After competing in the RoadSports Series on Saturday, we had less than a week to prepare for the 750MC Club Enduro at Spa. We decided to stay down at Brands on the Sunday, prep the cars there and head straight to Belgium via the Channel Tunnel on Monday. Just to complicate this, our good friend Bobby from Jamaica had a box at the Silverstone F1 for the Sunday, so I was back and forth between Brands and Silverstone while the lads got the cars ready.
You can read about Brands below:

With all the lads having various plans over these 2 weekends as well, it meant some that had worked at Brands went home on the Saturday, then Jack was at the F1 so we left there together, and Luke met us at Jack's house in Milton Keynes and drove down with us to Brands on Sunday evening.
Ryan drove back after the F1 with our families and would be flying into Brussels on Wednesday. Talk about a complicated travel plan!
Monday morning we all were up bright and early to get the Tunnel to Calais. I would be driving the truck with Reuben, Paul in my A7 with Jack (Paul's A4 was supposed to be coming, but he was crashed into a few days before we set off - more changes to the itinerary!). Luke and Tom were in the T5 (8 seater) and Mathisse was in his 330d with Stylianos. They were going to visit his parents in Bruges for a few days.

Since a load of people thought voting for BREXIT would somehow help lazy British get off the dole, the truck had to go to the Ashford Sevington Inland Border Facility, just off the M20 on the way to the Tunnel. There I needed to show my GMR B (Goods Movement Reference) and then the ATA Carnet, which is basically an itemised list of all the vehicles, spares, tools and equipment we were going to be taking out of the country, and bringing back in a weeks time. The document is for the temporary export and import, with various places for each country's stamps to confirm the goods have been made available for inspection. It is all a bureaucratic nightmare that has been brought back from the dark ages since BREXIT. For clarity, I am neither for or against BREXIT, I think 99% of the implications of leaving were not explained to anyone - anyway, don't discuss politics or religion.
I parked up, went into the office, left them with the Carnet and waited for an SMS. About 20 minutes later we were on our way to the tunnel with the EXPORT side of the Carnet stamped and signed.

At the tunnel they scanned the GMR again, asked to see the Carnet stamp, and loaded us up. It was ridiculously tight all the way down, so the belly lockers took a bit of a beating.
There is a separate train for Freight drivers (they call it the Drivers Lounge - it is a very basic train cabin with the worst toilets in existence) - but this means we can use the trip for our 45 minute break, giving us a good 4:30 to get as close to Spa as possible in one hit. Just French customs to deal with as well.
At the French side we needed to follow the Orange route to the Centre Douane SIVEP Site du Tunnel (CDS) for the IMPORT section to be signed. I handed it over, took a ticket and was sorted in about 5 minutes. We were on our way, with around 4hrs driving time left. However the traffic around Brussels was not looking good, with multiple accidents and time being added constantly.

It was looking like I would go over my 4.5hrs, so we planned to stop after Brussels, get some rest, food and do the last leg. By time we still had well over an hour to go, so it was going to be over 6 hours in Europe, instead of the expected 4! We made it to Spa at 8pm local time, so had been on the road for ten hours. I was just glad we had not come all the way from Darkside HQ, as that would have been another 5 - 6 hours on top as well, a VERY long day with no AC!

We weren't allowed into the RX Paddock until Wednesday, so I had booked some rooms for the lads to use and then we would set up the awning etc once we could get to our spot. We had a chilled day on Tuesday, the lads went Karting and took in the sights around the circuit, watched some track action and prepared for a busy weekend!
Wednesday started with the expected battle of getting into the pits. Despite having the correct passes, stickers and wristbands, the security guard was adamant we were not entering until Thursday. Once he got over that, he told us to enter via the Blanchimont Gate. We were at Ster, a stones throw away from the RX Paddock. He was having none of it. I explained that we had a 4m high truck, and it would not fit through the tunnel at Ster from the inside of the track. Still nothing. We headed to Blanchimont in the van and left the truck at Ster.
The security guard at the other gate understood exactly what we wanted to do, so radio'd to the other gate, who claimed to have not turned anyone away!
Long story short he let us in, then we were greeted by Jean-Marc from Kronos Events, who run the whole FunCup Race weekends. He would be directing us to our assigned area.

