Bushell enthusiastic about 2015 season

2014 Renault UK Clio Cup champion Mike Bushell has spoke of his delight at joining the BTCC grid for next season.

The 25-year-old will join Shaun Hollamby's AmD Tuning squad for next season, piloting the team's Ford Focus, which debuted this season at the hands of another Clio Cup champion, Dave Newsham.

"It's a little overwhelming really" he admitted, "I've never really set big aspirations for myself. When we started off in the Clio's it was a small privateer team, just a lad and his dad basically. To end up winning the championship and then all of a sudden having something big in place for next year, it's going to be a challenge; it's quite a feeling I have to say!"  

The deal to bring Bushell in at AmD was relatively quick in terms of BTCC driver announcements, with most being made in the New Year. Bushell, though, is confident about next season's drive, and believes he has made the right decision: "We've known Shaun [Hollamby] for a while now through someone we know from racing; he's also fairly local which is good, but aside from that Dave Newsham has been fairly quick during the year, and someone let us know that Shaun could potentially be looking for a young upcoming driver so we spoke to him and he was the only one we spoke to in the paddock. We hit it off straight away and it felt like the right way to go. I also thought 'what's the point in waiting?'".

Bushell joins the BTCC grid for next season after clinching the Renault UK Clio Cup title in nail biting fashion at the season finale at Brands Hatch. Looking back at the 2014 season, Bushell is still finding it hard to believe that he took the title: "It's a little strange I have to say. If you'd have asked me mid-season if I was going to win I'd have probably said no; I think I was fourth in the points and quite a long way back, I'd made a couple of mistakes and had bad luck, but then after the summer break I had a good run, took three wins from four races and saw [Josh] Cook have equally bad luck that I'd had earlier on in the year. That's probably why it's all the more satisfying because I honestly didn't think I was going to do it".      

It's not the first time Bushell has competed in the BTCC though, having debuted in 2013 in the IP Tech Race Engineering Chevrolet Cruze at Knockhill. With it being his first full season in the championship, Bushell admits that his targets for next season are modest: "Anything but last will be a bonus! If I can have three finishes in the opening weekend that'll be a good starting point. I'm quietly confident that we can be competitive; the car's proven with it being a Motorbase built Focus, and as I said before Dave Newsham's had a good run in it this season so that's a confidence boost. I think one of my main aims has to be having a good working relationship with the guys at AmD - looking back at this season it was my first season with Team Pyro and I managed to win the championship so I think if I can bring that bond to AmD then we can be competitive". 

Bushell added: "I think the goal has to being able to compete with the likes of Jason Plato and Matt Neal, certainly in the long term. If I can get the speed together first, get really in tune with the car then maybe later on in the season I'm sure there'll be opportunities with the reverse grid that I might be able to have a head-to-head fight and we'll see how I fare!"

With the season returning in April, it will be some time until we see how Bushell fairs behind the wheel of AmD's Ford Focus. In the mean time though, Bushell's main aims will be to squeeze in as much pre-season practice as possible before the curtain is raised at the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on April 4th/5th.

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography

Bushell takes Clio Cup Crown

Team Pyro's Mike Bushell has been crowned the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup champion after yet another strong performance at Brands Hatch during the series finale.

Bushell came into the last two rounds with a 34 point lead ahead of Jordan Stilp, putting him in prime position to take the championship. Qualifying didn't go quite to plan for the 25 year old, with his Team Pyro machine only managing sixth place for the start of round 17, but  was able to come home in fourth place behind the SV Racing trio of Josh Cook, Ant Whorton-Eales and Alex Morgan, who finished first, second and third respectively. With Jordan Stilp finishing 12th, Cook moved up to second in the championship, knowing that he would have to win the final race of the season if he was to stand any chance of taking the title away from Bushell.

With Cook starting on pole and Bushell lining up third on the grid, the stage was set for an epic showdown between the pair. The opening lap proved to be chaotic, with Cook and Westbourne Motorsport's James Colburn coming together at Paddock Hill bend, which saw the latter make an early exit from the race. As a result of the contact, WDE Motorsport's Paul Rivett took the lead, with Cook following close behind, while Bushell had dropped to seventh. Knowing that only a race win would give him hope of lifting the title, Cook made a late lunge up the inside of Rivett at Paddock Hill bend, but too much speed sent his Clio flying across the track and ended up in the gravel trap, and as a result ending any chance he had of winning the title. With his main title rival out, Bushell powered on and came home in third place, with Paul Rivett taking his first overall win of the season ahead of SV Racing's Alex Morgan.

At the end of yet another exciting season in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup, Bushell took the championship by an impressive 43 points on 415 points ahead of Cook with 372 and Stilp with 351. It's not just the driver's title that was decided that weekend; Jordan Stilp clinched the Graduate Cup with 419 points, just 11 ahead of Whorton-Eales and Cook, who finished joint second. Elsewhere, Paul Rivett took the Master's Cup crown on 481 points, 33 ahead of his nearest rival all season Lee Pattison, and SV Racing had done enough before the weekend's racing to take the Entrant's Trophy title, which they had sealed at the penultimate weekend at Rockingham five weeks prior to the finale.

Now that the season has finished, it will be interesting to see who will be out on the grid for next seasons Clio Cup, with BTCC teams such as AmD Tuning.com and Team BMR already expressing their interest in expanding to the series next season, as well as rumours of an expansion at Jam Sport.

Written by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography

A promising start for Ladell

WDE Motorsport's Charlie Ladell has had a promising start to his career in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup, with the 17 year old finishing consistently in the points since making his debut in the championship at Oulton Park for rounds 7 and 8.

After another strong weekend during rounds 15 and 16 at Rockingham, I caught up with him to find out how he's found the switch from the Fiesta Championship to the Clio Cup.

"It's a steep learning curve" he told me, "the quality of the drivers in the Clio Cup is as high as any other championship in the country so I've had to adapt quickly in order to compete with the rest of the grid, and also the Clio's different to what I've been used to driving in the Fiesta Championship so it's taken me a little while to adapt to it but I'm definitely getting there now and the results are starting to come our way".

