鈥淔itting them was a doddle 鈥撀爐he same as any road pad. Due to Covid-19, I couldn鈥檛 test or bed the pads in before the first race of the season, so I decided to do a few easy laps in qualifying to go through the bedding in process. As it turned out, it was a very wet Brands Hatch GP circuit, so it worked out well in the end!

鈥淭he first race was dry and my first chance to see how the RP-X compared to a competitor鈥檚 pad I used last season. One word: WOW! I found I could brake harder and deeper into every corner and there was zero brake fade, modulation was easier too with the pad letting go as soon as pedal pressure was released.

鈥淗aving used most brands of race pads I can safely say for me, the RP-X out-performs the lot! I ran these pads for five meetings, 10 races and five qualifying sessions, running them down to around 2mm and having zero issues with them whatsoever.

鈥淢y setup is just Brembo four-pot calipers from a SEAT Leon on OEM-replacement discs, and the pads have caused zero issues with the discs; no warping, no thermal cracking, no pad deposits鈥� nothing.

鈥淚 swapped the RP-X in for RP-1 for the latter half of the season and found them to be very similar, maybe a tad less bite than the RP-X but still more than the other brands I have used, I am really happy I took the plunge and tried these pads as they are a game changer in my opinion.

鈥淚 managed to win the 2021 championship on EBC pads, in a car with less power and less spec than most on the grid. To say I鈥檓 over the moon with the RP range is an understatement.

鈥淲ell done EBC, I honestly don鈥檛 think you could improve these pads in any way, shape or form!鈥�

On Saturday morning, everyone woke to a very thick fog all around the circuit. We were due on track at 8:30am for qualifying, but due to little or no visibility, the start was delayed until about 9:30am. The ever-helpful staff at Combe put another marshal post in use to get the required post-to-post visibility rules in order!

Qualifying was a mixed bag, with most drivers having not raced here for years and having to relearn the circuit in the reduced qualifying time of 10 minutes to try and regain the time through the day due to the fog.

Local boy Alex Kite took pole. Behind him was Chris Adams, followed by Tim Moll and Donald Dewar, who incidentally hadn鈥檛 been to the track for over 20 years!

Andrew Dean followed up the field; his first time out in the car for a few years and still nursing it after all the mechanical issues previously.

As it turned out, Dave Pinkney was sharing the car and was going to do the invitation race at the end of the day, but it sadly wasn鈥檛 meant to be as there was another issue arose with the car again forcing retirement 鈥� such a shame considering all the hard work those guys put into it.

With the lights going out for race 1, the pack flew up over Avon Rise. Unfortunately, Tim had someone brake hard in front of him, catching him unaware and causing him to tap the back of one of the Peugeots. This allowed Donald Dewar through. Lap two saw Alex Kite out-brake himself over the Avon Rise and take the grassy route through the corner, losing several places, one of them being to Chris Adams who benefitted from his mistake and took the lead in the 91传媒 Racing RP-X-equipped car. A few laps later, Donald was getting to grips with the track, only to get tapped into a spin and lose several places 鈥� fortunately none of these were to any of his CVWC compadres!

Gareth Haycock, in his first time out with CVWC, decided enough was enough after 7 laps as his car cried 鈥榚nough鈥� and stopped!

The last few laps were behind a safety car because of a stranded car at Tower, so no more real racing was to be had.

Race 1 Results

1st 鈥� Chris Adams

2nd 鈥� Alex Kite

3rd 鈥� Donald Dewar

The Classic VW Cup descended on Brands Hatch in Kent on 8 August. With the forecast of rain, things were looking gloomy, however, the worst we got was a few spots and that seemed to be the same for the whole day!

Practice commenced with Ken Lark in his sparkling silver Corrado first out on track; all drivers swinging left as soon as they came out of the pit exit and slowly cruising past the marshals鈥� post as a mark of respect for where we lost a marshal a couple of weeks ago. Qualifying was stopped early on due to a stranded car, however we got the last frantic few minutes to throw some laps in.

Tim suffered clutch issues just before qualifying, so ended up pootling round in one gear to get his three laps in. Donald had battery issues again so his qualifying was also cut short. With a full grid of cars on the short 1.2-mile track, finding some space was a feat in itself, let alone trying to set a lap time!

Tony Gilham failed to set a time as his Golf Mk5 cut out in the pit lane and refused to start.

When the lights went out for race 1, Ken bogged down, allowing Chris Adams in the Golf to slip by into turn 1, with Mark Shepherd battling out in the 鈥楻ed Rocket鈥� Vento with a Mini Cooper. Tim and Donald Dewar were holding their own a bit further back.

Tony Gilham made it to turn 1, only for the engine to die again and he was forced to pull over onto the grass. As the leaders came round to complete their first lap, red flags were out due to a multi-car pile-up at the bottom of Paddock Hill!

Drivers were put back in their original positions and once the track was cleared, it was lights out yet again, with Ken making a good start this time and holding off Chris Adams until Druids, where he slipped by again聽鈥� Mark Shepherd just behind Ken now and hassling him for second position.

Tim retired due to alternator issues, as did Donald with ongoing electrical gremlins.
Positions stayed the same for the rest of the race with all cars having their own separate battles throughout the grid!

Race 1 Results
1^st聽鈥� Chris Adams
2^nd聽鈥撀燢en Lark
3^rd聽鈥� Mark Shepherd

This was a weekend to forget for some, as mechanical gremlins were rife around the VW paddock!

In qualifying, Simon Tomlinson set the fastest lap, with Dave Pinkney not far behind chomping at the bit.

As Race 1 came around, unfortunately Pinkey (in his immaculate pink Vento) didn鈥檛 make it to the grid due to clutch problems. Also, Steve Rowland had a sick engine which unfortunately proved fatal too.

One winner was Donald Dewar in the EBC Bluestuff-equipped car, who just about made race one and was fitting a replacement fuel pump as others were going down to the assembly area, alas only managing six laps.

Up front were Simon Tomlinson and Tony Absolom, battling it out for first place. Next up, Brian Roberts in the fast-charging Mk5 Golf GTI. Behind them was Tim Moll in the little blue pocket rocket Mk1. Tim unfortunately lost fifth gear near the end of the race, which would make his weekend finish earlier than anticipated.

After Tim came Mark Shepherd in the 91传媒 Racing RP-1-equipped immaculate red Vento cup car, followed by Nick Sanderson in the equally-clean SEAT Leon Cupra 鈥� his first time out in over two years! Both seemed to be having a fantastic race.

Losers from Race 1 were also Ken Lark who pulled off with oil temp issues, and Chris Adams RP-1-equipped car with CV joint failure on the last lap.

Race 2 was seriously down on CVWC numbers, but this didn鈥檛 stop the action! Donald Dewar got pulled off the grid even before the action started, due to an oil leak which in the end saved him an engine so not all bad news.

From lights-out, Tony Absolom got the jump on Simon Tomlinson and showed him the way round Oulton Park for a few laps. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a coming together and Simon got in front. Further back was Brian Roberts, also having his own issues where traction control was cutting in, robbing him of power, meaning his lap times were seriously reduced. Behind them was Mark Shepherd charging through the field, slowly getting reeled in by Nick Sanderson and Chris Adams. Ken Lark unfortunately suffered CV joint failure but got a great view of the race!

Simon Tomlinson won Race 1 so was gifted a set of free pads from 91传媒. Donald Dewar won the 鈥榁W Doctor Driver of the Day鈥� award for his never-give-up attitude.