How brilliant is Cadwell Park!!!
Always the most enjoyable circuit on the calendar, and a circuit where you can really hustle the car to achieve a good lap time, with the massive elevation changes and relentless cornering, it is definitely the most demanding circuit in the UK.
The weekend started as always on Fridays test session, with the mood within the Tucker Motorsport team being as exceptional as ever, we set about getting up to speed with the 1st 2 sessions of practice, with the car feeling as planted as it did at Snetterton with very little changes being made. However, in the pursuit of perfection, we managed to take a wrong turn with the set up of the car as the circuit got faster in the afternoon, ending the day feeling as though we were on the back foot.
Entering qualifying feeling on the back foot was something that I hadn't really experienced all year, but that feeling soon disappeared as I went past the pit lane after the 2nd lap with Deano hanging out the P2 pit board, as the car felt back to its best! The early lap following Steve Foden ended up being my quickest lap in the session, after being 0.3 up on my final lap only to make a fairly substantial mistake at the 2nd to last corner, eventually finishing the session in P4 behind Allwood, Trott and Fenwick.
Race 1 was the 1st time this year I hadn't been starting on the front row of the grid, which seems remarkable considering how close this season has been, after initially getting an average launch off the line, I found myself pinned on the inside line and conceding 4th place to Foden.
The race then became a game of biding my time and waiting for opportunities to arise, with the front 4 all racing and blocking each other in front, I sat back conserving the tyre life, which eventually paid dividends, as towards the end of the race Fodens tyres started to go off, and a mistake on the exit of the final corner allowed me to get a run, and despite being squeezed onto the grass, I made the move stick. The next lap that followed was instantly the fastest lap of the race, with a bit of clean air and chasing down Trott in 3rd, but I just ran out of time and all I could do was to try and pressure a mistake which didn't arrive, finishing the race where I started in P4.
After the realisation of Race 1, with the lack of openings and overtaking places on track, I was all set for Race 2 to be all about the start again. However, everything seemed to unfold for the better.
This time getting a better start, with a little helping hand from Fisher going into turn 1, I managed to get the jump on Trott in 3rd, but as we went 3 wide on the exit of Charlies 2 with Foden and Fisher, things started to tighten up, trying to give Foden space to rejoin the track resulted in slight contact with Fisher, losing momentum down the back straight up to park, eventually slotting in behind Foden with Trott in 5th.
The pace at the front was quite quick over the opening laps before Fenwick and Allwood started battling again, backing us all up into a group, before a sequence of quicker laps from Allwood managed to break away from Fenwick in 2nd, and as Foden went to the outside on Fenwick at Park, I went for the inside and took 3rd and set off after 2nd place, which came far easier than I anticipated, with Fenwick running wide over the top of the Mountain handing me the inside line to Hall Bends and 2nd place.
From this point on it was head down racing trying to bridge the gap to Allwood in front, and with a sequence of my fastest laps of the weekend, including the fastest lap of the race, I took the gap from 2.5 seconds down to 0.3 as we crossed the line for the final time.
The final race of the weekend saw me starting in P2 alongside Allwood in the low evening sun, and after doing my best burnout of the season I somehow found myself leading the race by the time we exited Charlies 2, with Foden following through in 2nd place. However, after pulling a bit of a gap on Foden, Allwood was instantly able to get back to 2nd and close the gap as I initially struggled with the car in the opening stages. As soon as the gap closed however the safety car board and flags came out, leading to 4 laps and most of the race behind the safety car after a huge crash at Charlies 1 due to a mechanical failure on Oli Waldens car. Thankfully he was ok!
As soon as the race restarted it was pressure right from the off as Allwood and Foden towed up to the back of me going into Park initially holding them off, but the next lap, with Foden dropping back, Allwood had a clear run to attack, and after being ahead of me entering the braking zone for Park, I managed to hold the lead until the exit as Allwood cut back to the inside, as we when side by side flat out through Chris Curve and down to the Gooseneck, eventually having to concede the position, finishing the race in 2nd with a hat-trick of fastest laps!
Reflecting on the weekend, although we didn't get a win, the car felt fantastic and we managed to score the same points that we scored at Anglesey as we go into the last 2 rounds of the season. Next up we are off to Donington Park on the 24th & 25th September, where the Airbourne Graphics & Signs team and the EPTA projects team will hopefully join us for another action packed weekend of racing!
Once again I must thank Tucker Motorsport for their brilliance all weekend long, the the car being brilliant in all 3 races!
See you next time!
Jack
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