With strong results becoming more consistent, Charlie admitted that the turning point in his season came at Snetterton; "My most memorable round so far has got to be Snetterton, I had really good pace there and managed to take a 4th place finish, my best result of the season to date, and I just hope that I can continue to finish strongly and possibly go one step further".

Charlie made his debut in the Clio Cup with WDE Motorsport, a team being run by championship veteran Paul Rivett, but he explained that his partnership with the team has been going on longer than this season. He told me "I've been working with WDE Motorsport since the start of 2012, and I won the Fiesta Junior Championship with the team that same year so I have a great relationship with everyone there, Paul is great to work with too and I definitely benefit from his vast experience, not just from the championship but his race craft as well, and he's really helped my progress as a driver, certainly much quicker than if I was doing it on my own."

After joining the season part way through the championship, Charlie has confirmed that he will be running in the championship full time next season with WDE Motorsport, presumably alongside team mate and manager Paul Rivett, and is hoping that he will be able to battle for race wins over the course of next season. As for the end of this season at Brands Hatch in four weeks time, Charlie's ambitions are more modest; "We've had a great season so far so for the Brands finale it'd be great if we could get in the top 5 in both rounds, I'm confident I've got the pace in order to do it, and if I get the chance I'd love to be fighting it out for a spot on the podium".

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: DR Hurrell Photographs

Clio Championship battle heats up ahead of Brands finale

The fight for the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup took another twist during rounds 15 and 16 at Rockingham, with Team Pyro’s Mike Bushell taking the lead in the championship standings with just two rounds left in the series.

The 25 year old came into the rounds at the Northamptonshire circuit in second place in the championship standings, just 19 points behind SV Racing’s Josh Cook, and looked to continue his recent form after a double podium finish at Knockhill. Bushell managed to do exactly that in qualifying, taking pole position for round 15 by just 0.120 seconds ahead of championship rival Cook, and started on the front row again in round 16 behind Cook. However, it was later revealed that Cook had received a 10 place grid penalty from an incident at Knockhill, meaning he would start 12^th for the first race of the weekend.

Bushell took full advantage of pole position, taking a lights to flag victory in comfortable fashion, crossing the line 4 seconds ahead of 20Ten’s Jordan Stilp, another driver who has been impressive during the course of the season, with SV Racing’s Ash Hand taking the final step on the podium. As for Cook, he was only able to manage 10^th in the race, which was soon promoted to 9^th after Westbourne Motorsport’s James Colburn was handed a 5 second penalty for an incident that occurred during the race. Despite the penalty, Cook had dropped to second in the championship behind Bushell, meaning the SV Racing driver would have to take a podium finish at least to close the gap to Bushell.

Cook started round 16 on pole position ahead of Bushell, but a poor getaway off the line seen him drop to 4^th after the first lap, with Bushell taking an early lead and, like in the first race of the weekend, didn’t look back for the remainder of the race. As for Cook though, thing went from bad to worse as he was one of four drivers that had been handed a drive through penalty for a false start, along with his team mates Alex Morgan, Ash Hand and Clio Cup debutant Simon Horrobin – Ant Whorton-Eales being the only SV Racing driver who had not been handed a drive through penalty; and to add further insult to injury, Cook was forced to retire after issues with his car forced him firstly into the pits, and then in the gravel trap with just two laps of the race to go.

With Cook enduring another miserable weekend, Bushell’s perfect weekend meant that he left Rockingham with a healthy 34 point lead from Jordan Stilp, who is now in 2^nd place in the championship standings after clinching a double podium, with Cook two points behind in third place. Stilp had also taken the championship lead in the Graduate Cup standings, just nine points ahead of Ant Whorton-Eales in 2^nd and ten points ahead of third placed James Colburn, while in the Masters Cup Lee Pattison maintained his lead in the standings, 31 points ahead of WDE Motorsport’s Paul Rivett, who had a strong weekend with a 4^th place finish in round 15 and 2^nd place in round 16.

As the Clio’s are missing for the next BTCC event at Silverstone, the stage is set for what will prove to be an intense showdown for the next driver to be crowned the Clio Cup champion of 2014, with 5 drivers mathematically still in the hunt for the title, although realistically it is between three drivers – Mike Bushell, Jordan Stilp and Josh Cook.

Written by Alan Faulkner

Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography    

Frustration for Mealin in Scotland

Falcon Motorsport's Chris Mealin endured a weekend to forget at Knockhill during rounds 19, 20 and 21 at the Scottish circuit, after being unable to secure a spot on the podium in the Scholarship class in all three races, and registering two DNF's over the weekend.

The Manxman was optimistic ahead of his maiden visit to Knockhill, a track which has become an iconic fixture of the ToCA package over recent years, but admits that he was left bitterly disappointed with the way his weekend panned out.

"We really don't know what happened at Knockhill; I did a lot of hard work and preparation ahead of the weekend to make sure I was where I needed to be for Friday practice, and with it being a new circuit to me I knew there would be a lot of challenges and techniques I would have to learn. Towards the end of FP1 I made a mistake at the chicane and my rear suspension got damaged which caused me to spin off into the gravel - I think at the time it was called finding the limits".

He added: "The first race was particularly tricky with the weather, as we had short blasts of rain every few minutes just before we went out on track which made tyre choice difficult; in the end we went out with wets on which was the right call at the start of the race, but towards the end half the track was wet and the other half was dry which made it tough, but it didn't help that I stalled at the start of the race, my first bad start of the year. Trying to keep the wets alive for when we hit the water was another challenge, but I was reeling in the pack and just ran out of time unfortunately".

Despite his run of bad luck at recent rounds, Chris is still confident of a strong finish to the season, and aims to bounce back at the next three rounds at Rockingham. "It's a track that holds good memories for me there even though I've never raced around it before, as it's where I completed my maiden test in the Formula Ford Ecoboost car and with my team Falcon Motorsport - I can still remember begging for another go but at the time I couldn't, however one thing lead to another and here we are nearly a year later coming back".

