Just over a month ago we made a one off entry to the Britcar Endurance Trophy race at Silverstone on the GP Circuit, which you are read about by clicking the below image.
We did that to give us a bit more data on how the cars would perform in a race setting. Let's say it went pretty well!

Next up was Round 1 of the 750MC Club Enduro Championship, which takes us to Donington. With the race being on Easter Monday, it only gives us 4 working days to get ready for Round 1 of the Turismo-X Racing Championship, at Silverstone on Sunday!
All the details and dates for those series can be found on the Darkside Motorsport Page.

A layout of the Donington GP Circuit is below. The only difference between the National and GP is the Melbourne Loop, so instead of a quick Right-Left Chicane, it is a Left-Right at The Esses, then the Melbourne and Goddards Hairpins before you are back on to the Wheatcroft Straight past the pit wall.

The GP layout is not one we do very often, and we knew it would not suit our cars. The way we set them up always seems to struggle in low speed tight corners such as the two Hairpins this configuration adds. It is a shame the first two rounds for this series (here and Croft) have them!
For the ClubEnduro, the Golf would be running in Class B, which is 240bhp/tonne without the driver which means we are at similar power to Class A for Turismo-X (and the SuperCup last year), ~270bhp at the flywheel as Diesels have a 1.05 power multiplier,so theoretically we can only have ~228bhp/tonne. The TT was going into Class A, which is 300bhp/tonne and it would be competing with quite a few TCR cars, as well as some very well sorted BMWs.
The 750MC uses TSL for timing at some rounds, but also TheResultsLive.co.uk for others, so the results can be found using TRL link for this round.

Full Race Day Vlog

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

Qualifying

Qualifying started off with a bit of confusion. We didn't know until after the fact, but a few cars failed the noise test (which I thought would be impossible, but clearly not!) and while they argued their point, everyone else was waiting to go out. This meant that while 2/3rds of the grid were out pumping in some laps, we were driving around the paddock back towards the pitlane, as we were unable to join the track at the Melbourne Hairpin once cars started coming through.
The kerfuffle lost us at least 3 laps to everyone else, plus we were joining the track on cold tyres on a warm up lap whilst trying to stay out the way of others already on their fliers. It especially hurt all the two driver teams, since they had to swap over mid way through.
A red flag after we did 2 flying laps, did not help either. I was sitting in P17 overall, 5th in Class, 1.5s off the pace and Ryan was P18, just behind me. Since Ryan had done his mandatory 3 laps (as that includes the out lap and in lap), they chose this time to get Adam into the car and push to get them up the grid.
For me I was happy with the car, so concentrated on getting some good space, which was difficult with the big speed differential caused by the driver abilities and spread between the Class A, B and C cars.
By the end of the session, I had jumped to P2 in class, but demoted to P19 overall as some of the Class A cars came alive. Adam put in a decent lap to get them in 6th. The 1:44.89 I did in the Golf was a fair way off the 1:44.08 I did on a random day in 2021 on some old tyres though.

As you can see below, everyone above Ryan and Adam had 5 laps in before the Red Flag, against their 2, so they were already on the back foot. Both of them complained about understeer, so it seemed we were still not where we want to be setup wise with the car. Whilst it looked dire, being over 2s off the pole time, they were only 1s off P3 and with a few setup changes and more time in the car, it was more than possible to find that amount of time.

My situation was not looking great at first glance, being 0.92s from Chris Freeman in the Area Motorsport Golf, but when I found out his lap was the one just before the red flag, it all made sense. I was trying to get some space and slowed to let a few cars through, when he flew past me into the Goddards Chicane, jumped over all the horrible yellow kerbs they have installed and carried on to the loop. This was where most of that 0.92s was made up for sure. Doing that repeatedly in the race was going to be a recipe for disaster. Adam kissed one of them with the wheel in testing earlier in the week and bent the rim. I would stay away!
I only did 7 laps as I came in due to a load of understeer. Nothing seemed to be wrong, and we were thinking the session did not have that long left, but in the end some cars managed to get 15 laps in! Maybe I should have stayed out longer and pushed a bit more to get further towards Freeman on the grid.

