The weekend of Saturday and Sunday, 9th and 10th July hosted almost every Caterham series in the UK including the Graduates. The packed Caterham schedule had Qualifying and Race One on Saturday with a warm-up and Race Two on Sunday. All pictures from Rachel Horgan.
The weather for the weekend was expected to be changeable and Qualifying started in the wet. Over our twenty minutes of track-time, the track started to dry but there were still several patches of very slippy surface. As I came round each time, I felt I could have gone more quickly so would always try to improve each lap. Sadly, I missed the best the circuit had to offer and found myself in 8th on the grid. Not bad but I felt I could have gone more quickly.
Race One began in dry and bright conditions. The grid was set up slightly differently to normal in that we lined up similarly to a Formula One race - a fully staggered grid. Normally, we line up in rows of two. This meant we would have a little more room off the line but it also meant the grid spread further up the track.
Off the start, I made progress towards the back of the car that had hit me at Brands Hatch and had to move across the circuit to avoid him pushing me towards the wall. Thankfully, I was able to make it past him and I spent some laps following the battle for 4th - 8th places. Eventually, the flag came out and I crossed the line in 7th place.
My biggest problem seemed to be with the second to last corner. From this point, it's full throttle all along the start/finish straight so if the exit to this corner is wrong, you suffer along the straight. At the time, I felt my car was under-powered so next morning, I arranged with Matt Whate to follow him for a couple of laps to see if I could stay close enough to gain from a slipstream. It was clear that I'd been entering the corner too quickly and lifting on the exit - compromising my speed along the fastest part of the circuit.
After chatting with DPR and Wes Fox, I tried the stiffest anti-roll bar (ARB) for the warm-up. Thanks to Jon Mortimer for lending it to me. The difference was that the car seemed to be steadier on turn-in to a corner and have a little less movement in the corner. The slight downside was a small increase in understeer. I think the bar helped me (particularly with the second to last corner) so chose to run it in the race.
We were lucky again for Race Two. The sun shone on the circuit as we went through the now familiar procedure at the start of the race. As a result of my seventh in Race One, I line up on the opposite side to before and as the race gets underway, everyone seems to move to the right of the track. This means I'm unhindered to the first corner and I make it on my way in one piece. For the first couple of laps, I try to pick off one or two cars and make it to fifth with some good overtakes into a quick corner at the top of the circuit.
The car feels more comfortable in this race and I regret not being closer to the leaders as I feel I could have matched them. Halfway through the race, Jon Mortimer comes past after he'd started at the back of the grid and we dice for a while - swapping positions over a couple of laps.
Just behind me is Chris Bingham and we have our own three-way battle for 5th place. We stay close together as the last lap board comes out. I try in vain to get a move past Jon and make sure of not making a mistake at the second to last corner. Sadly, this means I lose a bit of speed through the corner and Chris behind me has a better exit. Onto the straight, I try to keep him behind me but his tow from my car is too good. He passes me on the to take sixth place leaving me where I started in seventh. The margin is less than 0.05 seconds and I put my head in my hands as I realise what's happening over the line.
The gap may be bigger than when Jon beat me to the line at Brands in the Academy last year but I'm even more disappointed with the result.
Two seventh places aren't as good as I'd have hoped for but the car felt excellent after its recent work and with some new confidence with the new ARB, I'm looking forward to our next race. We have a long wait as a result of Donington Park being cancelled so it'll be Oulton Park at the beginning of September.
Having come all the way to Zandvoort with me, I'm over the moon that my Mum and Dad could join me - in fact my Dad celebrated his 60th birthday on the Monday after the race so we bought him a cruise... from the Hook of Holland to Harwich!
Finally, I love the fact that my wife comes along to support and help with my racing. xxxxxx
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