RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Race Report – Silverstone- Academy – 30^th September  2011

A special treat for the final round for the Academy, they raced at Silverstone on the new GP circuit, supporting the prestigious Britcar 24hr race and were also bathed in unprecedented heat and sunshine for the time of year.

Group 2

Pole position was awarded to Brad Smith, while David Robinson, despite his best efforts would have to start from second ahead of local man Alex Macindoe, who made the most of home circuit knowledge to line up third. As the lights extinguished it was Paul Thacker from seventh place that made the best start, catapulting his way up to the leaders. Thacker approached Maggotts side by side with Rob Smith, who also had made a great getaway, and the pair swept into the second part of the corner (Becketts) still inches apart which meant one of them was offline.  Thacker backed out, lifting off the power momentarily which unfortunately caused him to spin.  In the melee of mass avoidance Macindoe chose the marbled side of the circuit and also spun, re-joining last.  Amazingly, with two separate spins at the head of the field there was no contact, just a few people out of position after dodging the dancers.  The biggest winner out of this situation had to be Jake Bradshaw who firstly made an epic start but also manage to tip-toe around the action making up several places.  With the first lap still not complete Kevin Robson, who was dicing at the front end, turned in late at Abbey and disappeared in a spectacular cloud of dust deep into the gravel, ending his race.  Our usual four were back fighting for the lead, although in an atypical order, Rob Smith, Brad Smith, Robinson and Champion elect Andy Welch down in fourth.

Welch and Smith (Rob) were fighting amongst themselves allowing Smith (Brad) and Robinson to make a bit of a break. Two separate duels emerged each as heated and fiercely contended as each other. Robinson was determined not to let Smith (Brad) escape, wanting to take home his first winner’s trophy.  Smith had other ideas, consistently setting quick lap times and always managing to regain the lead after Robinson slipped through, usually at the Loop.  As the leading pair crossed the line it was Smith (Brad) who took the flag, 0.096 ahead of Robinson, demonstrating how close their entire race had been. Smith (Rob) beat the newly crowned Champion Welch to third, the first time all season Welch had not ended on the podium. Fastest Lap and the new lap Record went to the victorious Brad Smith 2:38.129

Group 1

Writing about motorsport and watching it for a living must have helped Autosport journalist, Glenn Freeman snatch his first pole.  Elliott Norris lined up alongside him in second, closely followed by Matthew Lowe in third. Norris got the better start, jumping into the lead, while everyone made it through the first corner; perhaps a little sideways but well held by all. The group split up slightly but big packs emerged rather than lots of little ones, nine cars making up the leading group. They were so close that it appeared a new leader emerged after each corner, Freeman nicked the lead from Norris after he overshot at Vale, Achille Corbellati poked his nose ahead occasionally, trying to take the lead, Charlie King, the start-line rocket flew from tenth into fourth, to dice with Norris. Rob Chappell, who qualified in 11^th, had also joined in the battle after an ambitious, possibly overzealous start which almost ended in disaster as he drove into the back of Adrian Fleming.  Luckily only a wing was lost and both were able to continue racing.

The close proximity of the leaders looked certain to end in tears if any of them made an error and so it was on lap two when Corbellati’s car drifted sideways mid-apex at Luffield forcing those following to brake unexpectedly in avoidance. Norris slowed into the path of Freeman who was left with nowhere to go. Freeman tapped the rear of Norris, spinning him round and once again making contact as both cars locked together. Once they re-started and re-joined they were both well down the order. Corbellati took the lead, followed by King and Chappell, but Chappell perfectly executed an overtake at Vale to take command. Over the next few laps Chappell pulled away drawing the attention to the pursuit for second place. Corbellati fronted the contenders as King disappeared after spinning out at Vale, moving Paul Hawthorne up to third, with Paul Lewis hot on his heels and Simon Johnson keeping a watchful eye. All the time Norris was clambering his way back up, sweeping past those who least expected it by continually setting fastest lap times. In a last lap, last corner moment of glory/bravery Norris passed Corbellati round the outside of Luffield and taking the correct line for the race to the finish leaving Corbellati to defend from Lewis who chased him to the flag. Chappell finally shook off his reputation of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride by proving he was a worthy winner with a five second advantage over Norris. Norris sealed the fastest lap of the race and the Championship to boot.

Final Championship Order:

Group 1 Group 2

1^st Elliott Norris 1^st Andy Welch

2^nd Rob Chappell 2^nd Brad Smith

3^rd Achille Corbellati 3^rd David Robinson

Race Report – Mallory- Academy – 28^th September  2011

Pic: Rick Wilson Photography

Group 1

The sun shone over Mallory Park for the third Academy race of 2011.  King stole pole with a last chance saloon flying final lap, Corbellati started second, both shunting Norris to third. Corbellati launched off the line first then raced his socks off defending the lead with an immense lights to flag victory, fighting off advances from King and Norris who were taking it in turns to apply pressure to the young Italian, while also battling each other and trying to fend off the onslaught from Freeman. The chasing pack were not letting them get away easily, Rob Chappell set about hunting down the leaders and began moving up the order, quickly joining the five way scrap of inseparable cars for the lead.

