a fastest lap of 76.58 secs.

I also secured 1st PLACE in the Jaguar XKR, with a fastest lap of 71.4 secs.

I scored 2nd place in the Caterham Superlight, with a lap time of 49.34 secs, missing 1st place by just 9/100ths of a second !

However, I struggled with the front wheel drive Renault Clio though, only achieving 22nd place out of 98, with a fastest lap of 59.6 secs.

Perhaps most importantly though, I was delighted to win the overall DRIVER OF THE DAY award, presented by Charlie Butler-Henderson (brother of Vicky and himself a great ex sports car racer).

A terrific day, extremely well organised by ex F1 driver Jonathan Palmer and his team and undoubtedly a must for any adrenalin addicted, "motorsport junkie".

08-06-07 : TRACK DAY : Circuit Chateau Mornay (France)

The final day of this trip took us back to the privately owned Chateau Mornay circuit where we had enjoyed an excellent day last summer.

The circuit was developed in the grounds of the Chateau by Pierre Petit just a few years ago primarily to run a race school and run corporate events. The set up and facilities are excellent, the track offering a selection of fast sweeping corners, tight twists, hairpins etc. Lunch in the chateau was undoubtedly the best of the week.

One of our group had a very lucky escape, spinning coming out of the fastest corner on the circuit and missing the Armco by a paper's width. As I had come by on a lap or two before and seen the tyre marks heading towards the Armco I remember thinking that was probably going to be expensive.

The weather was the best of the week and the TVR was happy to just keep going and going. Again I probably put in 100 or so laps without incident, apart from the obvious of the tyres going off every now and again.


07-06-07 : TRACK DAY : Circuit Val du Vienne (France)

The day before had seen a six or so hour drive up with all the cars through France, from our base at Pau, again through appalling weather conditions.

Arriving at the circuit for the first time, mid-morning, it was apparent from the circuit inftra-structure that this was one of France's major racing circuits.

Getting to know the circuit took quite a few laps but I have to say I loved it, it being perfectly suited to the TVR. The car was indeed flying although the tyres were going off quickly. In total I probably managed 100 laps or so.

Undoubtedly one of my favourite French circuits and will certainly be re-visited.


05-06-07 : TRACK DAY : Nogaro (South west France)

About an hour or so from our base, a beautiful Chateau just outside Pau belonging to a cousin of one of our group, the circuit of Nogaro, used more for bike racing than cars, was clearly going to be a challenge with its very tight twisty curves.

At least the weather was significantly better than the day before.

Personally I didn't particularly like the circuit and the same was said by my friends there. The very tight corners were "tyre eaters" and the TVR's style was far more suited to the fast sweeping corners of Pau than the twists and turns of Nogaro.

Down the back straight the TVR just hit 135 mph before braking hard for the hairpin. However a significant "wobble" became noticeable at 80 mph plus. As the car was braking well in a straight line and there was no indication of the wobble before 80 mph, I put it down to a wheel balance issue and indeed, when we managed to find a race team on site to balance the wheels, they did need adjustment.

Apart from that, no incidents to report and I was particularly pleased with the TVR's braking performance on the current set up.


04-06-07 : TRACK DAY : Pau Arnos (South west France)

Due to my racing commitments over the weekend at Donington in the Caterham Jubilee event, the TVR road car had been transported down to the South west corner of France for a track day at the pretty little circuit of Pau Arnos. This followed a weekend of racing round the streets of Pau for 3 rounds of the World Touring Car Championship.

Having packed the Caterham away late on the Sunday evening, following a great couple of days racing and spectacularly good weather at Donington in Derbyshire, I grabbed a couple of hours sleep before getting up at 2.00 a.m. (!) to catch the 6.15 a.m. flight from Stansted to Pau. Upon arrival at Pau, I was greeted by the most appalling weather conditions. Quite a difference to the previous two days in sunny Derbyshire !

Upon arrival at the circuit, we were told that the track was "very very slippy". Well there's a surprise. Indeed conditions were so bad that one of our group had crashed his track day car, before he arrived at the circuit !

Anyway, as familiarisation with the circuit grew, speeds built up. The TVR has no electronic "wizardry" to assist in such conditions, no traction control, no 4 wheel drive etc etc, just the raw basics. The track was indeed a handful, but the TVR coped very well with just one little incident, where car and tyre barrier became "as one". No significant damage, just cosmetic. The appalling conditions meant that many decided not to venture out in their "pride & joy" and I therefore had plenty of space to stretch the TVR's legs.

A very technical circuit and one I'd certainly like to re-visit, preferably in better conditions.