This was where the next negotiation started. The RX Paddock is not a paddock, it is the relatively new World Rallycross track, where around 50% of it is gravel and dirt. They wanted us to park the truck on the dirt and set the awning up on a banking with about a 30 degree incline! Many phonecalls and radio messages in French later, we were allowed to park on some tarmac out of the way.
The lads got to work putting the awning up for the second time in a week and get the cars out and under cover, ready for testing on Thursday morning.

A layout of the Spa Circuit is below. This track has so many differences to anything in the UK. There are loads of high speed corners, elevation changes, compressions and long straights. It really is a challenge to string together a good lap.

As always, 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.
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.
For this round they would be using the RIS-Timing.be system for the results and live timing.

Testing

Last year we had a few sessions split across this day, this time there was just one 1:45 session at 9am. This was better in respect to the guys not having to travel through all the tunnels and access roads with the van, tools and tyre trolley, but it did mean there was a lot of pressure to ensure the cars were good, and little opportunity to make changes without losing a lot of track time.
Luckily the cars were behaving, with just a few small issues cropping up with the TTDI. The Golf was great and the laptimes seemed close enough to the 2022 times that I decided to park it and let Dylan go out in the TTFSI to give that a shakedown, just in case we needed it over the weekend.
So with everything going more or less to plan, we stuck to Ryan and Dylan in the TTDI, and me in the Golf. The lads had another chilled afternoon, with Qualifying the next day just after 10am.

Qualifying

Quali was a full hour so we had plenty of time to get in some decent laps, and even with over 50 cars on track, it was pretty easy to find a decent gap to get some laps in. My first flier was in the 2:48s, which I figured would be good enough to be in the mix, but I also knew there was more time in it, so I pushed again and did a 2:47.417 which should have been enough for pole, so I decided to park the car in the pitlane and see how the session progressed.
Dylan was out first in the TTDI and managed a 2:43.94 before handing over to Ryan to make sure he got his laps in as well. The plan was to give him the car back towards the end of the session. Ryan's first flier was a 2:41.7 which jumped them to 4th in Class A for now.
Comments from Ryan - My quali session was hampered by a few slower cars initially then a red flag as two Porsche GT3 Cup cars decided they could become one. Knowing I'd already qualified, I knew I had one shot at a decent time but after sending it, I ended up with fuel surge just before Blanchimont (my favourite corner), so my only lap ended up being the fastest the car did. Given more laps I would have easily been a second or more quicker.
Dylan jumped back in but was only able to get down to a 2:42.23 and they slipped down to 5th in class by the end of the session.
While sat in the pits the TSR Golf (that had not raced in CE all season) put in a 2:46.306, over a second quicker. I knew it was a lot of time to find, but I figured I could find it around such a long lap as this. My next lap out was a 2:46.271 so just enough, however they had gone a second quicker again on their next lap. There was no way we had that much time left on the table. I needed more power to get that!
So I settled for P2 in class, but more importantly, with my usual rivals behind. The 115 Hyundai Elantra was in the Invitation class as it was running on Slicks, so we did not need to worry about that.

The first flying lap was lap 3 on the sheets, with the German Auto Werks #20 M4 setting an early benchmark in the 2:41s, but once everyone settled in, they dropped down behind us.

Everyone in Class B seemed to take a while longer to get into it, so I was at the top by a fair margin until fairly late into the session.

The sector analysis is interesting, which the TT (60) and Golf (890) being a fair bit lower down in the 1st sector (which is basically 1 mile of straight with a slight lift at Eu Rouge) and the same in sector 3, which is a very fast section. This shows we were making our time up in the middle of the circuit, that is much less power dependant.

Qualifying Laps

Our fastest Quali laps are below:

Race 1

The race was not Live Streamed by the guys at AlphaLive or Kronos like last year. We should have a live stream for Snetterton.