Qualifying Laps

Our 'fastest' laps are shown below:

For reasons that will become clear later, below is a list of penalties that can be given for various offences during the race. Look carefully at the Exceeding Track Limits section. They have been increased for the 2022 season by MSUK.

Race

Adam elected to start in the TT and was on row 3, next to the pit wall but on the outside for Turn 1. I was back on Row 9, two rows back from Freeman and surrounded by Class A cars and the most of Class B just a few rows behind.
The starts in this series are 2x2 rolling, which we have much less experience with than standing starts from our previous series.

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

Adam & Ryan Race

Adam had really good pace early on, getting straight up to 3rd place and having the lap times to stay there. The 2 lead cars drove away, easily being 1 to 2 seconds a lap quicker, first place was occupied by Area Motorsports Class A winning TCR Leon with handy driver Carl Swift. Second place car being Andy Marsden, another handy driver in his M3 GTR that sports a £15,000 sequential gearbox and Detuned M4 engine that kicks out 450lbs/ft !
I was over the moon to know the TT was capable despite being a last minute prep job with minimal setup testing. We knew we would be lucky to even have a seat at the table with some of these cars that have been developed over many years.
Adam is never happy with 3rd place and pushed harder than the grip available, which meant he racked up quite a number of penalties resulting in a drive through, then a stop go which turned into a big telling off from the Clarke of the Course (basically the headmistress!).

After Adams off track exploits and two unscheduled pit stops, he was summoned for a third time for me to have my go in the car. The race had settled and Scott was looking like he needed some fuel within a few laps, so make a practice stop in my car rather than ruin Scott's good run. He was P1 in class and looking like he was going to continue to pull away from the Porsche, so we knew we had to nail his.

We decided to swap the front left tyre on my car before doing the fuel, this is advised in the rules but in reality is the slower way of doing things, so next time we will get the fuel in and sort the wheel while I get back into the car. I think some F1 type practicing wouldn't have gone amiss, but we know for next time.

On the exit of the pits, I could see a few cars jostling around on the straight quite far over to the left so I was quite carful not to just pile out of the pits (unlike some people, even on track days!), so I hung back and cautiously navigated the first corner. The car felt super soft, maybe due to the cold left front tyre with 19psi compared to the 30psi hot tyres on the other 3 wheels.
The cars I hung back for were class C cars so even being steady, I should have easily walked around them, but the BMW was taking no prisoners and almost put me on the grass at Starkey's. No bother, a corner or two later and I was around and had the Yaris GR in our class in my sights. With all the penalties, I had no idea what position I was in or if the car I was chasing was for position but in these situations I just get my head down and drive as fast as the car and conditions will allow!

I managed to catch another TCR Leon and some of the fast Class B cars, but I was still lapping 1 to 2 seconds slower than the VBOX fastest lap set by Adam early in the race. There were areas where I knocked significant chunks of time out of Adams best lap, so we know we have suspension work to do and the car can easily match or beat the 2 leaders. It wasn't long after Scott's pit stop that he had an engine failure and when I asked Mathisse how Scott was doing and he said he had retired, I was gutted. An RS3 TCR stuck it into the gravel at coppice so double waved yellows ended up there until the race end. I managed to get around a fair few cars during my stint, so I was happy I put in a solid effort and when the car is sorted, we will nail it!
20th position was not what we hoped for, but the car finished its first 2 hour race and the jobs list was not too long that Silverstone the next weekend would be impossible!!

