Snetterton for me as always been a bit of a strange place. I like the circuit and have always been fast here. However I’ve never been able to convert the pace to a good result. Having been here in the Academy year where I spun off and fought from 23rd to 7th. Then in Roadsport year I threw away a podium going from 5th to 2nd gear. I was hoping for 3rd time lucky on this visit to Snetterton.

It would turn out to be a solid point weekend with a P3, P5 and a new lap record. In all I was too cautious and something I need to rectify at the next round.

The official TV footage from Caterham is on their youtube channel

Testing

Only mentioning testing for the drama off track. Dan French dropped his car on axle stand Friday morning. Which under normal circumstances isn’t a big deal… Unless you finger happens to be holding the axle stand! Ouch! doesn’t cover it. You can read all about it on his blog.

Quali – P2

Bizarre is all I can say about quali. It was a total disaster. Everyone got in everyone’s else way. When I came into the pits I was not happy and assumed I would be lucky to be in the top 10 and a P15 was more likely. When I found out I was P2 I think I went back to my car to check if the vbox said the same or it was a timing glitch.

In this case I think the problem was too many fast people on track together. We had this in Roadsport. At that time the lead pack of 8 would go out together at the front and trip over each other. This year all the fast teams have gone out first with the fast privateers at the back. This has meant two fast groups of 6ish split by half the track. So the tripping over each other hasn’t happened. At Snetterton most of the fast teams and privateers were out in a big group at the back. So it was a mess.

Still P2 can’t complain 🙂

Race 1 – P3

Wow what a race. Despite ‘only’ finishing P3 in the race I think it was one of the most enjoyable races ever. It really was a master class in why working together can control a race to guarantee a good result. The race really was a 3 part act.

Act one was a fight from the start which lasted a couple of laps or 5 minutes. I was happy in 4th playing the long game when Justin overcooked it and ran off the track. I assume he would just drop in behind me so the leading pair wouldn’t get away… But instead he didn’t brake in the normal place, trying to get the position back and force us both wide letting the lead pair get away. At this point the engine was drowning out my cursing. Ironically this was the defining point of the race. On the next straight it meant that Tom was able to get ahead of Justin and I could leave the two of them to argue over every corner while I tried to close the gap to the lead two.
I have to admit I love chasing there is something about having a target in front of you and just driving at the absolute limit without crossing it.

Act two.. wait patiently for the moment to strike. Once I had caught up with James and Dan they could see exactly what my intentions were. Sit at the back of the trio allowing us to get the biggest lead possible before fighting over who got which of the 3 trophies. While I was there and it was a long 20 minutes left I decide to have some fun and try and get the additional point for fastest lap. So every lap I would drop back.. Then go for it and catch up the gap.

Act three.. strike. With none of the other cars in sight and 5 minutes to go it was time to attack. As the person at the back of the train with the most to gain it was obviously going to be me that started the battle. After several laps of going 3 wide down the straights it was Dan who won (despite the broken finger) by the length of a wheel. Ahead of James who beat me by roughly the length of a car. This Caterham racing is close!

The victory lap was pretty cool with the 3 of us running side by side past the main bank of spectators and our families. It’s the moments like that I will remember when my racing stops. Silverware is great but it’s the other drivers, the battles and the long suffering families who turn up rain and shine to watch us that make the weekend. As are the unpaid marshals who without them there wouldn’t be motor racing to watch or take part in.

Podium

• P1: Dan French
• P2 James Murphy
• P2: Matt Sheppard

Race 2 – P5

After the ‘relaxing’ controlled race one it was obvious that race 2 would be a completely different race and more like our typical 270R races. I do find it slightly amusing how you can generally gauge what a race will be like within the first few corner based on which drivers are where in the order and how their previous race went.

I started P3 and didn’t get a great start slotting into P5 where I would sit for most of the race. This time we had a lead group of 5 cars who had obviously learnt from the race the previous day as most of the fighting was more sensible and we managed to pull a lead of the group behind.

