With literally 2 working days to get three cars ready after the Croft round of the 750MC Club Enduro Championship, and the cars not exactly behaving how we would like, it was some more late nights for the guys to get us ready. They really pulled together and got the cars sorted, including changing the gearbox on the 11 TT in an attempt to rid us of the curse that plagued Adam in the second half of the TT race at Croft, which you can read about below:

All the details and dates for our racing exploits can be found on the Darkside Motorsport Page.

A layout of the Anglesey Coastal Circuit is below. This layout includes the Corkscrew, which is a great corner for drivers and a real test of the cars chassis. We were not expecting it to be kind to the TTs as they were still struggling in these tyres of corners.
The added element to this 'weekend' (since we were racing on the Thursday of the Jubilee Holiday Weekend) was the KA 24hr race, that we were competing in from 4pm on Thursday until 4pm Friday. I would be racing with the usual team (Adam and the guys at IP Racing) and Ryan was racing in the MSV Team, which we won as part of coming 1st in the SuperCup 2021 Championship. All our guys were going to help with support throughout the 24hr race, with some of them aiming to stay up for the full session!

Full Race Day Vlog

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

Qualifying

We were first out on track at 9am, and despite being at the track since 5pm the day before, it still seemed like a big rush to get out. There are always issues that occur just as you are about to go out! One of these being my Steering Wheel hub adapter on the Golf snapping, which mean the wheel was about to come off!
Jake quickly got to work the some lockwire and fashioned together a temporary (yet sketchy) solution to get us out for Qualifying, while they found someone with a MIG Welder to do a more permanent repair.

Scott Qualifying

As part of the KA qualifying, I did about 8 or 9 laps at dusk the night before, so I had a good idea where the track went, but the last time I had driven anything quicker than a KA here was in 2018 for about an hour in the Ibiza, so I needed to learn quickly!
I had a bit of traffic but was into the 1:16s within a few laps, and dipped into the 1:15s before pitting for Ryan to get his 3 laps. It was then my turn in the 6 TT, where I struggled to get used to the lack of front end grip, so I didn't better Ryan's time of a 1:16.170.

Ryan Qualifying

Ryan was quickly on the pace as well, quickly into the 1:16s but then struggled to find any more time before he needed to swap with me.
Jumping into the Golf he was right on the money, only 0.2s from my time which was enough for P3. The TT was down in P6 with some places to make up on the SuperPole!

Adam Qualifying

Adam immediately translated his KA knowledge to the TT, with a 1:15.568, then chipped away until he settled on a 1:14.671, good enough for P2 and just behind the SuperCopa of Dylan.

All our laps are below, Adam managing a few more as he was able to stay in the same car. This is the downside of trying to do both cars!

Qualifying Laps

Our 'fastest' laps are shown below:

Super Pole

The Super Pole was next. The top 10 cars go straight from Parc Ferme to line up for a 1 lap shootout. There is a warm up lap, flying lap and in lap, with cars setting off at 10s intervals so keep them spaced out. I was hoping to improve on last time, where I dropped positions from my qualifying time.

Scott Super Pole

I improved exactly 0.6s on my Quali lap, which jumped me to P2, but still a mile away from Dylan, who had also massively improved on his previous best.

Ryan Super Pole

Ryan improved by 0.7s on his lap, but it was not enough to beat me, so he dropped into 3rd.

Adam Super Pole

Adam's turned into a nightmare. The gearbox started to give some issues again as he pulled from the assembly area, and it seemed to be fixed, but as he had missed his slot (I tried to wait!) he was not allowed to go out, so he would be starting P9 for Race 1.

Super Pole Laps

Our Super Pole laps are shown below.

Race 1

Me and Ryan were in a good position, and Adam was a few rows back but we knew he would be able to get back in the mix without too much trouble!

Mine, Ryan and Adam's full race 1 videos are below.

Scott Race 1

I had a decent start and was able to maintain 2nd place until Adam come through on lap 2, and Ryan on Lap 5. Adam had some issues again with the box, and by lap 16 I had jumped up into 3rd overall and 1st in class.

