Sensibly, we opted to join the “back” of the MX150R class, as they’re currently low on numbers (to put it mildly) so Mk 1s are allowed to join them to effectively use their qualifying and races as practice. So prior to our own qualifying session, I was able to get fifteen minutes track time during the MX150R qualifying. Conditions were fairly monsoon-like all weekend (rarely did it stop raining) and straight away I knew I was up against it. Following a minor “off” at Castle Combe a few days earlier in similar conditions and obviously not knowing the track, it took a good few laps to start building up some confidence.

The session proved invaluable though and in my own qualifying, despite not getting in a clean lap, I managed a respectable 14th. Later on the Saturday we joined the first of the MX150R races and, seemingly unlike every other driver on the grid, treated it purely as further practice rather than trying to race. I was pretty shocked at the start of the race with some of the driving and the car control of some of my fellow rookies left a lot to be desired! I gave everyone a wide berth and saved the car for my own races where valuable points were up for grabs.

Unfortunately, I experienced the slipping clutch of doom (first encountered at the launch day) as the day progressed and shifting from second to third proved troublesome. With the clutch slip worsening as the car warmed up, I knew I’d have to go pretty aggressive from the start to get the best result. And so it proved – diving into turn one I had to take a bit of evasive action and clipped someone coming on my outside. Having watched back the onboard footage, it turns out we were five abreast going into turn one! Half a lap later and avoiding a few more incidents, I knew I was up a good few places on my starting position.

A further incident on the following lap required the safety car to be deployed, halting what was building up to be a decent scrap between myself and the car in front. Said scrap never got to be resumed however as two cars kindly decided to pass me under safety car conditions. As it would transpire, one of these cars scored a DNF (Did Not Finish) and the other was penalised post-race. It still hindered my own race though.

Following the safety car, I set about chasing down one of the cars that passed me under the SC (Safety Car) and over the course of the next few laps reeled him in. On what turned out to be the final lap, composure deserted me, going wide at turn two letting the car behind through and then an off-track excursion a few corners later ultimately let another car through (and resulted in me driving near-blind for a few corners). I bagged my best-yet finish of 12th, but was left frustrated as the chequered flag dropped – 10th had definitely been attainable.

With a poorly clutch and our second race not scheduled until very late in the day and having a long drive home, we decided to withdraw from the second race. None of us were happy to miss out on a race, but it seemed like the sensible thing to do.

The weather was cold, wet and generally unpleasant all weekend but everyone remained in great spirits throughout and we were duly rewarded with an entertaining race and a decent result! We won’t be attending the next race at Anglesey mainly due to logistical reasons but the upshot is that we have more time keep developing the car for out next race – Cadwell – a weekend I’m particularly looking forward to!

Here’s the onboard footage from our rather eventful race at Snetterton.

We rolled up in the paddock Friday evening to discover many others had already set up base for the weekend, some busy prepping race cars while others seemed more focused on attending to barbecue duties! We swiftly bagged a spot in the paddock and a nearby garage space.

Although we hadn’t originally planned for it, Luke and I set about making some wholesale setup changes to the car. This occurred following some sneaky visual inspections of other cars and agreeing we needed to start being a bit bolder in our setup changes in the hope of finding a direction that works for us. The hours flew by and before we knew it, midnight was rapidly approaching – bed seemed like the sensible option!

Saturday was generally quite an anxious affair – with a packed schedule of racing, it was important for us to be in the right place at the right time (no concessions are made for first timers!) After passing scrutineering (which was nerve-racking enough in itself), we fitted our full tread tyres for what was clearly going to be a wet qualifying. If wet conditions weren’t daunting enough, knowing our full tread set hadn’t even been scrubbed in didn’t exactly help build confidence!

