Thruxton is the fastest track in the UK where we would average 94mph over the 2.3 mile circuit. In a Caterham we only have to brake twice the rest of the time we are trying to slipstream each other to get the all important slingshot effect. All leading to a exciting scrap every lap into the last chicane where ‘3 places forward 2 places back’ was a common outcome.
Summary
After the accident at Castle Combe I wasn’t sure if I would have a car to race. Caterham Crawley did an outstanding job to rebuilt the car and I was just happy to be racing. As an added bonus Totally Dynamics in Redhill managed to fit in a last minute car wrap so it was almost like I never had an accident.. apart from the hole in my wallet!
- Quali – 8th place. Had some bad luck with traffic and failed to get a clean fast lap.
- Race 1 – 4th place. Great race and led for a while. Lost out in the last chicane.
- Race 2 – 4th place. Another great race and managed to hold onto 4th.
Congratulations to the podiums in both races.
Race 1 = James McCall (P1), Graham Macdonald (P2), James Murphy (P3).
Race 2 = James McCall (P1), James Murphy (P2), Dan French (P3)
It was great to see James McCall do the double and pick up two wins.
Race 1 video in 4K 360
In car https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm1Ll-cIvmk
Race 2 video in 4K 360
In car https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO625T6b4cs
Testing
I will admit my testing plan went out of the window after the crash at Castle Combe. It was only because of an awesome job by Caterham Cars who rebuild my car just in time for me to collect on the way to Thruxton I was able to race at all. Luckily Thruxton is a very simple track to learn and having done a track day there in April I was reasonably sure I would be somewhere near the front as usual.
As my car was getting rebuilt and I have a better idea of car dynamics I decided to take a gamble and have my car setup differently than before. To be honest I prefer the way it was and it took me a while to get close to the speed I was before with the old setup.
Quali
It was always going to be a mixed up quali at Thruxton due to the massive tow effect and lack of braking zones. 2nd and 10th would end up split by 0.5 seconds.
Like the last couple of rounds I failed to put a lap together when I needed too or met slower cars at the wrong points of the track which caused me to abort my faster laps.
In the end I lined by 8th which is one of my worse quali results but I knew that where I started would be academic to the race later that day.
Race 1 – 4th Place
Had a ok start and moved up into 6th place by the first chicane and narrowly missed the carnage at the start of the following lap. Where Oli, Dan H and Tom A tried to all occupy the same spot on the track. As Oli speared across the track towards me ‘please not another chassis’ was the my first thought before narrowly avoiding him. By the time the inevitably red flags were out and the race was stopped I found myself in 3rd.
After all that effort I was slightly disappointed with the 1st lap restart rule which meant they put everyone back to their original starting points.
On the restart the front of the field had a few cars missing. I didn’t get a great start and lost a few places. Nothing to worry about since at Thruxton the slip streaming effect is massive. Pretty much all the overtaking happens once per lap into the final chicane where it was easy to gain or lose several places.
Found myself in 6th for the first few laps happy following the lead pack waiting for my tyres to balance out. As the half way point passed I started to work my way forward and soon found myself battling for the lead few places.
With one lap to go I made a critical mistake… I took the lead a lap early. Right position to be on just not on the correct lap!
I knew I would be mugged into the last chicane. My best hope would be to try and pull a small lead and sit on the inside on the run up to the chicane. The spectators must have gotten a good show as the eight of us arrived as one into the last chicane. The inside line proved to be a good choice as managed to hold onto 4th. Still annoying to have lost the lead on the last chicane but that’s motor racing.
Race 2 – 4th Place
I went into the second race with high hopes of a better finish but knew it would be just a close as the first race. After a good start I slotted into 4th place and waited for the inevitable towfest into the final chicane. Again there was a bit of carnage, this time it was Neil who had a nasty airborne moment but got out unhurt unlike the car.
The next lap around there were waved yellows at the same point. Several drivers didn’t notice them and overtook me and several others around me. At the time it was annoying but by the end of the race all of the guilty party ended up behind me so I cared less about it. Now back in 11th place with 15 minutes to go I knew I had some work to do.
The rest of the race was a cat and mouse game to try and come out on top of the chicane games every lap. It really was a case of make up 3 space go back one. Every lap.
Mark Tredwin was the surprise driver in the mix who drove his heart out and it was awesome to have a proper tussle with the purple car. Such a shame he a moment on the last corner. As he deserved a top 5 finish.
Like the first race it came down to a manic last lap where I was in 5th by the time we got to final straight and in the run up to the chicane the race could have been anyone in the front 5. After a 3 into one moment at the chicane I managed to just out run Dan H to the line and walk away with 4th.
The final round at Silverstone is only a week away. I’ve gone well there in the past so looking forward to another fun race.
As ever photo credits go to Jon @ Snappy Racers.
2021 Caterham 310R Racer 