With the season coming down to the last few rounds, Chris explained what he hopes to get out of them and what he is aiming for; "I think the main aim is to have fun, enjoy them and get everything I can out of these last 9 races, it's gone quick but I've learnt so much. We've had lots of ups and downs over the course of the season but the last three tracks are the ones I'm looking forward to the most - Silverstone has to be the special one really with it being my second home race as I live 20 minutes down the road, and after my huge crash at Thruxton earlier on in the season we all know how I bounced back at my local track Oulton Park so who knows what lies ahead".

Written by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: Alan Faulkner  

Chris Mealin - half term report

Falcon Motorsport´s Chris Mealin has been reflecting on the first half of his debut season in the 2014 Formula Ford GB Championship, and the Manxman believes that he can build on what has been an impressive season so far.

"We´ve gotten off to a very good start, 10 Scholarship podiums with my first overall podium at Oulton Park in some very tricky conditions is something I would have never thought could happen with my limited experience in single seaters; I set a target at the start of the season to claim my first overall podium before the summer break and I´ve been able to achieve that".

Undoubtedly Chris´s highest point of the season is claiming his first overall podium at Oulton Park, the weekend after his accident at Thruxton, showing that he is more than capable of bouncing back as soon as possible. He added, "winning the Scholarship class has also got to be up there and it´s something that I will always look back on as one of those good times".

Looking back at the five tracks that he has raced at in the first half of the season, Chris admitted that he has loved racing at all of them. "Brands Hatch was a great opening to the season with 3 Scholarship podiums and winning the Scholarship class in the last race, Donington we had better pace but a few things happened which didn´t help and we definitely felt we could have gotten more out of that meeting. I got my best start to a race at Thruxton from 8th to fighting for 3rd at the end of lap 2 but sadly my heavy crash ended the weekend early. Oulton Park was probably my favourite as everything flowed together nicely, a great weekend for sure, and Croft was a good circuit to race at too, very technical and fast but we were on the back foot with every session due to issues with the car".

Despite it being his debut season in the championship, Chris is loving every minute of it and the challenges it brings; "It´s fantastic to be part of the championship, they give a huge help to every young driver that comes up from karting who wants to start a career in single seaters like myself, from the quality of the racing to working with the teams, TV, media, fans and help with looking for sponsorship, it´s just brilliant!"

With the second half of the season starting this weekend at Snetterton, Chris is hoping for more strong finishes and to build on what he has already achieved in the opening half of the season. "As long as I can keep scoring Scholarship podiums in every race and claiming those overall podiums more often now that would be great. In the back of my mind though I´m still after that first race win which I don´t think is too far off from happening, as long as we keep doing what we´re doing and improving every time I go out onto the circuit then who knows what results could come my way".

Written and inerviewed by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: Alan Faulkner

BTCC 2014 - the halfway stage

When the entry list was confirmed at the official Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Media Day back in March, many fans expected this season to be fiercely competitive with a record 31 car grid for the upcoming season, with 7 of those being piloted by current and former BTCC champions from across the years, and the series has duly delivered as we enter the summer break after 15 thrill packed races.

So far the most impressive driver in my view is the championship leader Colin Turkington; the Northern Irishman has taken an impressive 9 podium finishes out of a possible 15 so far this season, converting 6 of those podium finishes into race wins. When you consider that this is his second season in the eBay Motor's BMW 125i since his return after a four year gap, it has shown how he has gone from strength to strength, as has the car which has become more consistent with each race, and also helped team mate Rob Collard to 5th in the points as things stand. Turkington has always been a quality driver since he first made a name for himself in the BTCC, but even by his standards he has had a fantastic first half of the 2014 season, and, depending on consistency, he certainly has the ability to clinch his second drivers title, as long as he and the team pick up from where they left off at a very positive weekend at Croft.

Another driver that has been impressive so far this season in my eyes is one of the series newcomers Tom Ingram, driving the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis. The current Ginetta GT Supercup champion had been tipped for a move up to the BTCC since dominating in the Ginetta support series, starting with the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2010, and made the dream a reality for the 2014 season. He also admitted before the season started that his main target was to  finish consistently in the top 10 over the course of the season, a feat which Speedworks have struggled to achieve since their debut in 2011, and one that has only been accomplished by Paul O'Neill during a guest drive for the team at Knockhill in 2012. However, Tom has proved his critics wrong and has indeed managed to finish regularly in the top 10, getting the best out of the car which at last is showing its true potential. With more consistent top 10 finishes, I believe Tom will be able to go on and achieve great things, and has the potential to be a future champion of the BTCC.

On the opposite end of the scale, there have also been drivers which have been disappointing so far this season. Despite all the hype in the pre-season, I feel a bit let down by the lack of performance from former champions Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi. Menu has been out of a full drive in the BTCC since 2000, where he drove for Ford in their Mondeo during the Supertourer era, and as a result the switch to NGTC will be a huge change from what he had been used to driving. Still, Menu has been progressing steadily, but perhaps not at the pace as he was expecting, and has had good chances of a strong finish, only for them to be dashed away for numerous reasons, meaning that he will be more determined for strong results in the latter part of the season, especially when he has a strong car underneath him in the BMR Volkswagen CC. On the flipside, Fabrizio Giovanardi has not been progressing as consistently thus far this season, and has been inconsistent in terms of qualifying and race results, which is quite disappointing, especially as he has been out of the series for less time than Menu. Arguably he too has to get used to NGTC machinery, but it also has to be said that the Airwaves Focus is not the strongest car on the grid, but hopefully 'Gio' will be able to get the best out of the Ford and push for strong results in the second half of the season.

It is not just the returning duo that have been disappointing this season. Triple champion Matt Neal has also had a fairly poor season as things stand, and has been caught up in numerous incidents which is unlike him, meaning he too has been inconsistent in his race results. However, Neal has also been inconsistent in qualifying, where he has found himself starting in the middle of the pack and struggling to get near the top of the time sheets. Team Dynamics do have a new car for Neal and team mate Shedden, but both drivers admitted that the Civic Tourer is not much different to the hatchback model they ran for the previous two seasons, so it is hard to find a reason why Neal has been struggling whereas his team mate has fared better, especially when he performed so well when behind the wheel of the hatchback Civic model. 

