Donington GP - Roadsports & ClubEnduro - 750MC - 12th & 13th October 2024
With just over a month since our fantastic 1-2 finish at Oulton Park, it was another RoadSports and Club Enduro double header at Donington on the GP Circuit. A 45 Minute Race on Saturday, then a 2hr race on Sunday. It would be the final round for both races this year.
I was alone for the full weekend (as always), Ryan was on his own for Roadsports and Dylan would be sharing with him for ClubEnduro on Sunday. Michael and Lewis were not coming with the Golf this weekend, but DannyDC2, fresh from his Japan and USA trip was coming along in his Civic in Class B to try and take my 2023 Lap Records away.
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 lane.
With the TT TDIs, we have pushed them to 342bhp with a minimum weight of 1197Kg, still below the 1210-1220kg we have been at the end of most sessions . This works out ~285bhp/ton without the driver, Diesels have a 1.05 power multiplier, and Petrol powered Forced Induction cars are required to run at 5bhp/ton lower than the class maximum (i.e. 295bhp/tonne for Class A), so we are ~10bhp/ton down on the Petrol Forced Induction and ~15bhp/ton on NA Cars.
To get us closer to the minimum weight, we have fitted a swirl pot in the fuel cell so we can hopefully run down to a much lower fuel level before we get surge.
The 750MC now uses TSL for timing.
Full Race Day Vlog
We have a full Vlog from the weekend, with snippets of the races:
Testing
With it being our local track, and some new parts to test, we decide to sign on for the afternoon again. This worked out well as I had boost pipe issues in my session, meaning our trusty fabricator Tom G did a round trip with his welder in the back of the van to get it sorted. Thanks Tom! It did mean I missed the 2nd afternoon session, but I was happy with the rest of the car and my pace. The first clear lap I did in testing was a 1:40.13, faster than the 1:40.40 lap record set by Josh Lawton in his monster Civic last year. So I was confident we had the pace.
Ryan had some issues with the sequential shifter, meaning he sat out most of the first session, but after a few adjustments, he was able to go out in the 2nd session and again was confident in the pace of the car, saying he would be in the 39s with a clear lap pretty easily.
Roadsports Qualifying
Conditions in Qualifying could not have been more different to Friday, it had rained heavily overnight and was still threatening before we went out. We took the decision to stay on a dry setup but with wet pressures, as we could easily drop them down in the pits if it did dry more, however that didn't happen, and a few times it rained quite heavily.
I'd not really got a decent lap in before the safety car was out so I dove into the pits. It was pouring it down and I almost made the decision to stay in the pits as it did not look like it was going to get any better, plus I was on pole.
Ryan was having a worse time, he'd set a reasonable lap time so was 4th as the safety car came out, but his shifter cable decided to snap this time. It was clearly too stretched from the previous race and was finished off in testing. He had to sit there and pray the conditions didn't improve
I decided against waiting it out, and timed my exit of the pits perfectly to be as far away from the safety car as possible, giving me plenty of space when the track went green. This worked out perfectly as I was able to extend my lead in pole, before Ball and Jones found their feet and knocked chunks out of my time. I could see Ball in my mirrors and I knew he was closer at the end of the lap, and I was right, I had to settle for P3. Ryan ended up falling to P10!
A dry line did seem to appear, and this meant just about everyone did their best lap on the last lap.
Danny did well in Class B, just pipping an EP3 to Pole.
I was on pole quite a few times during the session, but not when it mattered!
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:
At least I was on the inside for Turn 1, Ryan was going to be struggling as he was in the danger zone!
It was still damp for the start of the race, but with zero chance of rain, we went for a full dry setup again, and would just have to let the race come to us. Turn 1 was a bit of a mess, I'd got a better start than Ball, but I did not want to risk the outside in case someone tapped him into me. Beech then used me as a brake.
It was clear from how Jones and Ball were fighting, that they were probably on a more wet setup. It didn't stop them both sliding around trying to find the grip.
It was pretty uneventful until the pit stops. I left it a lap later than Ball, which made it VERY tight for the window closing, but I had made it.
Ryan was having more nightmares, the gearbox was great, but now he was struggling for boost. His suspicions of an actuator issue were confirmed in the pitstop, but there was nothing they could do it in. Eventually he had to retire. Nightmare.
Ball had stayed ahead in the stop, but Jones had stalled it on the way out of the pits so he was a fair way behind. As expected, with Ball being on a wet setup, as the track dried he was struggling, and I slowly reeled him in.
Jones had a bit of luck at the chicane when the yellow flags were out, which brought us all together for a few laps of battling.
The Compact clearly had the pace on the straights, so keeping him behind was going to be a hard task. It was going to be even harder if he kept bumping into me! The first hit was on the pit straight, I was moving across to take the normal racing line, and Jones just held a straight line. Luckily no real damage.
