Probably one of the most intense days of racing I have ever had in my life so far. Qualifying and 3 races in 1 day, and with the competition, particularly the top 5, closer than ever!
Friday had been a very mixed day, with the 1st and 4th practice sessions being wet, and on a Snetterton circuit that became more of an ice rink than a race track, the times seemed to be all over the place, however in the dry sessions, the usual suspects seemed to be right on the pace from the get go. For us, it felt like a day of struggling and not really being able to find a sweet spot with the car, with us still making set up changes after the 3rd session, leaving us going into Qualifying with a slight unknown as to whether the changes would work or not.
Once again, as seems to always be the way this year, the threat of rain for Saturday was high, but amazingly throughout the day, the rain managed to avoid our races, with only a light drizzle before race 2.
Snetterton is probably the most tow dependant circuit on the calendar this year, but as is always the way, collecting a tow without compromising the cornering entries is extremely tough. I found myself in a group with MCR's Steve Foden, the two Redline cars of Jason & Callum Greatrex and BC's Adam Sparrow at the start of the session.
The session itself seemed to be a slow burner, initially taking provisional pole position with a 2.23.128, but as the session went on, and numerous laps not getting a clean run, I was sitting down in 5th, as the track seemed to get quicker and quicker. On lap 6 I retook pole with a 2.21.868 with a tow assisted lap, but that soon became 3rd place as Trott and Fisher went quicker. My final lap of the session proved to be the lap I needed, getting a tow from Fisher all the way to turn 2, and then another double tow from the Redline cars down the back straight I gained 0.8 to finish on pole by 0.503 from Fisher.
Race 1 I decided to make life difficult for myself by doing a lovely burnout off the line instead of a race start, with that being said, I still managed to come out of the first lap in 2nd place.
At the star of lap 3 I tried to retake the lead up the inside of turn 1, but wasn't able to make the move stick on the inside line, and eventually lost out on 2nd place to Fenwick, but as Fenwick went for the lead I managed to capitalise as well and take 2nd from Fisher, and began to chase Fenwick.
After working together for a lap, I managed to get a really good run out of the final corner on Fenwick and tow alongside him down the start finish straight, this time committing to the outside line for turn 1 and sweeping around on the wider line to take 1st place. But as is the way with Snetterton, there is no getting out of the tow.
It didn't take long to lose the place back, as Fenwick pulled a great move around the outside under the bridge at Brundle, taking the inside for Nelsons and the move was complete, leaving me defending 2nd from Fisher. The next lap was all about using the two to get back to Fenwick, and sure enough by the end of the lap, and with a really good exit from the final corner, and a bit of head wind assistance, I managed to retake the lead of the race and defend the lead in the closing laps to take my hardest fought win of the season!
Race 2 started with a very odd feeling, with Fenwick being DSQ'd from Race 1 due to a technical infringement, I thought I would be starting alongside Fisher. However, he was instructed to start the race from the 3rd grid spot, giving me the entire front row to myself! After having 2 green flag laps due to the rain in the race before, I was expecting a busier race, but as we drove onto the circuit it was very apparent that the circuit was bone dry.
The start was definitely an improvement on race 1 and with a few bumps from Fisher to help me along my way, I managed to hold the lead through the 1st lap and pull a healthy margin giving me a few laps of comfort, but as I set my fastest race lap of the weekend, the pack had already managed to tow up to the back of me.
It wasn't long before Fisher was able to draw up alongside me going into turn 1 to attempt to make a pass, but in doing so lost a position to Brian Trott, who made it clear from the outset that he wanted to lead from the front.
Every lap then became a battle for the lead, focusing on my exits to get a good run out of every corner to prevent Brian being close enough to slipstream past me despite the sizeable speed difference at the end of the straights, and using some tricks I had used when battling with John Langridge in 2019 for the entire race distance.
On the final lap I managed to fluff my gear change up twice to make things a little closer than necessary, but having been able to pull enough of a gap through the beginning of the lap, it was a fairly relaxed run to the line for my 7th win of the season.
The final race of the day was always going to the be hardest of the weekend, with the others trying to play catch up after putting 2 victories on the board, it was going to be a race all about being consistent and clean to wrap up a strong weekend with a solid points score, and that's exactly what I did.
After losing the lead on the run to turn 1, it became a race of holding on to Trott, with me struggling to get near down the straights, which was a surprise considering how strong the tow is at Snetterton.
As Allwood, Fisher and Fenwick started to close the gap, Allwood eventually made a move into turn 1, edging me out of the way and putting me onto the outside for the hairpin at turn 2, as we went down to Palmers I was in 3rd, side by side with Fisher, and as I eased through on the inside of Fisher, Fenwick took advantage of being able to pick his entry line and got a run down to Agostini's leaving me battling for 4th with Fisher.
With the battling for 4th with Fisher, Fenwick managed to make a move to catch and pass Allwood and it wasn't long before Allwood was defending 3rd place from myself and Fisher, but with some strong defensive driving, there was no way past, and I crossed the line to take 4th place, to round off another great weekend!
I must take this moment to thank Tucker Motorsport yet again for their brilliant set up work, the changes we made between Friday and Saturday turned what was looking to be a difficult weekend into a very strong weekend. What James doesn't know about car set up isn't worth knowing that's for sure!
And on that note I also need to congratulate Tucker Motorsport newcomer Matt Fletcher for 2 brilliant drives in the Clubman series to take 2 victories out of 2!
None of these results would be possible without the support of Airbourne Graphics & Signs, EPTA Project and PerformanceOne Clothing. Next up is Cadwell on 28/29th August!
See you then!
Jack
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