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, the drivers I believe we should be keeping an eye on are Turkington for definite, especially as he is the championship leader and has been dominant so far this season, it will be interesting to see if he and the eBay Motors squad can keep the momentum going into the later stages of the BTCC season. I also think that Menu and Giovanardi could improve in the second half, which will make for interesting viewing towards the end of the season, as well as Ingram who will be looking to build on a strong start. Another man who can never be discounted is Triple Eight's Jason Plato, who will always have a part to play when the championship comes to its climax towards the last few rounds, and he is also one of the most consistent drivers on the grid so will be looking to get the better of Turkington when the series returns at Snetterton in three weeks time.

One thing is for certain, with 31 drivers all battling for race wins and podiums, there is a long way to go as far as the championship is concerned, and no driver can ever be ruled out or ignored when it comes to touring car racing; it's unpredictability is what makes the series so exciting and what draws the fans in.

Photo Credit: Alan Faulkner 

Mixed weekend for Mealin at Croft

Chris Mealin endured a mixed weekend at Croft in the latest rounds of the Formula Ford GB championship.

The Manxman suffered from a coming together in race 3 of the weekend with Scholarship rival Connor Mills at the hairpin, which put a dampener on what could have been a promising weekend for the 20 year old.

Mealin qualified 9^th for the first race of the weekend and 8^th for the final race going off the second fastest lap times of the session, and was able to secure a 7^th place finish in the first race of the weekend, and finishing 2^nd in the Scholarship Class behind Ashley Sutton who took 2^nd place overall. He managed to achieve the same result in the second race of the day, making it two podiums out of two for the Scholarship, again finishing behind Sutton who won the second race of the day.

However, the weekend ended on a sour note as far as Mealin is concerned; he made a good start to the race, moving up to 6^th after lap 2 and was beginning to show some good pace, but dropped down the order on the same lap after a coming together between him and Mills at the hairpin, as a late lunge down the inside failed to pay off for Mills who caught the rear left of Mealin’s car and sent him into a slide. Fortunately Mealin was able to avoid contact with any other cars and came home 9^th , a result which seen him finish outside the Scholarship podium places, with team mate Ricky Collard taking the final step on the podium in 8^th place.

Despite three top 10 finishes, Mealin was disappointed with how the weekend ended; feeling slightly aggrieved with the result of race 3, but is confident of bouncing back at Snetterton after the summer break. “The last time I saw him in my left mirror [Mills] was on the exit of the right, it’s just that I had the four of them behind me so I knew if I took the wide line in and left the door open I would have been pushed wide by one and they all would have gone through, that’s why I stayed in the middle”.

“He wasn’t even half a car width up the inside when we touched; it was his front right which hit me so I’m disappointed really. This weekend we were aiming to chase down the top 6 but I didn’t have a good qualifying session which then made the weekend a whole lot harder from then on really”.

After an impressive start to his debut season in the Formula Ford GB Championship, Mealin will be hoping to pick up where he’s left off from the first half of the season and will be looking to go from strength to strength in the Falcon Motorsport machine.

Written by Alan Faulkner

Photo Credit: Alan Faulkner

Disappointing weekend for Cook at Croft

Josh Cook has seen his lead slide to just 15 points in the Courier Connections Renault Clio Cup UK, after suffering from contact in round 10 of the championship at Croft.

The 23 year old came into the weekend leading the championship by a healthy 32 points from nearest rival James Colburn. However, despite showing good pace in the free practice sessions on Friday and topping the time sheets, the championship leader was unable to match the pace of Jordan Stilp in Saturday’s qualifying session, with the 19 year old taking pole position for both of the following races, with Cook settling for second.

Cook struggled in the first race of the day, after contact on the opening lap at Clervaux between James Colburn and Paul Rivett dropped him back down the field as he manoeuvred around the collision, and as a result team mates Ash Hand and Ant Whorton-Eales were able to take advantage and get passed on the inside line. After moving off the racing line early on, Cook was unable to recover and had to settle for fourth place after duelling with Whorton-Eales for a podium finish.

After missing out on a podium, Cook was determined to make amends in the second race of the day, again starting on the front row. Unfortunately his race was to be short lived, as Paul Rivett got caught up once again at Clervaux on the opening lap, this time coming together with the championship leader, who in turn collided with the tyre stack at Hawthorn and his Clio sustained significant damage as a result. Despite a brave effort to soldier on, the damage was too much and Cook subsequently received a black and orange flag, forcing him to pit and end any chance of rescuing a point’s finish. 

Cook was clearly disappointed with the way the weekend panned out after a string of good results, but will be hoping to bounce back after the summer break at Snetterton, and will take some comfort about still leading the championship after a poor weekend.

Written by Alan Faulkner

Photo Credit: Darren Hurrell Photographs       

Clio Cup half term report

The 2014 Courier Connections Renault Clio Cup UK has provided close action once again this year, with the series continuing its support of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.  

Despite there being a much smaller number of cars on the grid compared to recent years, the racing has not been compromised, with all the drivers, 14 to date, getting involved with tight bumper to bumper racing that has made the Clio Cup stand out as a huge opportunity for young drivers to test their skills, and has also seen a number of drivers use their experience from the championship to graduate, mainly into the BTCC, such as Phil Glew, Alex MacDowall, and more recently Dave Newsham and Jack Goff.

In the brand new 4^th generation Renault Clio, it has been SV Racing’s Josh Cook that has led the way at the halfway stage as far as the championship is concerned, with the 23 year old having three wins and seven overall podium finishes to his name. He leads the championship on 237 points, just 15 ahead of James Colburn, who has been a regular in the series over recent years and has used his experience to good effect with two wins and four podiums under his belt.

There have been five different winners so far this season, with Cook having the most, followed by James Colburn, Jordan Stilp and team mate Alex Morgan who each have two wins, and Mike Bushell who has one win to his name. However, the championship standings do not follow this same order, with Morgan only being fifth in the standings despite taking the lead after the opening rounds at Brands Hatch, and Bushell in third despite only having one win, showing just how competitive the series is and how one result can massively impact on the overall standings.