Qualifying turned out to be quite frustrating – I spent too much of it dicing with other cars rather than trying to find some clear space and as the chequered flag dropped I knew I could’ve gone a fair bit quicker. Worse was to come, as I was immediately asked to visit the Clerk of the Course upon returning to the pits. The majority of the session saw yellows waved at Maggots following two cars binning it in the gravel trap early on. It was incredibly easy to lock up approaching Maggots and I managed to spin (and therefore lose control) three times under yellows. The CoC took an extremely dim view on this and I promptly found myself on my final warning before the racing had even begun. Feeling a bit sorry for myself at this point, particularly after having the warning repeated to me by another official shortly after, I think this instilled a more cautious approach to my driving for the rest of the weekend.

Battling in race 1

Qualifying 18th out of 25, I knew I was going to be right in the thick of it for my first race…and so it proved! My start was alright, although a mis-shift into third cost me a bit. Slightly drier than qualifying, conditions were still challenging and avoiding action was required a few times in the early stages to miss spinning cars.

As the pecking order settled down with the leaders romping off into the distance, I found myself in a tasty four-way scrap. I quickly discovered our car to be down on power compared to just about everyone else (a red car in particular making me look silly on the straights) but I seemed to have a bit more confidence in the corners, particularly under braking into Maggots. I ended up second in this particular four car battle, coming home 13th and with the car in one piece. For my first race, I was rather chuffed!

This was to be the end of our on-track engagements for the day, giving us the chance to relax, chat with other drivers and spectate on some of the other races taking place that afternoon. Watching the Mk3 MX-5 race I even managed to pick up a new entry for Copse that I planned to try out the following day.

After the excitement and strong finishing position in our first race, the second race was to prove to be a slight disappointment, on paper at least. Following another decent start (and nursing it into third this time to avoid another mis-shift), my first three or four laps were relatively slow and I found myself in no-man’s land – a big gap to the car behind but a similarly big gap to the car in front as well.

Driving a lonely race in race 2

For the next few laps I was going through the motions, not making any in-roads on car 22 ahead, until I started to focus more on the bits that matter – the corners. Adopting my new entry into Copse and getting braver on the brakes into Brooklands, I could see I was much quicker in these parts than the car ahead and I soon started to reel him in. Unfortunately, as I was thinking “just one more lap and I’ll have him”, the chequered flag dropped and I finished 17th.

So yes a bit of an anti-climax, but not all bad news. Although finishing 13th in our first race sounds impressive, I was actually lapped by the leaders on my final lap and my best time was 5 seconds off the fastest lap. By contrast, we didn’t get lapped by anyone in the second race and my the difference to the fastest time was reduced to 3.5 seconds.

Perhaps more importantly, I learnt never to give up. By really concentrating on my braking points and lines, I was able to take chunks out of the guy ahead. If I’d put my mind to it earlier in the race, I probably could’ve done him.

All in, we leave Silverstone happy. Happy that the car proved to be completely reliable (thanks Luke!) and comes away in one piece. Happy to meet some thoroughly friendly, interesting and entertaining characters (no doubt new friendships will be formed over the course of the season). And happy with a solid start to the season (we actually sit mid-table incredibly) and a plan of action for upping our game.

Just a quick few shout outs. Firstly to all the marshalls working over the race weekend who did a stellar job – it was a lovely feeling to give you guys the thumbs up on the cool down laps and get one back in return! Also a big thanks to my mates Teddy and Will and his lovely lady Alex for making the journey, sleeping over in cold, wet conditions and supporting us. Thanks to Chief Race Mechanic Luke for working so diligently on the car all weekend – you’re a star mate! And finally thanks to Team Principal Keith for his exceptional hospitality and culinary skills. Who knew bacon, cornish pasties and boiled potatoes could work so well?!

