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