This year’s championship has also seen a number of talented young drivers enter the series with the hope of building the right foundations in order to progress into the likes of BTCC and GT racing. Newly branded SV Racing, formerly Scuderia Vittoria, have four hot prospects in their cars this year, with all of them being part of the KX Akademy which was set up by BTCC ace Jason Plato; as mentioned earlier, there is championship leader Josh Cook, as well as Alex Morgan, Ant Whorton-Eales and Ash Hand. Other young drivers looking to test their skills are Westbourne Motorsport’s James Colburn, Team Pyro’s Rob Smith, Jordan Stilp of 20Ten Racing and the series newcomer Charlie Ladell, who joined the championship from Oulton Park for WDE Motorsport. All of the drivers are eligible for the Graduate’s Cup, which they will be going all out for to claim, as well as the overall championship.

It is not just the young guns who are looking to prove themselves either this year, with series regulars Paul Rivett and Lee Pattison battling for the Master’s Cup, which was won last year by current BTCC driver Simon Belcher. There are also two new drivers who are looking to win the Master’s Cup, Craig Milner (20Ten Racing) and Mark Howard (Mark Fish Motorsport). Sadly for the newcomers, it has been the series regulars that have been dominant in the race for the Master’s Cup, with Lee Pattison leading the chase just 12 points ahead of Paul Rivett.

Overall, the most impressive driver has to be Josh Cook so far, who still leads the championship despite his worst race weekend at Croft last week (29^th June). However, he will need to keep his foot down and be consistent if he is going to clinch the title, as he has a number of drivers in hot pursuit who will be looking to take advantage of any misfortune for the series leader.

Written by Alan Faulkner

Photo credit: Alan Faulkner

An interview with Paul O’Neill

Before the action got underway at Oulton Park last weekend for the annual visit of the British Touring Car Championship, I spoke to local driver Paul O’Neill about his own personal memories of Oulton Park and what he believes that most drivers love about racing around the circuit.

AF: Paul, it’s been three years since you last drove at Oulton in the BTCC. How much do you wish you were back out there again?

PO’N: I’ll be honest I didn’t even realise it had been that long. I think the first year I really missed it as it was the first time for a long time that I didn’t have a drive in the BTCC so it hurt a little bit. The second year I didn’t miss it as much as at that point I’d started doing stuff for ITV so even though I wasn’t racing I was still part of it which wasn’t too bad, but I think this year I really do miss it again, especially when you look at the sheer size of the grid and the fact you’ve got 7 champions all competing on the same piece of tarmac. I could be back out there at some stage but I don’t know anything of that at the moment so we’ll just have to wait and see.

AF: What’s been your best moment at Oulton on your home track?

PO’N: I think the obvious choice there is back in 2002 during the second race when I took my first ever win, that was a huge moment for me and my career, and it’s something that’ll always stick in my mind, especially in front of the local fans, but I do have some other good memories of this track over the years, there’s been different moments which I’ll remember such as various overtakes and moves on people so Oulton holds a lot of memories for me, but I do have to say my best one will always be my first ever win.

AF: What is it about Oulton that drivers love the most?

PO’N: It’s a real driver’s track; it throws up a number of unique challenges, like Druids corner for example, plus the number of undulations which makes it interesting for both the drivers and the spectators. From a personal perspective, it’s my home track and every driver loves racing at their home venue, especially due to the crowds, the fans at Oulton Park are always great to be around, there’s a brilliant atmosphere and they all seem really knowledgeable and know their stuff when it comes to the BTCC.

AF: Who do you think will be the big winners at Oulton this weekend?

PO’N: Well as a said before it is a real driver’s track, and it really separates the men from the boys. I think that on the whole it’ll be the more experienced guys that will be the most successful this weekend, the likes of Jordan, Shedden, Plato, Neal, even Alain Menu could have a chance of getting some good results around here, but I think all of them are very experienced guys, Jordan of course is reigning champion and he normally does well around here but we’ll see how it goes.

AF: Which driver has impressed you most so far this season?

PO’N: I think for me Jordan has been very impressive so far. I know he’s the reigning champion and there’s that added expectation to perform well but he’s done that successfully this year, he’s really showing that not only can he win the championship, but that he has a chance of doing it again and again by getting very strong results which is what makes a very good driver, proving to the fans as well as yourself that you have the capability to go out and successfully defend the championship.  

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner
Photo credit: Alan Faulkner

Morgan progressing in WIX Racing Mercedes

Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan is starting to show real signs of progression this season in the brand new Mercedes A-Class, as he enters his third season in the British Touring Car Championship.

The 25 year old from Preston has impressed over the last 12 months; after a difficult debut season in 2012, he came into the 2013 season with more experience and as a result managed to finish in the points consistently, and took his maiden podium in the process at his home circuit in Oulton Park.

A year on at the same venue, I talked to Adam before qualifying on Saturday about how he feels about the new car, and the prospects of repeating history in front of his home crowd.

“I’m satisfied with the preparation leading up to this weekend; we had a quick test at Brands on Friday which went quite well, and we’ve made some changes and improvements so I’m looking forward to this weekend”.

Despite racing for the same team as he did last season, Morgan is running under a new banner after securing major sponsorship from WIX Filters, and has a new car to get to grips with as well. However, Morgan admitted that there was not as much of a learning curve as he expected, and is pleased with how the Mercedes has performed so far; “I think this car is better overall than the Toyota Avensis from last year, it feels very good, especially in the faster sectors and it’s much more balanced, so I am getting used to it. The car has suited all three tracks that we’ve been at so far, and Brands and Thruxton are massively different but it suited both quite well so hopefully it’ll suit every track, fingers crossed”.

In terms of results, Morgan admitted that it’ll be a much more difficult task to claim another podium, not just at his home track but for the duration of the season. “It’s going to be pretty tough this year to get a podium, there’s a massive grid, 7 champions and some very good drivers all thrown into one, so it will be very tough but at the same time a podium is what I’m aiming for so we’ll give it our best shot”.

Talking about Oulton Park in general, Morgan explained why the track is so important to him; “It’s just a brilliant place to be, so many fans come here, I think it’s the busiest place every year so there’s always a great atmosphere, plus it’s my local track so it’s great to get a lot of support from the local fans and I think everyone loves racing at their local circuit mainly for that reason”.