At this point I made a bit of a tactical error. I had set a lap record the day before and got preoccupied with trying to better it as I could see Chris catching the lead 5 up and I didn’t want him to beat it. So I was also trying to beat it. As it was in the end I got 2nd fastest and Chris got the point for the fastest lap in race 2. A little be slower than the new record I set the day before.

In hindsight I should have gotten more stuck into the battle in front of me. By the mid point of the last lap I was 4th just behind James M. Which with 2 overtaking points to the finish line. Left us both in the best positions to jump ahead with a double tow down the two straights. Unfortunately James had a tad oversteer onto the back straight which meant we both had to back off which destroyed our forward momentum. This allowed Greg to jump us both and I was just about to hold Chris off and keep 5th place.

Podium

• P1: Justin Heap
• P2: Dan French
• P3: Greg Monks

Final thoughts

Racing is a funny old sport. Compared to last year walking away with a P3, P5 and a new lap record would have matched my best result last year in Roadsport. However excluding mechanical issues this is actually my worse weekend this year for points. Funny how a little success means you expect more and anything but a podium is frustrating.

This year’s 270R driver line up is crazy competitive. Anyone who get a podium or a win really had to work for it!

At the halfway point in the Championship it’s all to play for. On the outright points I’m ‘way down’ in 6th but once everyone drops their worse two scores my situation is a lot better. However I’ve in effect already used my ‘two lives’. Meaning I really need to keep my nose clean while trying to get podiums. Almost everyone else still has poor races they can drop. All this means by the time we get to Brands Hatch in September I can easily see going to to the last race to decide the final order.

Next up is Spa Francorchamps on the 20th July. Supporting the British GT and F3 Single seaters as part of SRO Speed week in the build up to the 24hrs of Spa on the 27th July.
Which is going to be amazing as not only are we the support race for the proper race cars. Spa is an historic amazing track which is on every drivers top tracks to race on.
Excited doesn’t come close to covering it!
Photos from Jon @ Snappy Racers.

Oulton Park from what I have heard features on most drivers top tracks in the UK list and for good reason. It’s an absolute gem of a place. Proper old school track which is a good mix of elevation changes, high and low speed corners with not always much run off. Due to the technical nature it really separates the drivers with technical ability from those that rely of the tow of the car in front to keep up.

After the mixed results at Croft and Silverstone I went into Oulton Park with a very simple game plan. Don’t crash or have my car fail on me! Which meant don’t take unnecessary risks and good points is better than no points.

Turned out the weekend would go better than I had hoped for.

Quali – P1

Quali was the start of a surprising weekend result wise. The usual suspects formed part of a quali team to try and get some fast laps in. However due to the large difference in speeds between drivers it was difficult to get a clear lap in. I did what I thought was an ok lap and was a little surprised when I heard the time the fastest driver set. Even more shocked to find out that it was me that set it!

Obviously in motorsport the one universal truth is the circuit timing is always correct. While my vbox onboard based on GPS could have suffered a ‘blip’ and be wrong. In any case I would have started on the first couple of rows and it probably had little impact on the race result. I did find it slightly amusing as I was saying I couldn’t possibly of done that lap everyone was telling me to shut up and take it anyway!

Race 1 – P2

Starting in pole I nearly made a complete arse of myself when I moved my left foot when the light turned red instead of went out. Luckily I stopped myself with only a gentle rock forward and didn’t trigger a false start. However as I backed off the light changed and I bodged it with too much wheelspin and settled into 2nd place. Over the first few laps Dan F and I started to pull a slight lead on the front group.

Typically I was trying to hard and a couple of mistakes saw me back in 4th. Shortly after the safety car was deployed for a large chunk of the race after a 4 car accident. All the drivers were unhurt which is always the primary concern on your mind after seeing the damaged cars.