Into Coppice I got a love tap at the back, sending me off line and allowing him to monster past on the straight. A lapped car helped me as we turned the final corner, and I was able to make a move into Redgate and get alongside then ahead without any contact. Jones then decided to squeeze me towards the grass, then onto the small kerb at Hollywood. This upset the car and my rear wheel hit his front wheel. His tyre instantly deflated and sent him stage right. Luckily I was able to carry on, and even briefly set the fastest lap of the race with my rear tyre barely hanging on.
I was pretty slow at the start, but the track conditions improved and suited the setup, so all my best laps were near the end.
Danny was lucky. He'd pitted 7s too late, so received a 60s penalty, however I had lapped Crilly on the final corner of the final lap, meaning he still kept 1st position!
The position chart shows that Ryan had managed to get up to 5th before his actuator issues.
The fastest lap exchanged hands many times during this race, as would be expected with it drying out. I set it on the last lap before Crowhurst stole it 25s later! Gutted.
The same happened in Class B!
Fastest Laps
Our fastest race laps are below:
Josh Lawtons's 2023 Lap Record, a 1:40.40 was safe with the conditions as they were. Maybe another 10 minutes of running would have had him sweating! It did mean that my Class B record still stands!
Another mixed bag for us. Yes I'd won the race but we were off the pace in the damp conditions. Ryan's was as quick but not reliable enough to finish! We were hoping for a better day as we still needed to seal 2nd in Class A for Ryan and Dylan, plus 2nd overall for me.
ClubEnduro Qualifying
Conditions were much better today, fully dry with the sun trying to poke it's way through the clouds. We weren't first out in Quali, everyone seeming to have the same idea and getting to assembly mega early. I struggled to find decent space at the start, so only ended up with a 1:40.17 as I'd negotiated a load of traffic towards the end. The lap put me on pole, but I had a feeling 1:39s were looming, and it was confirmed a lap later when Ball put in a mental 1:39.671.
Ryan had gone out first to put in a banker before Dylan jumped in the car for the first time this weekend. The fuel pressure fault we had the previous day wasn't just low fuel surge like we expected, and the battles with the gear cable and the actuator were more important at the time. He went out and did his 3 laps with what seemed like a periodic miss fire that was harsher than the "surge" we had fixed on my car with the new swirl pot. He said the car felt really good so it was a shame not to at least put in a good lap. In the pits, a quick look at the loom from the rail pressure regulator proved what we suspected, the wiring had been damaged when the sensor was removed to inspect the fuel system at some point. A bit of tape was applied and Dylan strapped in, hopefully Ryan's hastily given orders of what gears worked best in each corner compared to what we had reviewed earlier would help.
I dropped my pressures and went again, this time hitting a 1:39.40 which put me back on top. I'd lost a fair bit of time at the start of my lap when looking at the delta, so was convinced there was more time to be had. I really wanted a 1:38!
Dylan was immediately on fire, he stuck in a 1:39.9 on his first flying lap, and bettered it a few laps later, posting their fastest time of 1:39.864. Mega to say he'd only done 3 laps in the car! He said the TT just gave him the confidence to push immediately.
I sat in the pits waiting for someone to get close, and Jones in the #117 Compact got dangerously close, so I headed out. I did a full attack lap and saw 1:38.79 on my VBOX. For some reason the time never appeared on TSL, so no one knew the real potential of the TT in Quali!
Dylan struggled for space on the last few laps, so settled for P5, 0.2s would have bumped him up a couple of spots. It was tight at the top, less than 0.5s separating the top 5!
This time once I got to the top in the 39s, I stayed there for almost 15 minutes!
Qualifying Laps
Our fastest Quali laps are shown below:
ClubEnduro Race
The whole race was Live Streamed by the guys at AlphaLive which you can see below:
Just like at Silverstone in the Roadsports Race, the Gadsby / Jones BMW was not going to make the start. Ian's trip on the grass burst the radiator, which was fixed, however the Oil cooler hose had split internally, and eventually burst during qualifying, so I would be alone on the front row.
Dylan would be starting this time, surrounded by TCRs!
My start was decent and I did not really have to worry about the guys behind, they were pushing and shoving each other around, so I could get my head down.
Dylan held 5th for a few laps, having a good battle with Gillespie in the #15 Golf.
My car felt great, the extra fuel removed now we could run lower had meant it didn't feel fat at the start of the race like it normally did. on my 1st flying lap I did a 1:39.87 - this was only 0.12 off the lap record from 2021. It felt easy and I knew I could do more! 2nd lap was a 1:39.377, comfortably under the record, then 3rd lap a 1:39.310 and 4th lap 1:39.354 before I hit traffic. Had I got a clear track in front of me, it felt like I could have done those laps forever.
Gillespie seemed to have an issue on Lap 4 and dropped back a bit, leaving Dylan to chase the #18 TCR of Mauger for quite a while.
By this point, I had pulled out a lead of almost 10s on the pack behind, then they started swapping places, with Ball dropping behind Mauger and Dylan, who managed to get into 2nd by lap 19.