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner

Photo credit: Alan Faulkner 

Cook extends championship lead after Oulton Park

SV Racing’s Josh Cook extended his lead in the 2014 Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup at the stunning Oulton Park International circuit in Cheshire during rounds 7 and 8 of the championship, claiming a podium finish in both races.

After a disappointing qualifying session, where he could only manage 4^th in both his fastest and second fastest times, Cook was determined to make a good start in the first race, which getting ahead of Westbourne Motorsport’s James Colburn in the opening lap. A brief safety car period brought the pack back together again, and a spin from Ant Whorton-Eales on the restart meant Cook was able to manoeuvre around Lee Pattison and avoid collecting his team mate in the process, putting him in the lead which he hung on to for the rest of the race, despite intense pressure from Pattison behind.

Race two on Sunday proved to be a much closer affair. Starting 4^th on the grid again, Cook pushed early on in the race to get ahead of Pattison, slotting into third behind his SV Racing team mate Whorton-Eales, who in the process had dropped down from pole position after a blistering getaway from Colburn from the off. With overtaking opportunities coming few and far between, Cook failed to squeeze past Whorton-Eales, and eventually had to settle for third place.

Speaking after the race, Cook was clearly frustrated with the result from the second race, despite clinching a double podium finish. “I could be happier” he explained, “the car was so fast that I could have gone for another win really, but we’ll take the third place”.  He added “we really had strong pace, I’m not sure what the fastest lap was but I’m sure we could have challenged for it if I’d have had some space, but at the same time it’s a great result for the KX guys, to take a 2-3 in this race and my win from yesterday, we’ve just got to look after the championship points now and move onto Croft”.

A strong points haul over his rivals meant that Cook extended his lead at the top of the championship to 32 points ahead of James Colburn, but admitted that it’s too early to think about yet. “I don’t want to concentrate too much on the championship just yet, it was just then in that race I knew I had to settle knowing that I was in a comfortable position on the scoreboard”. Cook seemed pleased with the weekend overall though, and spoke highly of the racing and atmosphere around Oulton Park. “It’s been a good weekend all round, it’s just a shame we couldn’t capitalise on our pure pace in that last race. The crowd this weekend has been awesome, I think it’s record crowds again, and you could tell; everywhere there’s just loads of people which is great for us as drivers, without these guys we wouldn’t be here racing. As for the track itself the amount of corners and undulations is awesome, it’s my favourite track and I’m made up to get a first and a third here this weekend”.

Looking ahead to Croft, Cook acknowledged that it will be tough to call what could happen in the next rounds at the Yorkshire circuit; “Anything can happen, nobody will know really until qualifying starts and we’ll see where everybody stands but, again, we’ll be looking to try and get a couple of podiums so we’ll see how we get on”.

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner

Photo credit: Alan Faulkner

    

Five Questions with Marc Hynes

After a tough weekend at Oulton Park, I caught up with Quantel Bifold driver Marc Hynes and what his thoughts of the weekend were.

AF: Marc, how do you feel the weekend has gone for you?

MH: I think we stepped forward on Saturday; the wet practice times were quite good, 4^th and 6^th. We qualified 8^th in the dry which is a step forward, as I’m still trying to get used to front wheel drive so that was positive. Sunday we had a pretty poor start in the first race and dropped a couple of places and ended up finishing tenth. I got punted off on the first lap of the second race and the same happened again later on which was a bit frustrating, then in the last race in the wet we had a bit of a tangle down the escape road in the first lap and caught back up a little bit, so in the end a frustrating race day but a positive Saturday.

AF: The car is starting to show some good pace, you must be happy with that?

MH:  Yeah the pace is getting better, Saturday proved that. The rear wheel drives looked quite fast from the off this week so I think all in all we’ve stepped forward on pace so happy enough but frustrated with the results, not good enough really.

AF: How have you found racing at Oulton Park this weekend?

MH: Well it’s the first time I’ve been here in 15 years; it’s always a great circuit but it’s not the easiest place to pass in one of these and it definitely requires a bit of contact and nudging people out the way but as I say it’s a brilliant circuit. I think if you go to most paddocks in the world people have raced around here from Jim Clark to Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton, whoever they are they’ve all cut their teeth around this track and I bet it ranks up in the top 6 of everybody’s tracks worldwide, it’s a real great place to come

AF: How have you found the transition from what you’ve been doing in the past to BTCC?

MH: Well I’ve been out of racing for 6 years so it’s been a long time, so firstly I’ve got to get to grips with coming back into racing again. I think I’ve picked a year which is probably the hardest ever in touring cars, well certainly the hardest since the 90s. Front wheel drive definitely takes some getting used to, there’s very little grip compared to what I’ve done in the past, it’s very easy to overdrive and if you get power understeer in a front wheel drive car it starts taking you off away from where you want to be going whereas rear wheel drive are pointing you in the right direction so there’s a lot to learn, a lot to get back in to but slowly but surely getting back into a bit of form and hopefully just keep improving the pace.

AF: What are your predictions for Croft?

MH: Croft’s a track that I’ve always loved, the last time I ever raced there was F3 and I won the race there which was a good memory and it’s a great circuit, great fun so we’ll see what the touring cars are like around there.                 

Mealin bounces back at Oulton Park

Falcon Motorsport's Chris Mealin returned to racing at Oulton Park this weekend in the Formula Ford championship in style, finishing on the podium in all three races in the Scholarship class, and also claiming his maiden overall podium in round 11, finishing third and also taking his second Scholarship win so far this season.

The Manx man, who raced at Oulton Park for the first time this weekend, was hoping for strong results after a huge accident at Thruxton five weeks ago had hampered his progress in the championship, and Chris was clearly delighted with how the weekend had gone after I talked to him at the end of the weekend.
"Saturday was brilliant to be honest, a great comeback after Thruxton, I have to say a huge thank you to Falcon for giving me a great car and putting it back where it’s meant to be. Today (Sunday) was interesting, I had a good feeling this morning and I just tried to keep as calm as I could all morning really and not rush around or get too panicky about anything. When the start came we weren't too sure what the weather was going to be like because suddenly before we left parc ferme they came on the radio and told us that there was rain at the back of the circuit, but thankfully it stayed off and I just had to bring her home. I didn't know what place I was to be honest, I had brake failure most of the race. The safety car played into my hands a little bit, and I knew my chance for Richardson was going to be at the hairpin and I just lunged it up the inside, it was a good move".