Pic: Rachel Horgan Photography

Midfield action closed up the field even more as the spinning car of Freddie Galliers-Pratt, at the exit of the Esses was unfortunately collected by Simon Johnson who was left with no where to go. This brought out waved yellow flags slowing everyone down and prohibiting overtaking at a fundamental part of the track for a few laps. Once all clear the leading battle intensified but the pressure seemed a little too much for King forcing an error resulting in a spin at Shaws hairpin dropping him down to eighth. Luckily all four on his tail were able to avoid him, remain unscathed and continue fighting. Chappell and Norris fought tooth and nail to the end with bravery and guts in plentiful supply. Chappell made a move on Norris climbing the hill up to Shaws then set about trying to steal the win from Corbellati as they crossed the line, he was unsuccessful although with a mere 0.059 seconds separating first and second it was a great effort. Norris finished third, entitling him to claim the Championship win with Freeman inches behind in fourth.

Group 2

Due to Group 2’s race being stopped on lap 2 (on 2 separate occasions), the result is declared as a ‘no contest’ in accordance with article Q5.4.1 (MSA Blue Book)

Next Round: Silverstone GP – 30^th September

Organisers of the 2012 Caterham Academy series are urging potential competitors to act fast to book their place, as only 10 slots remain for next year’s competition.

The Academy, run exclusively to take novice racers through the process of gaining their race license as well as their first full season of competition, has created more than 850 brand new racing drivers since its inception in 1995.

Caterham Motorsport is holding an open evening at its showroom in Caterham, Surrey, on Wednesday August 31.

The event will allow aspiring racers to try out the road-legal Academy cars and chat to current competitors to find out why the series has been the launch pad for more racing drivers than any other grassroots motorsport initiative.

The Academy has received high-profile backing from Team Lotus Formula 1 driver, Heikki Kovalainen, who entertained crowds at the wheel of one of Caterham’s iconic Sevens at an event at Duxford earlier this year.

Team Lotus Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen said: “I drove a Caterham Seven when our partnership with Caterham was launched in April this year and it was a fantastic car to drive. Because it’s lightweight it’s very fast but the engineering team at Caterham have got the handling characteristics finely balanced so the Seven is not a tricky car to drive hard. The best place to do that is on a track and, from what I’ve seen, the Caterham Academy is the perfect way to really learn how to push the cars, get into motorsport and start living the dream.”

To book a test drive at the Caterham Academy Open Evening, at 6pm on Wednesday August 31, call 01883 333 700. For more information about the Caterham Academy, visit www.caterham.co.uk or call Jenny Grace on 01322 625800.

16^th July  2011 – Typical British weather, torrential rain for qualifying and blistering heat for the races was the order of the day at Rockingham.

Pic: Rachel Horgan

Group 2

22 year old, Student David Robinson pipped championship leader Andy Welch to the post to claim pole position on the last lap of Qualifying. Meanwhile Rob Oliver seemed well suited to the wet conditions and lined up third on the grid.

Oliver didn’t get away well, while Alex Macindoe executed a perfect start and jumped into the lead from fourth. Rob Smith, Welch, Robinson and Paul Thacker were all hot on his heels. As the pack filtered into the tight Deene hairpin on the second lap, Macindoe spun out elegantly without collecting any of the following cars. He re-joined back down in thirteenth, handing the lead to Welch. Welch remained in the lead for the complete duration of the race despite early advances from Robinson. The leading pair created air between themselves whilst they also pulled away from the chasing pack in a rather uncharacteristic way for Caterham racing. This meant the battle for third heated up considerably, Rob Smith was under pressure from the storming Brad Smith who had made his way through the field after a miserable twelfth place qualifying. It was a game of Chicken as the pair dived into Deene hairpin, who could brake later? Brad Smith won the game and set about trying to close the large gap between him and the leaders. Welch took the win, followed by Robinson who was over ten seconds ahead of Brad Smith. Welch remains top of the table, he has been on the podium at every round, has won both races and also set the fastest lap at both events. Can he be beaten?

Pic: Rachel Horgan

Group 1

Charles Bowmont (The victor at Brads Hatch) took pole, Mark Lewis lined up alongside him with Charlie King in third. Championship leader, Elliott Norris was in seventh place with main championship rival Rob Chappell behind him in ninth.

As they funnelled into Deene for the first time, Lewis pirouetted from second place, all made it past unscathed and the nail biting action was able to continue.

Bowmont held the early lead, with King eager to pass, constantly looking to the inside of Bowmont. Paul Hawthorne spun, dropping from second to seventh, this promoted Oliver Lymington into third. Lymington’s mirrors were filled by Chappell as the pair diced for position.

David Allott’s race ended in the Pif-Paf gravel trap, the safety car was called while they recovered it. This bunched all the cars back up into a tight Caterham crocodile working in Norris’ favour. He had been cruising back in sixth looking unlikely to confront the leaders, now he was only inches behind them.  Like a lightning bolt, he shot up to third once the race re-started. Lymington spun after contact with Achille Corbellati, dashing his chances of a podium. The fierce battle for the lead was now between the two Charlies and Poker expert, Norris. King lead the trio into Brook, with Norris stuck to his bumper and Bowmont just behind. Norris made a slight error and lost momentum having to concentrate on defending rather than attacking as they crossed the line. Charlie King was the King of Rockingham winning by 0.927 from Norris, who was delighted with his recovery drive, punching the air as he crossed the line. Bowmont settled for third and another trophy to add to his collection. Norris leads the championship and there are now only six points between Chappell and Bowmont.

Next Round: Snetterton 300 – 13^th/14^th August