On the restart Dan F pulled a bit of a lead and James M managed to jump Justin while I stayed in 4th place. After a couple of laps it looked like Dan F had pulled a gap that no one would close and I was able to pull a double overtake into 2nd place. From that point forward it looked like the battle for second would be between James M, Justin H & Dan H and me. We would go on swapping positions multiple times a lap. All of a sudden Dan F was back in our sights and I was shocked to see his wheel make a bid for freedom and go bouncing across the track.

As it was near the end of the race they red flagged it. Due to the count back under red flag rules it meant that Dan F kept the win. While I secured 2nd place which was a great result for me and was happy to be on the podium again. Twice in a year makes it my best season so far!

Podium

• P1: Dan French
• P2: Matt Sheppard
• P3: Justin Heap

Race 2 – P2

In the build up to the race the front group agreed we should try and be ‘sensible’ for the first part of the race and try and pull a gap on the rest of the pack. From a spectator point of view I’m sure it makes the racing look less exciting. However from a drivers point of view it’s a great strategy plan. If you can split the field instead of a 7 car fight for a podium you can turn it into a 4 or maybe even 3 car fight which guarantees a good result.

I managed to bodge the start again but held onto second place and just sat in the middle of a 4 car train behind Dan F while ahead of James M and Justin H. For 2/3rd of the race we just held positions earning a 6 second lead over 5th place. It was fun but tense as the anticipation of someone breaking the truce built as the end of the race got ever closer. When you are behind someone and clearly have more speed because of the tow effect it takes a lot of patience and restraint to back off and coast behind a car in a race!

James M was the first to make a move when I messed up the first chicane and got a poor exit. Decide it was better to back off and wave him through that cost us both time and allow Dan F to pull away (sorry Dan!). After picking the wrong person to follow a few corners later Justin H managed to get past Dan F and I.

At this point I was back in 4th place but happy to watch the 3 cars in front of me race extremely hard on the assumption that within a couple of laps someone was bound to mess up. Sure enough Justin H out braked himself handing me 3rd place back. While all this fighting had been going on we had been lapping 3 second a lap slower than before. Leading to me having to go on the defensive against Greg. The fact we had lost 6 seconds in 2 laps to the people behind is a case in point about why working together is a good idea early in a race to increase your chance of a good result.

Crossing the line the order would be James M, Dan F, Matt S, Greg M all within 1 second.

However this race would be just as controversial as quali and race 1. James M had managed to hit 3 track limit sensors and picked up a 5 second penalty dropping him to 5th. Promoting the rest of us up the grid. Really put a dampener on the result as James had really earned that win in a tough race. Racing really is a cruel sport most of the time. Still a 2nd place means it was my best race weekend ever.

Podium

• P1: Dan French
• P2: Matt Sheppard
• P3: Greg Monks

Final thoughts

Oulton for me was my best ever race weekend results with pole in quali and 2nd place trophies in both races. Finishing both races with a strong result was just what I needed after failing to finish the second race at the Silverstone and Croft rounds. Even better is the car had no damage which makes my bank balance even happier.

The 2019 270R championship is shaping up to be a year to remember. So far no driver has had a clear run of great results. I’m sure that will continue as several drivers have been plagued with bad luck this season James M, Tom A & Oli P have taken bad luck to a new level. Graham M, Toby C have both suffered from tracks they didn’t know as well as others. Those are just 5 of several people who I expect to start taking podiums which will prevent any of the podium finishers so far running away with the championship.

Next round is at Snetterton on Saturday 29th June.

Photos from Jon @ Snappy Racers.

After the highs of winning my first race at Silverstone I had high hopes going into Croft. Along with the hope of actually staying out of trouble and finishing both races.

Croft is one of the few circuits in the UK that I’ve not done much track time on apart from a track day back in my Academy year. It used to be known for the bumps and the high tyre wear. However the whole track had recently been resurfaced with silky smooth tarmac dropping the lap times by several seconds.

The track was a lot of fun to drive and a proper old school track with a mix of technical sections with very little runoff rewarding the smooth and the brave. After the tow fest at Silverstone it was great to be back on a narrower track where technical ability was more useful than just getting a tow off the car in front.