Chris was also ecstatic with claiming his maiden overall podium finish, adding: "At the start of the year we set the goal of getting an overall podium before the summer break and we've been able to achieve that. That was the main aim for this year after the scholarship and I'm just so happy to be honest, now we've just got to keep this momentum up onto Croft and then have a good summer break so that we can come back stronger in the second half of the season".

Reflecting on the weekend, Chris was impressed with his home circuit of Oulton Park. "I've loved it, it’s a lovely circuit" he told me, before adding "it's a challenging course, especially Druids the double right and there’s a few interesting corners here and there but it’s been a good day. The weather didn't hold out for us unfortunately in the first race but thankfully it held out for us, literally just, in this last race. It’s a great circuit and I’d love to come back here in the future and race again for sure".

Looking ahead to the next rounds at Croft in three weeks time, Chris is hoping for similar results to come his way. "I want to try and get an overall podium and win the scholarship again, they’re our main aims. The main thing as I said before is just to keep the momentum building into the summer break so that we can go into it on a high and we just try and test and have that good feeling that we left and take it on into the second half"

Photo credit: Alan Faulkner

Early exit for Mealin at Thruxton

Falcon Motorsport's Chris Mealin has seen his progress in the Formula Ford GB championship grind to a halt after escaping a huge crash without injury during round 7 of the season at Thruxton, the fastest track on the race calendar.

Mealin had started on the fourth row of the grid for the race after qualifying 8th, and soon climbed up to 4th position after just two laps. However, contact with another driver through Brooklands meant that the Falcon Motorsport driver was simply a passenger as his car flew into the barriers on the approach to the Club chicane at approximately 130 mph, before somersaulting and eventually coming to rest on the grass verge. Despite the huge impact, Chris was lucky enough to escape without serious injury to himself, but the crash was enough to damage the car and his race helmet beyond repair. 

He talked to me later on in the day after the dust had settled, and understandably was relieved that the crash was not as bad as it could have been, "I was very lucky today to walk away from that, God was certainly looking after me up there! I'm just very stiff and bruised at the moment; I'm definitely going to be very sore in the morning". Even though the relief was evident about walking away injury free, Chris was also very disappointed with what damage the car had sustained during the crash, which has resulted in him not being able to complete in the other two races at Thruxton, "There's no chance of getting her fixed before tomorrow (Sunday), the gearbox is completely ripped apart so need to fit a new one - plus the car will take 2 weeks to fix so I'm hoping to do a shakedown test at Snetterton before Oulton and to get my confidence back a little bit". 

It's certainly a huge dent for Chris, who has had consistent top 10 finishes in the opening rounds of the Formula Ford championship, and taken a win in the Scholarship class which he is competing for alongside the likes of team mate Ricky Collard and Meridian's Connor Mills. No doubt he will be looking to bounce back from the crash at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit in 5 weeks time. 

Photo Credit: Marc Waller 

Cook looking for more after perfect Donington weekend

SV Racing's Josh Cook is hoping for similar success this weekend at Thruxton after dominating through tricky conditions over the Easter weekend at Donington Park. 

Josh qualified on pole position for the opening race of the day, and took a lights to flag victory on a very wet track ahead of Mike Bushell and team mate Ant Whorton-Eales, who claimed 2nd and 3rd respectively in round 3. The second Clio race of the day was a similar story for Josh - despite starting 4th on the grid, he took full advantage of a coming together from the start between pole sitter Jordan Stilp and Team Pyro's Mike Bushell, with the latter crashing out of the race, and managed to avoid the contact to take an early lead, which he maintained for the duration of the race to make it two wins out of two. The elation was clear to see on the podium from Josh, and in his post race interview at the end of round 4. 

"It was brilliant weekend, obviously we didn't have that second pole position but you can’t have it all! The car’s been fantastic all weekend, a fantastic 1, 2, 3, 4 for all the KX guys, so I can’t ask for much more from the team, they've been absolutely fantastic and I just want to try and carry on this momentum into Thruxton".

Despite it looking easy from where the spectators were sitting over the weekend, he admitted that it didn't seem that way inside the car, "It was a weird one really, I wanted to try and maintain a gap but I didn’t want my tyres to go off so I had to push a couple of times just to try and get it back, and I think I put one of my fastest laps towards the last lap - it was good fun but it looked like there were a lot of exciting things going on behind me!" 

When asked about how the new generation Clio manages it tyres to the older model, Josh told me "To be honest, it completely depends on the style of driver you are. The new generation car does have a lot more torque than the previous model, so it is really important that you are progressive when applying the power. The new generation car is of a very similar weight to its older brother, so that is not a massive issue. Donington was a strange race because I had a clear gap behind me, which I'm sure you will agree is rare in Clio Cup! I just had to ensure that I didn't push too hard on the tyres to allow me to have something left in the tanks should I need to put in a few flyers!"

Looking ahead to the next rounds of the Clio Cup at Thruxton, Josh had admitted that he is quietly confident of similar results for him and the other drivers in the SV Racing team: "In the official tests there we were top of the time sheets, and it’s one of my more favourable circuits so we’ll have to see how it goes there". He also added "With it being such a competitive grid this year, and being so early on in the season I think it is difficult to tell currently who will be my biggest rival, however there are a number of people who have shown pace throughout the races that it could be anyone! You can bet your bottom dollar that Paul Rivett will be in the mix come the final rounds! I just think it is important to concentrate on doing the best job I can do and with a fantastic team of Cooksport and SVR guys behind me, I couldn't be in a better place".

With Thruxton being around the corner, Josh will be hoping to build on the momentum from Donington and will be pushing for more podiums at the fastest circuit on the race calendar, and will also be looking for strong results for the SV Racing team. 