01-06-07 : TRACK DAY : Donington Park

Arranged by Caterham themselves, as an opportunity for drivers racing in the Jubilee weekend event to familiarise themselves with track and their cars in a track day, rather than a test day environment (i.e. restrictions on overtaking and generally a more "disciplined" approach).

The day was successful albeit very busy with access to the track limited to 20 minute sessions in the hour. Weather was excellent and a taste of what was to come for the weekend itself.

The car performed well with no incidents.


24-05-07 : TRACK EVENING : Donington Park

A dry if slightly chilly May evening and the first opportunity to try out the car following the minor repairs needed after the earlier "gravel excursion" at Silverstone, a month or so before.

It was obvious the evening was going to be a very busy one out on track by the number of cars in the paddock and sure enough, despite the usual very good prior briefing and advice to drivers to keep a look out in their rear view mirror to allow faster cars to get by, there were the usual processions, with fast but poorly driven cars holding up long lines of lighter, faster, more nimble cars behind.

When the track did thin out a bit and there was the opportunity to put in one or two decent flying laps, the Caterham performed faultlessly in all areas.


21-5-07 : CROIX EN TERNOIS - Event cancelled

Unfortunately due to the inability to get a viable sized grid, the Caterham race planned for inclusion in the weekend's racing at Croix en Ternois on 28th and 29th July 2007, has been cancelled. The three races previously planned had been deemed non Championship and therefore non points scoring. Some may have taken the view that if they were not scoring points towards the Championship, they didn't want to risk their cars and incur the expense of the trip to Northern France.


15-4-07 : "Life's a beach": Silverstone


Original photograph by Daniel Overton Photography 2007.
I thought I should take time out of Sunday's hectic racing schedule to relax on Silverstone's famous "Brooklands Beach" - just to chill out and admire the distant views of the Northamptonshire coastline you understand !


1-4-07 : TEST DAY: Snetterton (engine blows)



I picked the car up from Caterham, having had the last of the modifications done to make the car ready & legal for the start of the Roadsports "B" Championship, starting on Sunday. I applied the necessary sponsors' logos we'd all just received and then made my way over to Norfolk for pre-race afternoon testing. "Half a day's" testing paid for, in reality means, in MSV terms, just 2x 25 minute slots. However, commitments before I left for Snetterton meant I arrived after the first slot, so I had just 25 minutes to settle the car in and get to know the circuit a little better.

The weather was fine although showers were expected. I therefore decided to run with a brand new set of tyres to scrub them in.

Straight "out of the box" the car felt sluggish, very rough and definitely under powered. I was hugely disappointed to say the least. My old Academy engine had felt much, much more sprightly than this. After a couple of running in warm up laps, a 1min 26 sec lap was the best I could muster (against a realistic target of 1min 24) before, some 4 or 5 laps in, something in the engine "let go". Expletive, expletive, expletive.

Back in the paddock, I managed to contact Caterham in time to let them know what had happened and they kindly agreed to bring up a replacement engine for fitting the next day, ready for racing on Sunday. My thanks to Brett from Caterham for his help and also to Gerald from Virtual 7 Racing for all his advices.

However I now faced the prospect of racing with hardly any testing under my belt and in a car with a totally untried, borrowed engine. Perhaps not the best way to prepare for a new Championship but that's motor racing for you.


27-2-07 : TRACK DAY: Donington Park



The first proper wet weather test of the CR500 tyres on the Caterham.

Conditions were appalling, ranging from very wet to "having a bath". The tyres performed well, offering a confident level of grip throughout the conditions.

Unfortunately, a very high number of red flag stoppages were necessary, caused mainly by the dreadful conditions catching out the unwary & inexperienced. Nothing too serious though - mostly dented pride.

Memo to self : Acquire some waterproofs for testing/track days !

Only 1 other Roadsports B driver in attendance.


18-2-07 : TRACK DAY: Snetterton

The first opportunity to try out the new tyres on the Caterham race car as well as assess the circuit which sees the start of Caterham Roadsports racing, on April 1st 2007.

Conditions were generally dry but very cold, with just a small amount of light drizzle for 20 mins or so during the afternoon. A very well organised day, good briefings etc, but unfortunately ignored by certain drivers who persisted on slowing up much faster cars through the corners, but then typically "flooring it" down the straights only to be caught by the faster cars at the next corner & holding them up again etc. Lack of awareness or simply bad manners & ignorance ? Given the fact that the morning briefings made specific reference to this annoying track day habit, which was then subsequently ignored by some of the drivers, one would suggest the latter two.

The tyres offered excellent grip and therefore high levels of confidence, even when the drizzle came. As a track day, unable to time so cannot say exactly how many seconds a lap quicker but would estimate at least a couple.

4 other Roadsports B drivers in attendance.