14th-15th July

Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship - Brands Hatch GP

It was great to get back in the car again after a few months, albeit not the exact same Chevron I raced and the opening round at Brands hatch. The weather was keeping everyone on their toes throughout the weekend but fortunately for me the rain avoided my stints in the car. Qualifying

There had been spots of rain as the cars filtered through the paddock up to the collecting area, but it was sparse, and soon disappeared, all the cars taking to the drying track slightly later than expected, and all on slicks. I wanted to get a banker lap in fairly quickly although having not raced around the Grand Prix track in a while I was finding more and more time each lap. I managed find some clear track to put my fastest lap in just a sudden downpour. Whilst the session continued for the full 40-minute duration, the conditions made any further lappery worthless, and the track was empty by the time the chequered flag fell. Race

With the race starting a few minutes late from its scheduled 16:20 slot, the curfew-beating 18:28 finish meant the race would run around four minutes shy of the intended two hours. The rain held off for the complete race and the track was dry for the start.

I made good rolling start but got boxed in behind a cautiously-starting Chevron which cost me to lose about 5 places. After the first few corners I managed to get past the teams other Chevron only to get stuck behind the Strata21 Porsche 997 later on. It was particularly difficult to overtake many of the cars in front because of the power to weight ratio of the Chevron...I would catch them from 5 car lengths back into the corners but they would power out and pull away down each straight. This was very frustrating and at times quite dangerous, I managed to keep a calm head and gradually climbed near the front of the race. Towards the end of my stint (about 40 minutes in) the car started to develop misfire, I radioed into the team and suggested that we may be out of fuel (no fuel gage). Having had the same problem at Silverstone last time out I wasn’t about to wait for the car to stop so I pitted next time around. Unfortunately this really ruined a good strategy, as I handed the car over to my team mate a couple of laps later the safety car came out. All the other cars made the most of this and pitted while our car was crawling behind the safety car. That wasn’t to be that last of our bad luck because later on in the race the misfire came back, it was later discover to be a fuel pick up issue and meant the car was a good 2-3 seconds off the times I was doing in the first stint.

As the sun started to draw long shadows across the track, after the 2 hour race the car finally came to finish 5th in class.

Although the race didn’t quite go our way this time it was still a great experience and I’m continuing to learn more about the car and endurance racing. Due to our budget I am unsure when I will be back out again but we will be continuing to push hard for sponsorship and generate funds.

24th March 2012

Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship Round 1 - Silverstone GP

First Race of the year!

We were all really excited about the first race of the year, not only because it was the first race but also as it was a new style of car and racing for me. After some early season testing we finally made it to the first round of the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship and were blessed with brilliant sunny weather all weekend.

Testing on Friday all went well, we only had the afternoon session but the morning was put to good use. We had to make seats for both me and my larger team mate to make sure we would both be comfortable for the 3 hour race. There were many things to test including water bottle, helmet radio etc. On top of that I also had to learn the new GP circuit! After my session we were one of the fastest in our class.

Qualifying

Everyone seemed to pick up their game in qualifying and were going a lot faster than on the Friday. Both me and my team mate Nick Jarvis had to post times for qualifying. The team decided that Nick needed more time to get used to the car and the circuit so he was in the car for 35 minutes and then we swapped over to give me 10 minutes left. New tyres helped my laps but a car had put a lot of oil down on a few corners towards the end of qualifying. Because of this a lot of cars had put their best times in early. I still managed to find about a second from Friday testing which positioned the car P7 in class on the grid.

The Race

The race strategy was decided quite late. As the car was a bit off the front runners pace the team decided the to run the race with only one pit stop to give us the best chance of the win. It was agreed that my team mate Nick Jarvis would start the race and I would finish. This would mean each driver would be in the car for 1 hour 30 minutes.

After about 40 minutes into the race Nick reported a problem over the radio, the team pitted the car which was still running but was badly vibrating. I jumped in and as they couldn’t find any obvious issues they sent me out. It was evident to me after a few laps that something serious was wrong with the car. I have to admit at the time I thought that we would have to retire the car and it would be race over. I managed to make it back to the pits and pulled straight into the garage. I stayed in the car while the team had a look for the problem. I was sure that it’s was an engine fault and not something simple like a flat spotted tyre. They discovered that one of the spark plugs had failed so quickly fitted a new one and I was off again.