With a few weeks off until the next race at Snetterton now, we know we have laptime to find against the top boys, and lots of it. We’ll be testing at Castle Combe in a couple of weeks, purely focusing on setup work. We know we’re a fair whack down on power as well, although that’s going to take a bit longer to rectify. The power deficit hopefully won’t be as obvious at Snetterton as it’s a much twistier affair than the (rather dull) Silverstone National. Snetterton will however serve up a big challenge in that we will be heading straight into qualifying having never driven the track before… well we wouldn’t want to make it too easy on ourselves!

I’ve decided to include the footage of my first race in full, just to commemorate the event. I haven’t bothered with my second race as although my driving improved, it doesn’t make for such entertaining viewing.

We rocked up in the paddock at 7.45am to bag ourselves a decent garage. Alright, that’s a bit of an understatement – we ended up nabbing garage #1, as previously occupied by the odd F1 world champion or two. Unfazed by the hallowed footsteps we followed in, we set about our morning itinerary. This largely involved getting the car out of the trailer and into the garage and then, upon noticing a hive of activity in the team next to us, proceeding to walk around the car and move tools and bags around in a weak attempt to look like a serious racing outfit. I fear the opposition saw straight through this.

With fog delaying proceedings, the track finally opened around 10am, with cars pouring onto the circuit immediately. Final checks completed and realising there was no time like the present, I joined them. Our approach of doing a few steady installation laps, whilst sensible, turned out to be confidence-sapping one – other cars were already fully up to speed and so the closing speeds were a little intimidating!

Post installation checks complete, Luke advised I head out for a ten lap stint to start getting a feel for the car. Approaching the end of the pit lane, the red lights came on and the track was closed. Over the next ten minutes a queue of cars built up in the pit lane with me at the head of it – no pressure then! Eventually the lights went green and I took off like a scalded cat, thinking I could do with all the head start I could get!

Over the next ten laps I experimented with lines and braking points, all the time learning about the car’s characteristics. All was going well until an almighty rattling starting emanating from the engine bay. Fearing the worst, I crawled back to the pits. The pessimism was shared by the team, Keith offering “yep, sounds like the cam’s shagged, game over”. With his trademark calm, methodical approach that we’ve come to know and love, Luke set about identifying the issue. Having already given up hope, both Keith and I had shuffled off down the pits to make a nuisance of ourselves elsewhere. Literally five minutes later, Luke has found me, calmly reporting “all sorted, ready to roll”. The cause? A loose alternator, “tightened” up by yours truly a month earlier…

A few other issues surfaced in the morning, including a headlight cover that came loose causing a rather graceful spin at Brooklands, a refusal of the car to go from 5th to 4th, and a slipping clutch.

To be fair the morning session was a pretty anxious affair for me – I was desperate to get familiarised with the car and track as soon as possible, but lacking in confidence meant I would back off at the first sight of a car in my mirrors.

Following a hearty lunch of braised beef and veg, we set about our afternoon plan of essentially squeezing in as much track time as possible. As I progressively pushed a bit harder and plucked up a bit more courage in the braking zones, I focused my attention on the balance of the car and soon discovered I was suffering with mid-corner understeer. Luke set about experimenting with tyres pressures and damper settings but ultimately this is an area where we have a lot to learn about setting up the car and for me to potentially adapt my driving style.

We rounded up the day with a 22 lap stint, during which I set my best time of the day. This time was almost matched by one of my efforts in the morning session, which whilst on paper would suggest no real progress, this can entirely be put down to the clutch slip getting worse throughout the day, having a detrimental effect on acceleration.

Our Vbox data logger has already proved itself to be an incredibly useful bit of kit – the sheer amount of data its provided me with to carry out some post-test analysis is incredible. I can certainly see it being an invaluable tool over the course of the season (look out for a post on the Vbox in the nearish future).

So that’s our first test complete – very exciting, a little scary at times but by the end of the day, a thoroughly enjoyable affair. Hopefully a sign of things to come. We’ve come away from the day with a list of jobs to carry out on Sodpig before the first race, including a gearbox rebuild, new clutch and crucially some engine work to liberate more power (we’re definitely down at the mo!) We’ve cancelled our test at Llandow to focus on car improvements so this is it now til the first race!