Scott Race

I was put in a tricky position at the start by the yellow BMW to my left. Before the Red lights go out, we are supposed to be in the 2x2 formation, but as we rounded the last corner, he had dropped a fair bit back from the pack in front. Keen not to get a penalty, I played it safe and hung back, but went as soon as the lights extinguished. This gave me the breathing space so I could concentrate on attacking instead of defending into Turn 1. As the guys in front bunched up, I was able to get a decent run through Redgate and Hollywood, taking the Lotus at Craners.
The green E46 put up a fight but I got him around the outside at McLean's. As the TCR pushed past Freeman, he was next in my sights when we bunched up into the chicane for the first time. I was fully on the brake pedal and nearly smashed into the back of him, luckily he turned left just in time! This put me too far away at the Melbourne Hairpin, but as everyone lined up at Goddards, I made my move on Freeman, finishing the first lap P16 and P1 in class!
I was quickly overtaken by the Class A RS3 TCR (I want one of those so bad!) into Redgate, but my race was with Freeman behind, not him. The issue was a few of the TCRs and Orange M3 in front now were being driven by the slower driver pairings, which meant whilst they were much quicker in a straight line, through the corners I was being held up massively, allowing the guys behind to catch back up.
A Scirocco and BMW had come together at the Melbourne Loop, which the Ambulance was dispatched to and the safety car deployed. In 2020 this could have been a pit stop opportunity, but the rules have been changed to limit the pit window to 30 minutes from the start and 15 minutes from the end. This is to even it out for those with fuel tanks that can't do such a long stint.
This had brought me back closer to the leaders, but more importantly, it had put me back in the sights of the Class B cars behind. Not ideal as I was stretching a decent lead at this point.

At the restart, I did pretty well considering my straight line deficit, keeping with the TCR and M3 in front. The Cupra was as desperate to get round the M3 as I was, and their battle just slowed me down even more. I could see Freeman in my mirrors, followed directly by Handley in the other Area Motorsport Golf.
As we turned onto the pit straight, I had been warned by Mathisse that there must be oil at Turn 1, just as he said it, my rear view mirror was full of a side view of Freeman's Golf. Clearly he had not got the memo! Luckily he caught it and only lost a place to Handley.
This gave me some breathing room to work with, but I still had the issue of the big orange cork in the bottle that was the M3! However another safety car (to attempt to clear the oil) put paid to that for now.

They obviously did not do a great job, since Carl Swift, the race leading Area Motorsport TCR had a massive slide and dropped into the gravel, with Adam nearly following him.
I was still being held up by the guys in front, and into the chicane, their defending meant Luke and now the Cayman were in the battle. Not where I wanted to be! Now I needed to be attacking and defending. They swapped places and I could see the Porsche was really strong on the brakes.
Into Coppice the TCR managed to squeeze through and I was hoping to follow him. Instead the BMW chopped me up, meaning the Cayman could take a massive lunge into the chicane. He then did the same on the BMW at the hairpin which opened the door for me, but the straight line speed meant I could not make any move stick. I finally got my chance into McLean's sending it up the inside.

I now had my sights on the Cayman, which seemed to be a bit quicker in a straight line, and much better into the heavy braking zones, but over a lap I managed to reel him back in.
A Lotus Exige from the class above decided to get in on the action as well, splitting us up for a while, but he squeezed through on the outside of Redgate a few laps later.
I chose this moment to get the Cayman into Old Hairpin. I think he did not expect me to be there and reacted by nearly shoving me off the track. I managed to get the car slowed down enough to make the corner in 3rd and stay ahead up the hill.
I'd pulled another decent gap, but a bit of traffic allowed him to get back on my bumper again. I seemed to get stuck behind the slower cars right at the wrong moment, but that is the luck of the draw with back markers!
At Coppice a green Class A BMW seemed to be struggling, and held me up massively as we turned right, so the Cayman dove down the inside of both of us. This at least meant I could get through as well, but now I was chasing instead of leading!
More traffic allowed the Cayman to pull a decent lead, but once I got into clean air, I reeled him back in as a TCR pushed past me on the straight. As the TCR dove at the Hairpin, I used the opportunity to get through. The Cayman wasn't having it though, and he fought hard, nudging me on the exit of Goddard's and made contact on the straight as well.