Quali – P9

Like Silverstone a few of us had a plan to work together in quali. It worked pretty well at Silverstone and we were all hopefully we could repeat the success. The problem with these plans are they generally never workout for everyone involved and this time around it was my turn to be the unlucky one. Every time I was on a flying lap I ended up aborting it due to someone getting in my way. Worked well for Dan who got pole, Graham got 6th. While I was stuck back in 9th. Not an ideal place to start but I knew my race pace would be good.

Race 1 – P4

My 9th place start on the 5th row of the grid did come with one advantage. Odd numbers on this track start on the right hand side. Giving me the inside for the first two corners. Generally a far safer place to be than the outside. Looking at those ahead of me there was a real risk that the front group would get away and I needed to clear a group of cars before the pack split. If I was to have any chance of getting into a podium slot.

After an ok start I was P7 by the second corner and my plan to sit on the inside had paid off. Midway through the second lap Neil spun gifting me P6 for a brief second before I had to slam on the brake to avoid Chris who was avoiding Neil. In the confusion Toby managed to sneak by leaving me still in 7th. A couple of laps later I had possibly my luckiest lap ever. Sneaked past Chris before the chicane, Graham overcooked it through the esses & Toby missed a gear. Within a minute on track I had got from 7th to 4th!
At this point I had time to workout where the lead pack had gone. Turns out my fear had been realised. The front 3 had pulled out an 8 second lead. However with 24 minutes left in the race it was a long way to go and if the front group started fighting I could be back in the fight.

After a lap I had pulled a gap on everyone behind me and knew there was no need to drive defensively and could concentrate on closing the gap. The next 20 minutes were pretty uneventful as I lapped the track on my own but could see I was closing in on the 3 cars fighting for the lead. Annoyingly at some point they must have seen the yellow spec getting larger since they stopped fighting as much making my job harder. Just when I was about to catch them up Justin spun in front of me. Which was great as it gifted me 3rd but not so helpful as I had to go around him on the grass and lost track of the two Dan’s battling at the front.

With 2 laps to go I knew all I needed to do was keep it on the track and I would bag a podium. First rule of racing never say that to yourself it’s inviting trouble. As I found when I came out of the hairpin backwards… moron.
By the time I was pointing the right way and missed a gear I was back in 4th. Since it was the last lap I decide that 9th-4th would do and it wasn’t worth trying to kamikazes
Justin on the last lap and settled for 4th.

Congratulations to the front 3.

• P1: Dan Halstead
• P2: Dan French
• P3: Justin Heap

Race 2 – DNF

So every time I step foot in a race car on track and in all the preparation on the car. There are all sort of possible outcomes I consider. No matter how many permutations of results I could have thought of what happened in race 2 was not in the script.. any script.

Due to my 4th place finish in race one I was on the outside into the first corner and lost out to Toby initially. Managing to get the place back a few corner later. The first 9 minutes were very uneventful for Dan F and I watching the Justin & Dan H show scrapping over the lead. As normal this gets a bit frustrating when you are at the back of the lead 4. Since I could see we had dropped 5th place and beyond. If the front 4 just drove the fastest line for 10 minutes we could have a gap that wasn’t closable. Ensuring that of the 4 people 3 would get a podium and we could fight that out later. When the lead 2 fight it just allows everyone to catchup making a 4 way fight for a podium an 8 way or something worse. Maybe I’m just thinking too tactical for sprint racing!

Anyway while I was thinking this the lead 2 trip over each other leading to Dan F to get along side Justin, I briefly considered making it a three wide run through the esses, then decided coasting behind and overtaking once the other 2 were no longer on the track was a better plan. Which worked and I got past Dan F into 3rd. Didn’t last since I had a problem getting a gear on the main straight and Dan F got past me.

What happened next was just not what I ever expected in a million years. Going through the chicane, which had tyre stacks each side and from a driver eye height is taken blind and flat out. I went from 3rd to 4th and the car just revved with no drive. I reached down to make sure it was in 4th and the gear stick wasn’t where my hand expected… What the hell where is it? Oh it’s in my lap.. WTF? In the little under 2 seconds between when I attempted to change gear and later found the gear stick it was long enough for an unsighted Tom A & James M to pile in the back on me ending all 3 of our races.