For Race 1 they had split the BGDC and ClubEnduro grids, race 2 it would be mixed. I was on Row 7, which given that this is a track that rewards the cars with more power, I was as high up as could be expected.
Ryan wanted to start from Row 3, and Dylan would jump in for the second stint. The roles would be reversed for tomorrow's race.

We followed the safety car as normal for the green flag lap, then waited for the lights to go out and start racing. I maintained position well, and then just did quali laps every lap for as long as I could. Whilst we still could not pit under the safety car, here they also use Full Course Yellow, where everyone has to drive at 60kph until the green flags are shown. We decided to wait as late as possible until one was shown to pit, as that would yield the biggest advantage.
We started to get close to the closing of the pit window, and the 95 Golf of Kevin and Luke (my main rivals in the championship) had already pitted, so I came in. As I was doing the mandatory 3 minute stop, the FCY was out, so I did gain a little.

Comments from Ryan - I remembered why I don't start many races, and that's a load of faffing about in the Assembly area, then a slow lap to the grid, then for some reason two 5 minute Green Flag laps behind the safety car! I'd been in the car half an hour and not gone full throttle yet! I do like the actual start of the race and this one ended up being a good one, managing to get the jump on the M3 (with less power now eh Danny? ;) and Cupra TCR in front.
I was thinking the Hyundai TCR would just blast off, but he seemed to be struggling to warm his tyres up despite 10+ minutes of warm up laps and the TT was quicker in the straights! The M4 certainly had more straight line speed, but I didn't make it too easy for him and used the TCR as a rolling road block. I'd pulled a fair gap on the rest of the field by end of the first lap but noticed the E36 Compact had made good ground on the others too. The TT (and Golf) are always great with full fuel load and I like to push on cold tyres, the Yokohama A052's give so much confidence.
Braking into the bus stop chicane on lap 2 the ABS decided it didn't want to behave so I had a big lockup and the same again into La Source allowing the Compact to get by. I had the measure of him in the corners but under braking I was being super cautious and in a straight line his car flew!
I kept as close as I could but out of the tighter corners where I had previously had an advantage the car felt laggier and laggier plus some traffic, yellow flags and an eventual Safety car allowed some of the cars behind to catch up. Due the the length of Spa they have 2 Safety cars and a few of the others were unfortunately caught behind the second one which put them a decent distance behind. The rules in Europe are a little different and not enforced that well it seems, once the safety car period ends, the race starts as soon as the green flags or lights are shown, in theory you can't overtake until you cross the next Marshalls post but that seems to be ignored and everyone just goes for it! A few hesitations and a very near miss with an MX5 later I was still a bit of distance from the Compact.
A few laps later I managed to get close but only when they had decided to pit. Lap 17 when overtaking a Clio into Les Fagnes I must have driven over the marbles or some dirt as I just washed wide and took a trip through the gravel, with the barrier much closer than I liked! This damaged my rear bumper and forgetting that I was car number 60 I had missed the meatball flag alerting me to a mechanical issue that required me to pit ASAP, Lap 19 was my final one where the guys repaired the bumper and shoved Dylan into the driving seat!

Race 1 over, and the best result we could have hoped for really. I was over 1 minute 30 seconds ahead of Kevin and Luke. Ryan and Dylan had managed to beat the M4 by 5 seconds, then put a lap on the rest of the field.

During the race, with traffic, high fuel and higher temperatures, the lap times were a fair bit slower than qualifying, and a good chunk away from the Lap record from 2022.

When I did not have traffic I was consistently in the 2:49s, again, miles away from the 2:46s of Qualifying.

The sector analysis tells an interesting story, the TT was mega strong in the second and third sector, but way down in sector 1 (which is basically a straight with a kink) while the Golf was consistently around the 24th or 25th quickest in all sectors.

All the best laps in order also show that the TT was 5th quickest over 1 lap during the race, but it is all about the consistency. I was pipped by Kevin and Luke during the race, with their Golf being 0.4s to the good over a single lap.