After losing a huge amount of time in the pits I managed to catch up the other cars in class to get the car up to 3rd place. After about an hour into my stint I noticed that the engine was cutting out in second gear coming into the Wellington straight. I reported the issue to the team via radio and they acknowledged the issue. A couple of laps later the engine was even worse. I instantly thought it was a fuel problem. The engine was now really bad and I radioed the team to tell them I was going to have to pit. I backed off and short shifted but coming into the last few corners before the pits the car was barely moving. I made it half way into the pit entrance and it died. I spent a couple of minutes trying to start the car up but with no luck. I then waved to the marshals to push the car as it was in a dangerous position, they managed to get it far enough for the team to take over. We made a driver change and added fuel to get the car to the end of the race. The team managed to fire the car up and it was up to Nick to finish the last 40 minutes.

Nick managed to bring the car home 3rd in class, not a bad position considering all the problems we were faced with.

The fuel issue was later discovered to be caused by the tank getting too hot and the fuel evaporating. I am confident that this and the other issues will be fixed for the next round. I think we were all a bit disappointed with the pace of the car after the encouraging pace on the Friday. Although I was happy of my own performance and it’s definitely been a valuable learning curve for me in this new style of racing.

The next race will be at Doningon Park on the 21st April. Unfortunately we are not sure if I will be able to race unless we find a new sponsor so fingers crossed.

This first round of the championships will be on Motors TV soon.

24th February 2012

Chevron GR8 Test - Snetterton
It seemed like forever since my last time on a race track. The last meeting being a big success at Brands Hatch with a win, pole and second place.

Having spent all of the winter break searching for new sponsorship deals it was great news at Christmas time when team Track Torque contacted us wanting to give me a test in their Chevron GR8 GT car.

The test was at Snetterton race circuit in Norfolk on a sunny Friday 24th February. There was a lot to learn about the performance of the car so I had to build up my pace gradually. The car felt really nice to drive and had a lot more grip than I was used to. As I became more familiar with my surroundings and the sequential gear box I started to pick up the pace. Unfortunately due to it being a track day no one was allowed to time any cars. The rule is that you have to pass on the left side and not into the corners which was a bit annoying but nethertheless we all had a great day. I have taken a lot of experience from the day which will be very useful for the future.

I would like to say a big thanks to Clive and all from Track Torque for giving me the opportunity to test their car. This year the team will be running two Chevron GR8's in the British Brit Car Endurance Championship.

The first race of the series is at Silverstone on the 24th March so we will be working hard to raise the budget for the seat in the second car.

10/11th September 2011

Lydden Hill
Not for the first time in the season the weather made things very tricky for the penultimate round of the championship at Lydden Hill near Canterbury.

This was the only race track on the calendar which I hadn’t raced at before. Thankfully it is quite a simple circuit so it didn’t take me long to learn. We soon found that the track surface was very abrasive and wearing through tyres very quickly. This made qualifying particularly difficult as we only had a few quick laps to put in a quick time before the tyres went off.

Qualifying
Having worn a set of slicks down to the canvas in the 20 minutes practice before qualifying the car felt extremely different with new slicks, the balance of the car swapped completly which caught me out a bit on my quick lap.
I qualified in 3rd position which wasn’t too bad a position for the first race of the weekend.

Race 1
The track was dry for qualifying but after some heavy rain showers the track was beginning to dry for the race. We made the decision to run full wets, as did my championship rivals. I instantly knew that this was the wrong decision on the warm up lap. I made a good start and made my way up to 2nd position. After a few laps the tyres had given up and the drivers towards the back of the grid who gambled on slicks gradually made their way to the front. I ended up finishing in 10th position.

Race 2
This misjudgement with the tyres was made worse by the fact that I had to start the second race from where I finished in the first, I was also on the outside on the grid! By the time the second race came around the track was completely dry, this allowed me to show our true pace. I made another good start and worked my way through the field to finish in 3rd position setting fastest lap and importantly finishing in front of my rivals in the championship.

The race at Lydden Hill can be seen on Motors TV on Sky:
Thursday 6th October @ 11:10am - 12:10

The final round of the championship will be held at Brands Hatch on the 15th/ 16th October.

25/26th July 2011

Brands double for Parr!