The video below shows my quickest lap of the day. You can hear the clutch slip quite clearly during my gear changes. Rest assured that car and driver will improve come race weekend!

The past few months have mostly been about getting the car build finished. This culminated in a two day blitz down the barn last weekend (Luke working his magic as usual), the result of which saw the car turn a wheel for the first time since it was SORN’d six long months ago! It was a sunny day in late Summer back then when the car was wheeled into the barn, so it seemed almost poignant that the car broke cover on one of the first gloriously-sunny days of this year.

Poetic soppiness aside, the next ten days are pretty crucial now for Haven Racing. We’re planning to attend the Ma5da Racing launch day at Silverstone on Monday 12th March – a media event that doubles as a test day. Between now and then, the final bits of build need to be completed (mostly electrical), a base set up including full alignment is required and the all-important graphics need to be applied to the car and trailer by the guys at 2017 Ltd. All in, a rather busy few days ahead of us!

The launch day at Silverstone will be a great opportunity for us to meet a lot of the people involved in the championship in person, not to mention getting some crucial seat time in the car. As an added bonus, Silverstone National is also the first race meeting so I’ll get a chance to familiarise myself with the layout ahead of the first race.

Just a few days following the launch day, Sodpig will be hitting the track again for further testing, this time at Llandow on Saturday 17th March. Although not the ideal venue (the track is quite small and apparently a bit bumpy), it’s pretty local to us and will allow for a bit extra seat time before the first race.

Next time round, expect some more photos of the car all stickered-up and looking race ready, shortly followed by a full report from the Ma5da Racing launch event. Hopefully this will include the first footage of car in action as well! For now though, here’s a shot of the car from Sunday, breaking cover for the first time.

Since my last update way back in September last year, the majority of the effort has unsurprisingly gone in to the car build. Tucked away in a cold, dusty barn in deepest rural Herefordshire resides our race car, affectionately named “Sodpig”. Just about every Sunday since I care to remember, auto mechanic superstar Luke Eversham (assisted/hindered by yours truly) has beavered away on the little Mazda, transforming it from an innocent sports convertible into a bonafide racing thoroughbred!

Although the technical regulations of the Ma5da MX5 Championship are very restrictive (there’s not a great deal you can do on the engine nor aero), turning an eighteen-year-old road car into an MSA-compliant race car requires a thorough attention to detail on all components to ensure it’s race-worthy, safe and hopefully fairly reliable.

At the time of writing, the last “big” job on the to do list is overhauling the engine, although there’s still plenty of seemingly-small jobs that usually end up demanding more time than you estimate. If all goes to plan we’re probably on track to finish the build by the end of February, giving us just over a month to squeeze in a bit of testing.

Away from the car build, our race entry has recently been accepted by the organisers (fairly important I suppose) and the car will be adorning the number 9 this season. Logistics have been considered, with team principal Keith Ratcliffe purchasing a motorhome and Brian James shuttle trailer to ensure the team and car travel in style and comfort.

Last but not least, we have a new sponsor on board – Twenty Seventeen Ltd. Based in Hereford, 2017 offer a huge range of printing and marketing services and pride themselves on their customer service. 2017 will be providing the graphics work for the car and trailer, along with all the team racewear and will be present at most of the race meetings. Needless to say, we’re chuffed to have them on board.

Next steps? Finish off the car and get some track time under our belts. Stay tuned!

Obtaining your MSA license involves several steps – some practical, some admin – but all requiring you to hand over more money. Your first step is to purchase a “Go Racing” starter pack from the MSA. This pack includes the blue book – your bible for going racing as it contains all the competition regulations – a DVD providing advice on passing your ARDS test (more below), and the all-important license application form. The pack will currently set you back £59.