Fastest Laps

Our fastest laps from the race are below:

Race 2

With all the grid now combined with the BGDC cars (for reasons that were not explained) I was back on Row 9 and Dylan would be starting on Row 5.
The weather could not be any different to the previous race. As we started to head to the assembly area, the heavens opened and it rained as hard as I had ever seen. Within minutes the paddock was like a river! We took the opportunity to lift the tyre pressures right up, but left the suspension on the dry settings, learning from our experience at Anglesey. Worst case if it dried up, we would just need to pit and get the pressures dropped.

Even driving out to the grid was an experience, the standing water on the Kemmel straight caused the car to aquaplane even at half racing speed. It was going to be a difficult start to the race for sure. We stayed on the Yokohama A052s despite most of the field sticking road tyres on.
We did quite a few laps behind the safety car until the worst of the rain had passed, then we were racing for a few corners before the first incident. This pattern continued for most of the first half of the race, with the first full lap without any flags being lap 15!

Comments from Ryan - Dylan got to start this one and I'm glad he did. I don't mind racing in the wet but when your wipers stop working it does get a bit scary, you couldn't even see the rainlights! Cars were flying off all over the place and Dylan did a good job of keeping it on the track until his stint came to an end. I wasn't ready due to a quick weight saving toilet break, so we could have pitted under FCY and gained a massive advantage to our competitors who had already pitted. I came out while it was still raining but it had eased slightly compared to while Dylan was on track. I felt like I could push straight away so did the best I could and didn't take any chances. Watching a Clio spin into the gravel halfway around the first lap slows you a touch!
We still were not sure on position as we had started the race a lap or so ahead of many, but Dylan had been overtaken by a fair few cars on track and the pit stops had been chaotic. I managed to get around the Compact and Orange E46 which seemed to be struggling in the wet, but the M4 caught up fairly quickly, mainly on the brakes. The PS5 tyres he had seeming to allow for almost dry weather braking points, however I had all the traction out of the corners. Another FCY meant the M4 could 'speed' up behind me and close the gap I'd maintained for a lap or two, a bit of weaving and tailgating in an attempt to psych me out I think.
It didn't work and I got a good start when it went green. After doing what felt like four or five (Likely just 2!) last laps at just enough pace to keep the M4 behind, we were victorious!!! The first race the TTDi had won and it felt like a war! When looking at the data we had been on average the fastest car throughout both races!

So Ryan held off the BMW to get the first win for the TTDI, and the first time a diesel had won a ClubEnduro race overall for several years.
I'd increased the gap further on Kevin and Luke, so got the first win since Croft at the start of the season. Let's hope it isn't the last of this year!

Dylan stuck with the pack despite not being able to see and then Ryan went just quick enough to get to the flag first, but it was tight!

In the latter stages I could have pushed much harder, but the track was pretty unpredictable and I did not want to risk throwing it off for vanity of a faster laptime.

It is funny how certain cars dropped right off when conditions got tricky? I will let the data be the judge.

The TT was well down the order in lap rankings, but that is better than being in the gravel! However the average laps were very consistent.

Fastest Laps

Our fastest laps from the race are below:

It was a shame that Chis Plaskett was unable to make it, as I am sure it would have been a 3 way fight for the race, especially in the dry. Whilst Kevin and Luke are still down the order, they missed the first 2 rounds then have had a win and a 2nd place, so with 2 dropped scores they are on 27 vs my 31, if they continue the form for the rest of the season, it is going to be tight!
The TT is currently sitting in 3rd overall. As Will Stacey missed Spa, they are on 31 dropping 2 scores putting them 1st, Will and Mark are in 2nd with 27 then the TT still 3rd with 24. It is all to play for in Class A!

We are next out at Snetterton for the Roadsports and ClubEnduro on the 12th and 13th August. No solid plans yet but it looks like DannyDC2 and Aaron are going to team up in the RS3, whilst Ryan and Dylan are back in the TTDI. The TTFSI might be sitting this one out unless someone wants to jump in it.

Photos courtesy of Battesti Photography, Jaques Letihon, Jonathan Elsey Motorsport Photography and 750MC

All the details and dates for future races we are entering can be found on the Darkside Motorsport Page.