Ryan Race 1

Ryan's start was not as good as Adam's, so he dropped back to 4th by the end of Lap 2, but then had me on Lap 4, so was up to 3rd. He maintained that until Adam's troubles slowed him down, allowing Ryan through on Lap 15. He maintained 2nd for the rest of the race, but we still have work to do since Dylan was 15s up the road!

Adam Race 1

Adam's start was mental, and he was up to P4 by the end of the first lap, and P2 by the end of the second, however the SuperCopa seemed to have the edge, with them trading lap times until the gearbox threw a fit on Lap 12 and the gap gradually got worse, and Adam dropped behind to eventually finish 6th.

So for myself and Ryan, it could not have gone much better, considering how bad the TT was still handling, but Adam was not at all happy. It was going to be an easy P2, maybe even a win but this DSG box does not want to play ball!

None of our cars had the fastest lap in this race, so we needed to get back on top of it quickly!

Race 2

Race 1 results determines the starting order for Race 2, however, with Adam's gearbox woes, we decided to put him in the No6 TT. I had sorted this out with the organisers and didn't hear anything else about it. When we got to the assembly area, they were trying to grid Ryan up in Adam's position, and vice-versa. When I queried it, Stuart from MSV came down and said that as both drivers had not qualified in those vehicles (despite them being basically identical), they would both have to start at the back! Another Red Rag to a Bull for Adam!

Scott Race 2

I made a mega start this time from P2 again and was able to keep Dylan behind me for the full lap., despite a massive slide into every corner! The back end didn't feel connected to the front at all.
I could see the TTs looming behind Dylan, so I knew they had both got a decent start. It turned out to be Adam right behind, and as he pressured the SuperCopa, at Rocket In I heard a lockup and waited to turn. It was a good job I did as Dylan was sliding towards the apex and would have taken me clean out. I made it through, with Adam and Dylan battling on my tail. I let Adam through before the Corkscrew so he could make his escape, but that out me back into the grasps of the Seat.
As we headed down the straight, I could hear my front splitter banging up and down and I knew it was only a matter of time before it came off.
I battled Dylan for as long as I could, but the straight line speed of the Class S cars was too much to keep them behind. I then had the Class S Civic TCR of Richard Clarke, who I was trading places with for the next few laps.
By lap 7 the splitter was definitely scraping the ground under braking, as bits of tyre were getting flicked up over the screen, so I could only hope it would cling on for dear life. It was not meant to be, and a few laps later, I was given the meatball flag (Black with Orange Circle) which means mechanical issue and a trip to the pits. When I pulled in, the guys saw I had an oil leak from the gearbox cooler pipes as well, so I had to retire the car. A shame as it would have been an easy P1 in Class and most likely a P3 or P4 overall, depending if I could keep the Civic behind for another 10 laps!

Ryan Race 2

Ryan had a more tentative start in the No11 TT, considering all the issues it seemed to be having for Adam. However, just as he started Lap 2, the box started doing it's weird stuff again, and eventually Ryan retired the car.

Adam Race 2

Adam made up 6 places on Lap 1, jumping to P2 and was in front by lap 2. I think the stress and frustration of Race 1 made him more determined to win, and it showed.
After getting in front of me at the Corkscrew, it was plain sailing from there. A vast difference to the previous race!

So we were first, last and 2nd last. Not ideal for us overall, but great for Adam to show what the TTs are capable of when they are reliable.
Adam got the fastest lap of the race, and I got it for Class A, if that is any consolation!

All Adam's best laps were near the start, clearly the tyres were dropping off as the race went on. We were glad not to be doing 45 minutes or 2 hours on these tyres at this track!

It was always going to be a difficult weekend, especially with so little time since Croft and the fact that the TT was still trying to test our patience. I just remember 2020 with the Golf, where every weekend was either a disaster or elation, and then in 2021 we nailed everything and it just dominated in most races.

Adam is still up in P1 overall, but Ryan has been pipped by Dylan in the NJM Racing SuperCopa for 2nd. I have also been demoted to 5th by Richard in the Finsport Civic, with Jonathan Mee in the PJS Elise very close behind, only 8 points between us. There are still 4 rounds to go and a dropped score, so fingers crossed we can get the bugs ironed out and start to dominate again!

Photos courtesy of Mark Lees.