Things seemed to settle down for a while as the Cayman disappeared in my mirrors and a few of the Class A cars had swapped to quicker drivers and were coming back through the pack.
Well over an hour into my stint, we got back into traffic and the Cayman came back at me. We were both waiting for a Safety car that was never going to come. We had agreed that we needed to wait until ~1:20 then pit regardless, as the car would be dangerously low on fuel. Mathisse came on the radio to say Adam was in, so to wait until they had completed their stop for me to come in. A lap later I had what I thought was fuel surge, so I came in as well for my mandatory 3 minute stationary stop. Seems like loads of time right?

The guys did a great job, but the fuel just would not go in fast enough, so we were on the back foot. When changing the front left tyre a stud decided to work loose as well, so it was a bit of a nightmare. We ended up going about 30s over the minimum time, so we had to hope the guys behind did the same!
Just before I had pitted, the coolant light had come on, but I figured this was because the temperature had crept past 135c! We had never ran the car for so long with these ambient temperatures. At the Birkett it was more like 5c outside, not 18c! The temps had come down but the light stayed on. Hopefully it was nothing to worry about! During the stop, as I was out of the car while refuelling, I had seen the stud come out, so when I was back on track and the car was handling like a shopping trolley, I was on the radio asking the level of confidence that the wheel was on properly. Mathisse said Paul was confident. I pushed on! With a fresh front tyre and lower fuel load, I was able to do my fastest lap of my race (a 1:45.72) with traffic and an overtake for position!
The next lap was not quite so good. The engine was sounding a little dodgy and I was losing time on the straights. Not a good sign. As I navigated the two hairpins, the turbo felt much less responsive, a sure sign of low compression. Into Redgate it was even worse, then out of the Old Hairpin, I had to drop it down to 3rd. A few seconds later, my race was over. I was gutted, not just for myself but all the guys had worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to get the cars ready, and this was the result. Dropping from the race lead to nothing.
Not knowing what had failed, I just straight onto what looked like perfectly smooth grass. It was not, and must have been mowed with a helicopter as I bounced all over the place, ripping the front splitter off (again!).

So that was it, P20 for Adam and Ryan in the TT, and P34 for me in the Golf, so at least I was not dead last, and still classified!

You can see below that out of the 50 cars that started, only 35 were classified. That included me as I had completed 46 laps compared to 64 for the leader.

The TT was behind the leader by 4 laps which equates to ~6:40, it gave away so much time in penalties, which looking at it was 5s for the first offence, 15s for the second, ~15s for the Drive-through, 4:15 for the Stop-Go then ~60s for a longer pit stop, so at least 5 minutes were lost overall. If they had not done so, they would have been battling the 100 Leon TCR for 3rd place, which strangely did a fastest lap time almost identical to the TTs best (1:42.44 vs the TTs 1:42.42).

Adam beat his fastest lap from Qualifying within 2 laps, but then was constantly struggling with front grip. The nice thick coating of oil at Redgate and the Melbourne Hairpin meant it was going to be a battle to beat it, although quite a few people improved as fuel levels dropped.

I struggled all through the race to get near to my qualifying time of 1:44.89, only managing a 1:45.75

Fastest Laps

Our fastest race laps are below:

Not a great start for the ClubEnduro Championship at all, but we have some ideas with the TT to get some more pace, and the Golf showed that when it is reliable, it will easily have the pace to be a front running car. We just need to keep it consistent as that is what win's championships.
Thanks to the guys for working so hard in the runup to the weekend. It is all worthwhile when you get a great result, but we have been in much worse positions and bounced back. Just never give up!

Photos courtesy of Mick Walker and @Scruffybearpictures.