Snetterton 300 - Roadsports and ClubEnduro - 750MC - 11th - 13th August 2023

After a hectic July, with me and Ryan flying all over the world and racing inbetween, we were off to Snetterton for Round 4 of the RoadSports Series on Saturday, then Round 5 of the 750MC Club Enduro on Sunday.
We'd had a great result in both cars for the ClubEnduro Race at Spa, which you can read about by clicking the below image.
It was going to be a hectic weekend, with me in the Golf as usual, then DannyDC2 and Aaron in the RS3. Dylan was solo in the TTFSI and Ryan in the TTDI for the 45 minute Roadsport Race, then they are sharing the TTDI in the 2hr race.

Below is the layout of the Snetterton 300 Circuit:

The Golf would be running in Class B, which is 240bhp/tonne without the driver. Diesels have a 1.05 power multiplier, so theoretically we can only have ~228bhp/tonne. We have 283bhp at the flywheel with a 1242kg minimum weight, bang on the money.
The TT TDI has a declared weight of 1140kg, and being in Class A can only have ~285bhp/ton, which works out around 325bhp on the Championship Dyno.
The TT TFSI can have a maximum of 295bhp/ton due to Petrol Forced Induction cars having a 5bhp deduction.
The RS3 is in Class A but has the restriction of being in homologated spec, so the fancy Carbon Fibre doors, boot and bonnet had to be replaced with the factory items. Such a shame, but we will use them in the future!
The 750MC uses TheResultsLive.co.uk for timing.

Full Race Day Vlog

We have a full Vlog from the weekend, with snippets of the races:

Testing

Since we hadn't done too much in the way of changes to the setups since Spa, we opted to just do the afternoon test session, so we could have a steady drive down in the morning. It's around 3.5hrs from our base to Snetterton in the truck, and under 3hrs in the car on a good day, so I asked if Beef, Reuben's dad (big Darkside fan and trucker) would drive the Scania for the weekend, as last year I nearly died driving back after so much action on the track sapped all my energy. He was well up for it so I could concentrate on the task in hand!
The first session went well on dead tyres, with a 2:09.22 for me and a 2:06.08 for Ryan in the TTDI, but this was still a fair way off where I thought we needed to be (low 2:08s for Class B and low 2:03s for Class A).
Session 2 was more eventful, Ryan was down into the 2:03s and I was in the mid 2:08s until disaster struck. As I turned into Brundle and Nelson, the car felt a bit strange then pulled me onto the grass. When I jumped out to investigate, all 5 wheel studs had snapped. The eagled eyed Photographer Chris managed to capture the moment of disaster:

The studs had been on since the start of the season, and could easily be over torqued during pit stops, so we have now put in place a system where they are changed every time the front pads are changed, to prevent fatigue.

Roadsports Qualifying

The first time I was back on track after the failure was the following day for Quali. Not to let something like this knock my confidence, I went straight out and pushed as hard as possible. It paid off, as with a new set of front tyres, I did a 2:07.99 then parked in the pits for a few minutes to see if any other Class B cars got close. When there were reports of oil down at the Bomb Hole, I got Reuben to fit another set of tyres to scrub in, did a lap on those and went straight to Parc Ferme.
In Class A it was all much more competitive so the guys had to push hard.
Dylan in the TTFSI struggled for a clear lap, hitting traffic at all the wrong places and ending up P8. On his last lap he was held up by 0.6s in the last corner. He would have been P5 without that.
The theme was similar for Ryan in the TTDI, with many pinch points on this circuit that can ruin a good lap. He'd put in a banker of a 2:04.74 early on, then beat it by 0.5s at the last push to get to P4.
Aaron started in the RS3 since Danny was in the middle of one of his 7 races this weekend. It only took him 2 flying laps to punch in a 2:04.16 then he needed to hand over to Danny who struggled for space. Luckily, Aaron's clear lap put them P3.

Space was the issue for Class A, with drivers either doing their lap early or very late on. This is why getting to the assembly area early to get track position is key in multi-class racing. Ryan had also gone out on new tyres all round to scrub them in. The extra grip on the rear does not help the understeer so I think he was compromised doing it this way.

The timing screen said I did 4 laps, but as you can see below, all the others were either my out or in lap, or the scrubbing of the new tyres at the end.

Qualifying Laps

Our fastest Quali laps are shown below:

Roadsports Race

The whole race was Live Streamed by the guys at AlphaLive which you can see below:

The TTDI and RS3 were side by side on Row 2, TTFSI on row 4 and I was back on Row 8. Normally I am playing in the middle of more Class A cars, so it shows how much of a power circuit Snetterton is!

The first half of the race was pretty straightforward for me, with the Class A cars from behind making up ground on the straights to get past. The early stages was a bit difficult as some of them were a bit slower in the corners so did hold me up. I'd got a 15s success penalty from the last round the Golf competed in, so I needed to pull a decent gap on the rest of class B. I managed to do this before pitting.
Ryan, Dylan and Aaron were all having battles of their own, which allowed Baker and Burns to disappear into the distance. Dylan had been shoved off at Murrays on lap 1 which dropped him down to 13th position, just in front of me in the Golf, so he had an uphill battle to get with the leaders.
In Roadsports we can still pit under the safety car, so we all left it as late as possible to come in for our mandatory 1 minute stop. The TTDI had a 10s penalty from my 2nd position at Brands last time out, so was on the back foot against the guys in front.

My stop was bang on and I came back out in the lead of Class B, so it was just a case of nursing it to the end.
The other guys stops were decent as well, so it was a sprint to the finish with the hope some of the guys at the front had issues or made mistakes to get onto the podium. Dylan did great to move back up the order, but was too far back to see the podium places!