Photo credit: Alan Faulkner

Mealin makes fantastic start to Formula Ford campaign

Chris Mealin had a strong start to his debut season in the Formula Ford championship at Brands Hatch, with the 20 year old taking his first Scholarship class win in round 3.

Saturday proved to be an action packed day for Chris, after he qualified in 10th place for the opening round of the season. Retirements for Connor Mills and Sam Brabham in the first round of the season meant that Chris finished 7th overall and 2nd in class behind team mate Ricky Collard, son of BTCC driver Rob Collard. Chris maintained good pace in round 2, being on the podium once more to claim the third place trophy in the scholarship class after rounding out the top 10 in the overall standings.

The action kicked off once again on Sunday, with Chris starting on the fifth row once again on a bright morning. Once again, he maintained a strong, clean drive throughout the duration of the race, although his team mate Collard was unable to do the same, after a clash with Max Marshall forced the fellow Falcon Motorsport driver into an early retirement on lap 13. Chris managed to avoid further incidents after a brief safety car period, and held off Meridian Racing duo Connor Mills and Ashley Sutton to finish 8th in the main standings, but more importantly claimed his first ever win in the Scholarship class.

With three consistent top 10 finishes and three Scholarship podiums, Chris was evidently delighted with the opening rounds of what will prove to be a tough contested season. "I am very, very pleased. The car was great and I have to say a huge thank you to the team" said Chris at the end of proceedings at Brands Hatch. He added "As it was my first race weekend in Formula Ford it was all about learning; how the tyres degrade over time, how I look after them for the following day’s race, maintaining consistency and trying to score two Scholarship podiums - which I couldn't have been happier on accomplishing on my first day!" 

Chris also reflected on events in the final race of the day, saying "I had to give it my all in race three. It was eventful out there and the last five minutes seemed to take forever, but I just had to keep calm and carry on. I was losing grip rapidly, but in the end we had another great result and I scored my first Scholarship class win to cap the weekend with a 1-2-3. It has been an incredibly productive and exciting opening round for me, and I cannot wait to go over everything with the team and head for round two at Donington.” 

After such a strong performance, Chris and the Falcon Motorsport team will be knuckling down looking at ways to improve ahead of next weekend's racing at Donington Park

Introducing Chris Mealin

During the course of the 2014 season, alongside giving my thoughts on proceedings of the BTCC season, I will also be writing for Chris Mealin, who is entering the Formula Ford Championship for Falcon Motorsport as part of the ToCA support package. 

I spoken to Chris ahead of the season opener on 30th March at Brands Hatch, and have been finding out what he has been doing in preparation for the course of the season, and how he feels about the prospects of driving in the Formula Ford championship for the first time.

"This winter I have been flat out, training most days, making sure I am the best prepared mentally and physically for this tough challenge ahead, mainly in the iZone Driver Performance Centre at Silverstone where I did the winter programme which helped me a lot ahead of such a big year". Chris added "I have also been selected for the McLaren Performance Academy and the Isle of Man Sport's Aid Association this season". 

As well as this, Chris also attended a three day camp at Woking along with the other selected few drivers for this year's camp, where he learnt a lot about nutrition, sports psychology and physical training. 

"It's certainly given me a huge confidence boost ahead of the opener at Brands Hatch. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity they have given to me and I will be representing them with pride - they've all helped me tremendously with my training programme and I look forward to working closely with each and every one of them throughout the season".

Chris has also been working very closely with Falcon Motorsport during the off season break, with the team getting the car set up in preparation for the opening rounds at Brands Hatch, with him and the team testing most recently at Donington Park. "The car feels great; she's very nice to drive. After testing at Donington I've got a much better understanding of how much grip the car has, and also how she handles through flat out corners such as the Craner Curves, which will come in handy at some of the tracks on the calendar".

With it being his first season in the championship, Chris has admitted he has modest expectations for the course of the season, but his main aim for the course of the season is to try and secure the Scholarship title; "If I can get a podium before the summer break, that'd be great. I just need to be consistent and score as many points as possible each weekend, and then we'll see where we are at the end". He also added "it would be an amazing achievement to claim the Scholarship title this year in my debut season - I'm in a good place at the moment with the right people behind me and a great team supporting me too in Falcon Motorsport, I feel right at home with them already after just a few test days".

I will be keeping up to date with Chris's progress during the course of the 2014 Formula Ford season, publishing race reports and opinions from the man himself of the weekend.      

2014 starting to take shape

As the 2014 BTCC season draws ever closer, things are starting to form nicely; a number of driver announcements have been made, all of the ToCA licenses have been issued and bar a few teams, the fans have an idea of who to expect on the grid for the first round of the 2014 season at Brands Hatch in March.

After a number of rumours circulating that there could be seven BTCC champions in the series this year, Airwaves Racing have officially confirmed that double champion, Fabrizio Giovanardi, who has been away from the series since 2010, will be returning to the series, and will be lining up alongside Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal, reigning champion Andrew Jordan and another returning champion, Alain Menu. 2009 champion Colin Turkington has yet to announce his plans for the season, with his team from last season eBay Motors also keeping their plans under wraps for the time being, but it is very likely that he too could be back alongside the other champions.

The only other uncertainty regarding the series so far is whether we will see Speedworks back on the grid, as well as the full driver line up for Airwaves alongside Giovanardi. There is also uncertainty regarding the future of ES Racing, despite team boss Chris James stating his intent on returning to the series in NGTC machinery. 

On the whole though, the majority of the teams have already confirmed their entries on the grid, and the cars that they will be competing in. Some of the teams have already begun pre-season testing too, with Honda Yuasa completing a five day test at Rockingham in their new Civic Tourer. Reigning champion Andrew Jordan has also been out testing in the hatchback model of the Civic along with his new team mate Martin Depper, as well as Rob Austin giving his re-shelled Audi A4, Sherman, a maiden run out.

Until media day has come and passed, it is very hard to make any predictions yet as to who will shine or fall in the upcoming season. However, with Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi returning, it is very likely that this year's BTCC season could be the most competitive yet, depending on how quickly teams get their cars set up and, of course, what incidents may occur in the 30 unpredictable races.