Anglesey has always been one of them circuits that I just click with, and last weekend thankfully was no exception. Going back to the circuit where I got my first ever podium was always going to be enjoyable just for the memories, but thankfully, the Tucker Motorsport team and I came back with some even happier memories this year!
Silverstone proved that having good results at a circuit in the past stand for absolutely nothing and literally anything can happen, and with Anglesey circuit having not been used for any form of racing in a very long time due to the pandemic, the circuit was always going to feel pretty "green" making the car set up throughout the weekend difficult to gauge.
Friday was a bit of a mixed bag, with the times seeming to get slower and slower throughout the day which gave us all a few headaches, and with the pace relative to the others very unknown, we found ourselves chasing set up through the first 3 sessions to try and find a way to keep the tyres alive throughout a prolonged stint, with some changes not improving the overall set up, resulting in Dean having a very busy day on my car!
Qualifying started at just gone 10 in the blazing Welsh sunshine, with track temperatures being at their highest point of the weekend, getting a clean lap in early was crucial before the tyres overheated. Having gone out at the front of the qualifying queue, due to the tow not being all that valuable at Anglesey, I managed to put a time in quick enough for 2nd place within the first 3 laps of the session, and from there, it was fairly impossible to get close to the improving the lap times, lapping half a second off the pace. With a slow in lap and a bit of time in the pitman to help the situation I headed out for one final attempt, this time with a tow from my team mate for the weekend Courtney Milnes.
I managed to improve my best lap time, despite struggling with traction, by 0.03 seconds, which got me within 0.02 of Pole Position, but the lap time set by Brian Trott was just too quick for me to match.
The first race of the day started in what can only be described as the most entertaining and frantic green flag lap I have ever known. Usually on the green flag lap we get a 1minute board, 30 second board and then a green flag to send us on our way for the warm up lap, however, a mix up saw them show the 5 second board and put the starting lights on the gantry. Brian and I had clearly read the start instructions, and after pulling away from the line backed off in order to complete the green flag lap as normal. However the drivers behind took this as a race start and it became very obvious that we had to get racing, in case for some reason that was actually the start! Thankfully the race was red flagged before we got round the Marshalls.
Once the chaos was out of the way, the actual race start happened, slotting into 2nd around turn 1 behind Trott, before getting a good run through turn 2 and up towards Rocket I made a last minute dive to the inside to take the lead.
For the next few laps it was critical to look after the tyres, and weathering the storm of constant pressure from the cars behind for the first few laps, the gap started to open and up, and from there it was just about putting consistent clean laps in to the finish line to take my 4th win of the season! The perfect response to a difficult Silverstone weekend!
Race 2 turned out to be an even quieter affair for me. Starting from Pole position this time, but making an unusually sluggish start, Trott managed to get the run on me to turn 1 and take the lead of the race, and after attempting to make the same move at the top of Rocket but this time not being able to make the move stick, it looked like I was in for a tricky race, until we got to the 2nd to last corner where Trott locked up, ran wide and gifted me the lead, from there, the race was extremely quiet for me, with an incident between Trott and Foden giving me a big gap after one lap, and the cars behind fighting each other, I could just ease out the gap till it was up to 6 seconds.
But with 7 minutes left on the clock my heart sank, Safety car boards and flags came out due to an incident at turn 2, making the large gap I had built up completely evaporate. Thankfully from my point of view, the race couldn't restart and we finished the race under yellow flag conditions, giving me my 5th race win of the season.
The final race of the weekend came just in time for some of that glorious Anglesey rain, putting a light sprinkle of moisture on the track just before the start of the race, making for an extremely exciting opening lap as we all were trying to battle for position whilst not really knowing how much grip we were going to have arriving into every corner.
After a good start and battle with Allwood up towards Rocket, Seb Fisher pulled a great move around the outside to take the lead of the race, and from there is became a fairly tricky opening lap, losing positions to Allwood, Foden and Graham by the time lap one had came to a close, with the racing being more typical of an Mx5 race.
However, having taken 2 wins already throughout the weekend, I relaxed into the race which ultimately the maximum result we were capable of was 5th place, with some pace coming back in the middle of the race before eventually dropping away as the rain increased at the end of the race.
After the trialling weekend of Silverstone, I feel like this was the perfect way to bounce back, and to give the Tucker Motorsport team something to cheer about again. Without doubt the guidance from everyone in the team at Anglesey was phenomenal, and the results reflected that, with good results in the Supercup as well with Clive Powells taking wins in class throughout the weekend as well.
The car returned home after the weekend in one piece and looking fantastic after all of the hard work the Airbourne Graphics & Signs team did to help us with the body work damage after Silverstone.
Next up is Snetterton on July 31st for one day of Mazda Mayhem, with qualifying and all 3 races taking place over a one day event! I will be there once again representing Tucker Motorsport, Airbourne Graphics & Signs, EPTA Projects and PerformanceOne Clothing.
See you then
Jack
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