On Lap 21 I had some more clear air, and stuck in a 1:39.146 which remained the fastest lap of the race until the end. I had always planned to pit early, and as soon as I got to the more difficult traffic, I pitted on lap 26. A lap later, the Safety car boards were out. I sat at the end of the pitlane waiting for it to go out, while everyone was driving at more or less full speed. I knew this was going to hurt us. To add insult to injury, this also mean Dylan lost his 6s lead to Mauger as the pack bunched up.
I was eventually let out, the analysis shows I was in the pits for over 2 minutes longer than everyone else, plus my 30s success penalty. I figured my race would be ruined, but we never give up!
After quite a long safety car period, we were back racing for less than a lap before it was out again due to a broken down Lotus (strange as they are so reliable!). Dylan and Mauger came into view as we were getting towards the end of the lap. The #18 TCR actually overtook Dylan under safety car, but then gives the place back. We didn't report the incident.
Another recovery job finished, we were back racing. Dylan was defending hard into Turn 1, as the Sequential TCRs have the legs on the TTs on the straights. Hugging the inside line, Mauger jumped to the outside, but then decided to try to make the apex, with Dylan clearly in his way. The bashed wheels and sent Dylan onto the grass.
A pretty poorly judged move and critical for them, as they looked to have the pace for the race win at this stage. Luckily Ryan was ready in the pits so they decided to box that lap to survey the damage.
Their stop stayed within the time limit, and no major damage was found, so Ryan needed to get his head down and put in some decent laps.
I chased down the TCR, but he let me through pretty easily, probably not wanting to make contact with both TTs in the same lap! I then got my head down, I'd stayed on the lead lap but only by around 10 seconds, so I was praying for another safety car to bring me back into the mix.
Eventually my prayers were answered with around 20 minutes left. I hoped it would be a quick recovery so we had plenty of time to catch the pack up. It was a nasty crash, Ball had been battling with the green TCR of Browes, and as they came up to a Caterham, Ball collided into both of them, smashing the Browes car to pieces. Ball had been able to carry on. The #444 TCR had somehow got into the lead, with Ball 2nd and Dylan 3rd, all pretty close together.
I then had about 12 lapped cars to get through which was going to be tough. Mauger was technically in the lead, but he'd not pitted and couldn't under safety car, with the window guaranteed to close before the safety car came in, meaning penalties were coming his way.
The job was then made impossible as the safety car let the 444 TCR past and stopped at Ball. This gave them a lap on us all.
There was no chance of us catching them on the road, but in the pitlane the guys had heard whispers of a penalty coming Ball's way, for causing the collision near the end. This was confirmed when the results were published, promoting us to 2nd and 3rd. A good result for us both considering the safety car screwing us twice! But not how we wanted to win it.
Our TTs were the only cars to get into the 1:39s during the race. As I said before, I think I could have done them all race with clear air! I'd also done a 1:39.332 right near the end as well, on tyres that were over an hour into the race!
The position chart shows how far down I dropped in the pits, all the way into 20th! Like I've said before, never give up!
The lapchart shows the gaps, but they are skewed with Mauger not pitting until right near the end, we are all 2 or 3 laps down!
3 safety car interventions was a record for this year, where we have had very few compared to previous years. The fastest lap was set by me early on and not troubled.
Fastest Laps
Our fastest race laps are below:
As I have already mentioned, the 2021 Lap Record set by Adam Howarth and Chris Boardman fell pretty early.
The Class B record also went to Will Puttergill and Chris Nylan in the Civic!
Even with the 2nd position, Ryan and Dylan were able to seal 2nd for Class A in the Championship standings. My 3rd with Fastest lap also secured 2nd overall!
A massive thanks to the team again for this weekend. We had our issues again but they managed to make sure the cars survived for the race that counted.
That is it for the 2024 season, it has gone so fast! All we have left now is the Birkett Relay at the end of October, which should be fun! Both TTs are coming out, along with Michael and Lewis in the Golf.
We will also be doing the Hot Hatch Races on Sunday again with the cars from the Swift Sport Challenge that will be starting next season. We are also running a team of them in the Birkett with a few star drivers (plus me and Ryan!)! Our lads are building a car for the occasion, ready to race next season!
We are also taking the #1 TT to the RoR at Anglesey as some guys from the RAF are having a drive with Ryan. It is going to be an interesting race!
Photos courtesy of Jonathan Elsey Motorsport Photography, Rob F @ Racelogic and 750MC
All the details and dates for future races we are entering can be found on the Darkside Motorsport Page.
Recent Posts
-
Donington GP - Roadsports & ClubEnduro - 750MC - 12th & 13th October 2024
With just over a month since our fantastic 1-2 finish at Oulton Park, it was another RoadSports and …01 11 2024 -
Oulton Park - ClubEnduro - 750MC - 21st September 2024
After a great result at Silverstone, we had a 5 week break before we out again, this time for a 100 …07 10 2024 -
Silverstone International - Roadsports & ClubEnduro - 750MC - 17th & 18th August 2024
After the disaster at Cadwell, it was time for another double header at Silverstone on the Internati …19 09 2024