Ryan was pipped for 2nd by Josh in his mental EG Civic, by only 0.25s in the end. Danny and Aaron came home 5th and Dylan managed to climb back to 6th after the lap 1 incident. I was almost 30s in the lead, despite my 15s penalty from the previous round.

Ryan's laptimes were decent, but battling with Josh did not help the overall time, and his 15s penalty put him out of contention for the win. His best of a 2:03.77 was second quickest of the race.
Dylan, Aaron and Danny were all battling most of the way so did not get a good stab at some decent laptimes.

My laptimes, once in clear air, were around the low 2:09s and high 2:08s which I don't think was quick enough but still got me the win.

Fastest Laps

Our fastest race laps are below:

My fastest lap of the race was a 2:08.81 so I got the lap record for Class B. Ryan's lap was quicker than the 2022 record, but Rob and Bradley beat it by a fair margin so they will take it!

ClubEnduro Qualifying

A few new faces for the weekend were in the paddock for the main event, and despite being a power circuit, the Elise of Will Stacey was on pole by a full second up on the already mental time set by the Baker Burns Golf. The M4 of Joel Oswick also did not disappoint, just pipping Ryan and Dylan for 3rd by 0.02s!
Danny and Aaron improved from yesterday, but with all the extra competition, could only take 7th!
I also had a harder time, with my early 2:08.46 beaten a few laps later by Luke in the JabbaSport Golf, meaning I had to go back out and find some more time. Chris Plaskett also made a return since rebuilding the car after Oulton, and ended up with an impressive 2:08.36. Aaron and Lewis Rose also got into the 2:08s, so it was going to be a tight battle up front in Class B!

For the TTDI, Dylan went out first on new tyres and just scrubbed them all in, still managing a respectable 2:03.88, then Ryan went out with the dead rears to put in a good lap. . He'd come out of the pits behind the safety car and had what he thought was his only flier behind the Baker Burns Golf, which held him up slightly in the last corner. Luckily managing to get a better lap in on the last possible attempt with a 2:03.12.

If I thought I could get away with 1 flier this time, I was wrong. I did get chance to scrub all the new tyres in ready for the race though, which meant I could push right away when it would be changed in the pit stop.

Qualifying Laps

Our fastest Quali laps are below:

ClubEnduro Race

The whole race was Live Streamed by the guys at AlphaLive which you can see below:

I started Row 7 with all the Class A cars to the side and in front, Aaron would start on Row 4 and Ryan on Row 2 again.

We all made a decent start, but some of the slower Class A cars were holding me up in the twisty bits, then blasting away down the long straights. This meant I did not shake off Luke in the Jabba Golf, he was just in touch and matching my laptimes. I decided to pit early and hope that he would drop off the pace when he did not have me in front as a gauge.
Ryan dropped behind the 117 BMW Compact and whilst it was a rocket on the straights, was struggling a bit in the infield, allowing the guys at the front to build a bit of a gap that would be hard to overcome.
Aaron had got into a battle with the Beech/Grice Cupra TCR which dropped him back off the lead group as well.
Since there is no pitting under the safety car, the guys could just equalise the stints to roughly an hour each and they chose to do that.

My stop went to plan, and I came out in clear air, so just told Reuben to give me the Laptime Luke was doing every time, and I tried to make sure I beat it, even with traffic. Sometimes I was slowed by that much they pulled multiple seconds on me, but then others I pulled it back.
The TTDI and RS3 stops were a bit of a disaster, with the spigots on both wheels deciding to stick on the hubs, meaning the replacement wheels could not be fitted. This cost the TTDI around 10s over its already 30s penalty stop, and the RS3 lost over 30s. What a nightmare!
Dylan managed to do 1 flying lap before the TT decided it did not want to accelerate any more, and came to a stop just after Palmer. Post race investigation showed it to be a dodgy camshaft sensor signal.
Danny was also struggling with the front tyres on the RS3, with the front left starting to delaminate pretty early into his stint. He pressed on and needed a miracle! Which did come, right near the end of the race, the Elise of Will Stacey and M4 of Joel Oswick both suffered issues, and promoted them to 3rd.

Another race of what could have been for the TTDI, the pace was rapid, posting the 3rd quickest lap of the race, and with the other retirements, I think it could have been an easy 2nd, and maybe even battling for the lead with Baker at the end. Who knows!
It did mean that Aaron and Danny got their first podium in one of our cars, a great result for them! Without the terrible pit stop, they could have been an easy 2nd really once the TT retired.
I made it hard for myself, but managed to overcome the success penalty and track limits to come 1st again!

It is hard to say if the TT could have caught the Golf by the end, as we will never know what Dylan's pace would be in the latter stages, but I am confident it would have been an easy 2nd for it, with the much needed championship points that would bring.

You can see how me, Luke and then Kevin traded lap times throughout the race until their issue late on.

Fastest Laps

Our fastest laps from the race are below:

We were so close to the lap record of a 2:08.10 for Class B, but Luke pipped me by 0.04s to take the fastest lap point.

The Championship standings show that Class A is still all to play for, with the TT in 5th despite the poor results at the start of the season and this weekend. Class B looks good for the Golf, but it is still too close for my liking with dropped scores. I need a good result at the next round to make sure we are not going into Silverstone needing a good result! We don't need that stress! The overall championship is looking close as well, but that is not my focus.

Next round for both races is at Donington Park on the GP Circuit on the 23rd and 24th September. Not sure what cars will be out for this one, but the Golf and TTDI will be for sure! We've got championships to try and win!