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    Silverstone GP Rounds 4 & 5

    Silverstone GP Rounds 4 & 5

    A fantastic weekend in Northampton. With limited running due to the budgetary issues, we had a productive Friday which was interrupted with intermittent weather.

    We still were slightly on the back foot going into qualifying. The heavens had opened and the track was filled with puddles of standing water.
    We qualified P3 which we were happy with all things considered. The race later that day was cancelled due to rain getting heavier and heavier all day.

    Race two, lining up P3 we got a great launch straight into P2 challenging for the lead into the first corner. Closely following the leader into turn two, the car in front suddenly decelerated going into one of the fastest corners on the track.
    It turns out the brake lights were not working on the car and we touched mid-corner resulting in a half spin from the car in front and some minor damage on the front of our car.

    The safety car came out for an accident that happened behind. After a few laps behind the safety car, we got the race underway. Pulling a nice gap to the chasing pack, we brought the car home for our 4th win of the season!

    Honestly, the Grand Prix circuit was fantastic to drive on. We are heading back to Silverstone in just under a month for the Ginetta festival. Which will include 5 races! Seems a bit mad being truthful, more like go kart heats! But we will be there ready to attack all 5 races.

    First off we have Donington Park in 3 weeks.
    Hope to see some of you there.

    Oulton Park Rounds 1, 2 & 3 Victorious

    Oulton Park Rounds 1, 2 & 3 Victorious

    Wow… what a top performance from the whole team at Wolf Motorsport.
    I’ll rewind quickly… we only collected the car one week before the first meeting and had a mountain to climb before the car was in a fit state.
    The rules per Saturday morning qualifying, are that you now needed two fast laps on the board. Your fastest sets your position in race one and the latter in race two.


    We managed to get one good lap in before a brake problem occurred, stumping our attempt at two consecutive laps. Our fastest was on the money and good enough for pole, but the second lap I couldn’t quite get it together and managed P2.


    Race one looked fairly plain sailing from the TV but in the cockpit it was far from it. The brake problem had come back and by the end of lap two I could barely touch the brake pedal without the car locking up. Fortunately, it was manageable (not judging by the state of my pants after the race) and we held on to secure our first win of the season, and our first in the new Ginetta G56.

    Fast forward two days later: race two. It’s chucking it down. As I lined up in P2, I selected first gear with my foot fully down on the clutch pedal and the car jolted forward. I knew immediately that I was going to be slapped with a 10 second penalty. The only remedy for this was to drive qualifying laps flat out for the whole race. After 20mins we won by 10.042 meaning we actually won by 0.042 of a second! Mad.

    We'd had a dry race, then a wet race. Why not a wet and dry race just to spice things up?! Race three was tricky trying to select the correct tyre for the conditions, I think we changed from dries to wets 2 or 3 times before committing to slicks.

    Starting on the wet side of the grid saw a poor getaway and I slotted into P2 out of the first corner, the track was still wet and we were all trying hard to get temperature in the tyres. I put some pressure on the driver in front and he made a small mistake out of the first chicane and I got alone side and out-braked him into the next corner.

    The rest of the race was really just trying to keep the car on the road! We did just that and picked up our 3rd win of the weekend.

    The whole team at Wolf Motorsport grafted hard all weekend to give me a car capable to be up the sharp end. I can’t wait to take the new Ginetta out on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone in a few weeks' time.

    2022 Ginetta G55 Supercup Champion

    2022 Ginetta G55 Supercup Champion

    Blood sweat and beers

     

    I don’t know where to start. The definition of an emotional rollercoaster. 
     

    We were caught out in a slightly wet qualifying session. We tried to go onto the slick tyres when the track wasn’t dry enough and fundamentally qualified 3rd, which wasn’t disastrous, but we knew we had work to do in the coming races.

     

    The races on Saturday were reasonably uneventful. We lacked a little pace to really attack the lead two cars, meaning we had to go back to the drawing board overnight in terms of a set up on the car.

    One race to go on Sunday, everything on the line. Only a few points between myself and the second placed driver in the championship. Wolf Motorsport had set the car up beautifully and I was ready to do whatever it took to win the championship. 

     

    There was a big crash at the start and oil leaked onto one - and only one - grid stop. Yep, you guessed it - my grid spot! On the restart, I didn’t get the best launch and held onto my position, the pace was strong and I set about reeling in the lost space from the start. We were straight on the back of the top two and ready to pounce if needed. The safety car was then deployed and they announced a one lap dash to the finish
    (I was having Abu Dhabi Formula One 2021 last lap flashbacks).