Feel so bad for ending Tom and James races and if that gearstick had snapped at any other point on the track we would have probably been fine. Also still annoyed that a stupid snapped gear stick happened in the first place. There are so many parts on the car you replace in case it breaks. The gear stick wasn’t even on my radar as something that needed to regularly be replaced!

Congratulations to the front 3.

• P1: Dan Halstead
• P2: Dan French
• P3: Neil Fraser

Final thoughts

Any sport has it highs and lows and elements of luck. Having had mostly no accidents (except Combe) for 2 years. While within a month this year had 2 big ones in the first 2 race weekend I’m hoping for some better race results next time.
One interesting thing with our Championship is you are allow to drop your worse 2 scores. After drop scores I’m joined 3rd with Dan F on points. However I have a win so I think that might mean I get the 3rd. Just need to finish every race well for the rest of the year. Humm interesting challenge.

Next round is at Oulton Park on Saturday 1st June.

Photos from Jon @ Snappy Racers.

After the winter break the Caterham 270R Championship kicked off in spectacular style on the Silverstone National circuit. The two 270R races were more akin to Nascar racing as the entire field lapped as one group. Never knew you could get 6 Caterham’s wide on a track!

It’s taken me a few days to get my head around it all but I finally lived a childhood dream and won a motor race. That feeling of crossing the line first was amazing especially against such a strong field of drivers all in identical cars.

Quali – P4

The weekend got off to a pretty good start where I managed to bag 4th place on the grid. Only 0.1 seconds off pole. Odds were that the race would be a tow fest and track position early on wouldn’t mean much. That being said I went into the race happy that I would be near the sharp end of the grid and might be part of any break away which might happen.

Race 1 – P1

Got a good start off the line and slotted into 3rd place. Had a simple plan of stay in the lead few cars and if possible either form a breakaway on my own or with anyone else if I could. Dan French and I nearly did it a couple of times but it was impossible to pull away from the pack. The tow effect at Silverstone is frankly ridiculous. A gap which would see you clear on most tracks made no difference at Silverstone.

Over the 30min race the lead pack change order ever corner. One lap I would be leading. Next down in sixth, couple of corners later back in the lead. Having ended up second onto the final lap I knew it would be all to play for. Out of the last corner Justin, James and I were side by side and it came down to a race to the line. One that I would win by 0.01 seconds. Which as 100mph is very little indeed!

P1: Matt Sheppard
P2: Justin Heap
P3: James Murphy

Race 2 – P22 (Crash)

For the first time ever I started on pole for a Sunday race having won the Saturday race. Not that starting near the front makes any difference at this track but it was a nice feeling to lead the pack around to take the start. I fell into old habits and got a poor start but hung out with the lead few cars to start with. Not sure why, maybe I wasn’t totally paying attention but I found myself down in 18th after 20mins which woke me up to do something about it and 5mins later I was back in the lead. One of the great things about Silverstone is when everyone is in a pack you can find ways back into the fight. All was going well as I led onto the last lap and was confident of ending up in the top 5, possibly with a podium.

However it was not meant to be as one of the drivers made a last second move into a gap that wasn’t really there and took several front running cars out of the race, including me. The car wasn’t too badly damaged and I was able to get across line in a distance 22nd. Did consider parking it and not bothering to finish the race but decided that if the car would move it was worth salvaging any points I could. As they might be needed later in the year.

P1: Justin Heap
P2: Dan Halstead
P3: Neil Fraser

Final thoughts.

After a couple of years of almost winning it’s amazing to finally have nailed it and won a race. Hopefully it’s the first of many. Race two was a big disappointment result wise but had the pace to run at the front which is a good sign.

Next round is 4/5th May up north at Croft.

Photos from Jon @ Snappy Racers.