Next, if you are over 18, you will need a medical assessment by your GP – there is a section on the license application form that your GP will need to complete. This includes checking your heart rate and breathing, eye sight test, urine sample and a few other bits. GPs can charge what they like for this (as far as I know) and mine relieved me of £50 for the privilege.

With the medical in the bag, it’s time to book yourself onto the ARDS (Association of Racing Drivers Schools) test. There are several racing schools in the UK that offer the test, mostly based at the main tracks in the country. Although the test itself is standard (I believe), the offering from each racing school differs in the circuit you conduct your practical on (obviously), price and the level of tuition/advice provided prior to the test. I booked myself on to the test at Castle Combe in Wiltshire (purely as it’s my local track) at a price of £320.

The test itself is made up of two parts – a written test and a driving test. Preparation for the written test is done by watching the DVD in your starter pack several times and making sure you know the flags (getting a flag wrong is an instant fail). The rest of the written test is multiple choice and is mostly common sense. The best tip I can give is make sure you read the questions properly.

On the day of my test, I turned up nice and early (we needed to be there for 8.30) and straight away my nerves kicked up a notch as the skies greyed and a drizzle set in. Through the course of the morning, the rain came down heavier and by the time I got round to sitting the practical (I was the last of three to go out) the track was sodden, with standing water in several inconvenient places.

As I headed out onto the track with the instructor riding shotgun, I was on tenterhooks. That day the circuit was being used as a test session, meaning we shared the track with all sorts of machinery, including a Ferrari 458 Challenge and several Formula Ford cars. Considering I was in a Ford Focus Zetec (and a pretty tired one at that), the difference in speed was significant and certainly added to the challenge.

Thankfully after a few laps familiarising myself with the car, track and conditions, the nerves ebbed away and I settled into something approaching a rhythm. The session lasted about twenty minutes, with the instructor (who was superb – really helped me feel at ease…possibly due to his thick west country accent) gradually giving less and less tuition. The test culminates in you having to drive two laps at a good pace (we’re not talking lap records here), taking the correct lines etc with no input from the instructor. It’s important here to be consistent and not over-do it – a spin at any point results in an instant fail.

With this accomplished, it’s back to the pits for feedback and a report card (A’s across the board, since you ask ) before sitting the written part of the test. Positively buzzing after the driving, the hardest part with the written test was actually concentrating and reading the questions properly. Thankfully following no slip-ups there, the instructors delivered the good news and the all-important ARDS racing school stamp was applied to my application form.

The final cost involved is in sending off the application for your National B racing license – you’ll need to include a cheque for £53 for that (not to mention every subsequent year you want to hold your license). Following completing six race meetings next year (hopefully), I’ll graduate to a National A license and far more importantly remove that pesky black and yellow cross off the back of my car.

A petrolhead since my early teens (I’m now 25), in recent years my interest in cars has shifted significantly from tasty road-going machines to competing in motorsport. For sure, I still stop and gawp at the sight of a gleaming Ferrari 458 cruising down the road, but these days my passion lies in the skill and science of reducing lap times and the adrenaline rush of wheel-to-wheel racing!

I’ve done a few bits of karting in the past but nothing to shout about. Over the past few years I’ve felt an increasing desire/pressure to bite the bullet and get involved in earnest. So, with the bullet well and truly devoured, the time is now. Well, next year actually, but the wheels are already in motion with the aim being to compete in the 2012 Ma5da MX5 Championship. I’ve recently attained my MSA National B racing licence (a prerequisite) and work has begun converting a road-going Mk1 MX5 into a legitimate entry for the series.

This whole experience will be one massive learning curve for me and everyone else involved in our entry. Hopefully by sharing our experiences, others will find it of interest or at the very least mildly amusing! Over the coming months I’ll post updates on the car build along with all other aspects of preparing for going racing. Then, come March, the real challenge begins!

Cheers!

P.S. Hopefully I’ll get the website looking a bit swisher in the near future as well.