After a fairly long break since the last race at Donington everyone was looking forward to round 4 of the championship at our local track Brands Hatch.

This weekend's two races were to be held as a support race to the Pirelli European Drift Championship and we were treated with great weather throughout the weekend.

Qualifying
The best of the grip from new tyres comes in on about the 5th lap so I decided to only do this many laps and save them for the races. The other cars were doing 20+ laps and taking the life out of their tyres. The car was feeling good and I managed to put a reasonable lap together to qualify in 2nd position just 0.07 seconds off pole.

Race 1
With only tenths between us it was sure to be a close race at the front. I knew that the start was going to be crucial. Starting in second position on the grid meant although I was on the outside for the first corner I was on the clean side of the track. This helped me make a good start off the line and I managed to lead out of the first corner. From this position I was able to control the pace of the race and I was able to set consistent lap times without any mistakes. Keeping one eye in my mirrors for the complete 21 laps I managed to win my first race in the British Ford Fiesta championship.

Race 2
Having won the first race I was on pole for the second. Not such a good start this time enabled the number 35 car to come along side me into Paddock Hill bend, we were side by side until Druids for which I had the inside position for the corner got into the lead. The number 35 car wasn’t to give up easily and out of Graham Hill bend he managed to out drag me to Surtees. He got into the lead but clearly on the ragged edge, he almost spun the car in the following corner which allowed me to slip past him.

I knew I just had to do what I did in the first race and I would take the second win. I was leading for almost the whole race, then with about 3 minutes left to go there was a big crash on the run up to Druids. This caused the red flag to come out and with the race distance almost complete the race directors decided to end the race giving me my second win of the weekend.

A thoroughly enjoyable and successful weekend. After the race we found out that number car 35 who I was battling with in the 2nd race had been excluded due to an illegal ECU, this has moved me up to 3rd in the championship.

Looking forward to the next race at Rockingham on the 16/17 July.

Coverage of the race is on Motors TV:

Brands Hatch: July 6th at 8:00pm
Brands Hatch: July 7th at 3:15am
Brands Hatch: July 7th at 11:05am
Brands Hatch: July 12th at 4:35am

14/15th May 2011

Donington Park Round 3

The tricky weather conditions was the main challenge for round 3 of the British Ford Fiesta Championship. Encouraged from the increased pace at the last meeting at Snetterton we were all hoping for a similar performance. The car feels a lot more familiar to drive now and although the pace in free practice was average the car felt good.

Having arrived at Donington with limited experience of the track, the 20mins free practice before qualifying was spent getting the feel for the car and the track. Luckily, although rain threatened, it held off for qualifying. One of the most important lessons I am beginning to learn is how the tyres perform and how to manage them, with a new set for qualifying I knew that a quick time would have to be made early on in the session, after that the tyres seam to level out about 3-4 tenths slower. I managed to put a fairly good lap together and qualified in 4th position.

The first race on Sunday brought some very tricky conditions. The rain was again threatening for most of the morning and just before the race the heavens opened. With no experience of driving a front wheel drive saloon car in the wet it was very difficult to judge the conditions. It looked like the rain was easing off so most of the top runners had opted for slick tyres and we followed suit. Starting on the outside was also a bit of a challenge but I made a really good start and was second out of the first corner. By now the rain had almost stopped but the track was still very greasy. I felt comfortable with the pace but several very aggressive moves knocked me off the track and down the field, at one point I dropped back to about 9th place! I managed to fight my way to finish a frustrating 7th position.

After a long wait from the first race in the morning the track had nicely dried out for the second race. As the first race result determines your position for race 2 I now had to start 7th. This gave me a lot of hard work to get back up the front. I made another good start and got up to 5th position. Unfortunately the carnage from the first race carried over to the second and a rolled car caused the safety car to come out. After the wrecked cars had been cleared the safety car came in, unfortunately there was not enough laps to challenge for more positions so I had to settle for 5th place.

I was disappointed with some of the driver standards throughout the weekend but the important thing was I managed to show good pace. I’m looking forward to a good weekend at Brands Hatch on the 25-26th June.

Coverage of the Donington race is on Motors TV:

Donington: June 1st at 8:00pm
Donington: June 2nd at 3:15am
Donington: June 2nd at 11:05am