    It was one of the most tense moments of my life, and I sure that tension echoed through my many supporters that were watching on the sidelines. But we pulled through… 

    Unbelievable, words can’t describe the feeling. Massive thank you to my second family and part-actual-family, Wolf Motorsport. They wanted this as much as I did, the work ethic and effort they put in has been unreal. 

    Also to my amazing partners who this has all been for. Alex Reade Motorsport, IPC, The Race Works, Automotive Repairs, Infinity Wax, Scalextric, Inaga and Rubix.

    I owe you all a beer (or two).

    We now look to 2023 and have some exciting plans in the pipeline. We are always looking for partners to join our team and become part of the racing family. Please feel free to get in touch with me to have a chat about any prospective plans.

    Watch this space...

    All the best 

    Luke

    Silverstone

    Silverstone

    In one weekend, we went from a DNF, struggling a bit with pace and setup, to clawing our way from the back to take the win in the final race. It was a true testament to the whole team - and plain and simply - never giving up!

    On the warm up lap of the first race of the weekend, the driveshaft snapped and I had to pull off immediately. I wasn't able to join the grid and start the race, and myself and the whole team were gutted. Motorsport is so unpredictable, which is why we love and hate it at the same time.
    The guys in the team did an amazing job to get the car repaired in the very short time before the second race in just a few hours.

    Next up, was a rerun from the cancelled race at Thruxton, during which we unfortunately didn’t have the tyres to compete with the front of the pack and held on to take a lonely 3rd place. At this point, we knew full well we were in for a hard two races on Sunday. 

     

    Race three Sunday morning, starting dead last, I knew if we still wanted a chance to win the championship we had to do something about it. I got a great launch off the line and, not holding anything back for the first half of the race, we clawed our way up into second place. The lead car was too far down the road to do anything about, but we held onto P2, albeit struggling a bit with pace and set up, for the remaining laps. 

    In race four, I knew I had to go on full attack straight away if I were to have any chance of a win. I got a great start and went side-by-side with the category leader through turn one. Slotting in behind him on the run down into turn two, I made a move to go up the inside. He defended, parking his car on the inside line. I darted out from behind him and braked as late as I could into turn two and held it around the outside. We went down the next straight side-by-side. Luckily, I had the inside for the next corner and I swiftly closed the door. For the remaining 20 mins I held onto the lead by the smallest margin, holding off 4 cars. It was one of the best feelings to take the win live on ITV4. Honestly, I was over the moon with the result and the whole team.

     

    The season finale is in two weeks at the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. The championship will go down to the wire, it's going to be exciting!

    Massive thanks to my amazing partners - IPC - The Race Works - Automotive Repairs - Infinity Wax - Scalextric - Alex Reade Motorsport and Rubix Creative

    See you there

    Luke

    Thruxton

    Thruxton

    Back to winning ways.

     

    A great trip to the most southern race on the calendar in Andover. 

     

    Qualifying early Saturday was a great chance to signal our intent for the weekend, Thruxton is renowned for being hard on tyres meaning you only have 1 lap at the peak of the tyre performance. A real challenge, but I love the pressure that brings. I warmed the tyres up and then went for a big lap, the tyres definitely were not in the window and I understeered off the circuit in turn one. I aborted the rest of the lap and went for a second lap. The lap was risky but paid off, we claimed our second pole of the season. 

    This weekend the faster G56 cars didn’t really escape like they had in previous rounds and we had to deal with racing them as well as our own class of car. 

    In race one, we made a great start and held off the challenge from behind. About halfway through the race, I caught up with the one of the G56 cars and they started defending, allowing one of our direct competitors to slip through. We went on to finish the race like this, I knew we had the pace to get in front in race two but was unsure how the faster G56s would affect our race.

     

    In race two, we made a great start, taking the lead into turn two. The race was red flagged after 3 laps, resulting in a cancelled race. I would like to take a moment to send my best wishes to Colin White & Mike Brown, who were involved in a horrific crash. If there is one corner you don’t want to have an accident on, it is Church at Thruxton. It is a flat-out, 6th gear kink taken at about 200kph and not for the faint hearted. I hope to see the guys soon. It is a small reminder of the danger in motorsport and how great the circuit medical team and marshals really are.

    Race three, after re-focusing on the job in hand, we still had one race to run. Live on ITV4, again we made a great start and didn’t look back. The Wolf Motorsport team set the car up impeccably and I could manage the gap to the cars behind. We went on to record our 7th victory of the season in style. I can’t thank everyone who came on board to get us here enough. Automotive Repair, Infinity Wax, Scalextric and the Race Works as well as IPC & Alex Reade Motorsport - that was for you! 

     

    With two meetings of the championship left, we can’t take our foot off the gas. Let’s keep the pressure on and go for the big prize. We are still looking for partners to get us to the end of the year, if you are interested in becoming part of our amazing team please drop me a line.