鈥淟ast weekend saw Round 4 of the BTRDA Rallycross Championship at Blyton Park聽鈥撀爄t didn鈥檛 go as we planned!

鈥淭his was the first time I鈥檇 gone round the new layout at this circuit, so in practice I took it easy to gets to grip with it and to spot the potholes I鈥檇 been warned about.

鈥淩achy the Porsche was running well and sounded brilliant.

鈥淚n Heat 1, I started towards the back on a 10-car grid so there was a fair few of us. A good start, but didn鈥檛 quite get far enough forward and there was three of us fighting for the first corner.

鈥淚 managed to get in front of a fair few and kept it for a good lap and a half, then I lost power. I carried on until the race finished but didn鈥檛 have the power as normal.”

鈥淲e recently took part in the second and third rounds of the BTRDA Rallycross Championship in Pembrey, South Wales.

鈥淎fter the fuelling problem that we had at Blyton, we worked hard to replace all the bits that we needed and also sent the injectors off to have a professional clean which was done by a great company 鈥� CP Race and Fuel. They did a top-notch job.

鈥淥n the Saturday (Round 2), we were looking forward to the day 鈥撀爐he fuel issues were a thing of the past and she was working sweet as a nut. I went out on practice and was happy with how she was going. We were raring to go for Heat 1.

鈥淗eat 1 鈥� I was first off the line. I kept first position for a little while and after a little mistake I ended up at the back. Fighting to try and gain some places back, I was pushing hard. On the last corner before the straight, I dropped her down into second and realised that she had jumped out of gear. I tried to put her back in and then realised we had a problem鈥� I couldn鈥檛 get her into any gear.

鈥淥nce back in the pits and on closer inspection, I had sheered all the teeth off second gear and they were then all the way through the box. Time was against us now 鈥� where we are going to find another box so we can get out racing?!

鈥淲e tried cleaning out the box the best we could to at least let us limp round, but unfortunately there was too many little bits everywhere to even allow that, as the box was binding up.

鈥淟uckily, after a shout out on Facebook, we found a box and they were not far away from the track. The only thing was the box was still in a car so we bought the whole car.聽

鈥淥nce back to the pits, it was time to get this box out of the new car before it went dark.

鈥淲ith the team working hard to get it out, we managed it and got everything swapped over on to the new box. We managed to have it removed and ready for installation by 9pm that night.”

鈥淎nother weekend of racing. This time, we found ourselves at Blyton Park for round 5 of the BTRDA Rallycross Championship.

鈥淎way we went with practice. Unfortunately, due to no paramedic on site due to an accident, we had a little wait until we could go practice. Practice was going well but unfortunately a boost pipe came loose and we lost a fair bit of power. Luckily, it was an easy fix, and we were ready for heat 1.

鈥淗eat 1 started well; everyone was very close to each other at the start of the race. Coming up to the hairpin on the first lap, I had a little contact with another driver, meaning I ended up pointing the wrong way with my nose in the corner marker. I quickly got back on track and started catching them up again. With no further spins, I was catching up but was still struggling with the hairpin. With the time that was lost (due to no paramedic) in the morning the organisers decided to make the heats three laps long instead of four.

鈥淗eat 2 again started great. Everyone was close together. It was good, close racing. I was getting better at the hairpin but was still struggling compared the other drivers. Times between the two heats were getting better. My time was a full six seconds ahead.

鈥淯nfortunately, a lot of the other classes were having some trouble on track, a fair few cars had issues or had an accident and had to be towed off track. With this, a lot of time was used re-running races, and heat 3 got cancelled.

鈥淔or the final race, I was in sixth position on the grid so quite close to the back. I got a good start and got close to the front. We all seemed to reach the dirt hairpin at the same time and unfortunately some drivers got there before me. Going over the dirt hump at the other side of the track it had started to get really dusty and really hard to see. It was a guessing game as to where the track was. Really close racing happened throughout.

鈥淚n lap 5, it was another hard one to see on the dirt hump except this time I completely lost my bearing of where the track went and ended up going backwards of the side of the hump. I thought I might as well try and get out of the field and I did, easy peasy. Now it was a catch-up game. I was catching them up and with being able to see made that little bit easier. With not enough laps to go, unfortunately I was last.

鈥淥verall, I came third in class. Throughout the day, my times got better and being able to keep bringing 鈥楻achy鈥� the Porsche in with no damage was the best part of the day.

鈥淭he EBC Bluestuff brake pads are really showing their true colours 鈥� the braking we have from the very start is brill and couldn’t ask for better.

鈥淟ooking forward to the next round, just have a bit of a wait now.鈥�

Thanks to for the images.

鈥淎fter a long drive to get there, we had a great weekend at Lydden Hill.

“We sustained a little damage in practice with a car trying to get into a gap that didn’t exist. Part way through practice after the knock, the car cut out. On further investigation, the shunt had caused the fuel pump to move and short out and blow the fuse. The pump was moved back to where it should have been and a new fuse installed, and away we went again.

鈥淚 started at the front of the pack for Heat 1. There was a slight change to the course, with new banking added 鈥� I was slightly nervous of this, hoping I wouldn’t skid and spin. I got round and completed my laps and felt good doing it.

鈥淔or Heat 2, I was excited to get back out 鈥撀爐his track is my absolute favourite. I was at the back on this race but got a good start into the first corner. I felt better on the loose stuff this time and came seventh eventually.

鈥淗eat 3: another good start. With no spins, I tried to keep up with the rest of the drivers. It still shows in the driving how nervous I still get whilst on track. We had no further issues with the car, and I felt I was getting better on the track, keeping my speed up and braking at the right times. Through all the heats, my times stayed very similar with slight improvements as the day went on.

鈥淔or the final, I qualified at the back with 10 cars on track. I got off the line amongst the other drivers. I pushed the car a little too much and spun, losing my place. I was going well, catching the car ahead of me, until I lost the majority of power and limped round to finish the race. When getting back to the pits we could see exactly what had gone wrong… a boost pipe had popped off and a fair bit of oil was sprayed over the boot floor, making us think one of the turbos might have given up the ghost.

鈥淥nce again, the EBC Bluestuff pads were awesome; they work really well from cold, and I’ve never had any fade in them. We will definitely be sticking to them in seasons to come.”

Thanks to throughthelens for the images.

鈥淟ast week saw rounds two and three of the BTRDA RallyCross Championship held at Pembrey race circuit.

鈥淩ound 2 was on the Saturday. Unfortunately, I missed heat 1. Heat 2 got off to a good start. I had a little collision with another driver but the car was still drivable, so I carried on. The race got red flagged close to the beginning, so we got a restart. On the restart again I started well. Going round the course I spun about four times. This caused me to be at the back and I tried to catch up but just couldn鈥檛 make it. With the spin, one driver managed to catch up and lap me so I got a DNF for that race.

鈥淲hen we got the car in after the race, we could see the cause of why the car was spinning easily. During the collision with another driver, the tracking had been knocked out on one of my rear wheels by about 10mm 鈥� we corrected this ready for the next race.

鈥淗eat 3 started off great. The race was good and I finished 5^th. My times through the race got better and quicker with each lap.

鈥淭hen it was time for the final. I started about mid-way through the pack. My launch was faultless and I felt my driving just got better. In this final, I did the best defensive driving I鈥檇 ever done. My times again just got better through the laps with me getting the best time I had all day of 42.8 seconds. For the race, I finished 5^th overall and in class I came home with a 2^nd place. I was super chuffed and was ready for the next day.”

鈥淲e did it. After two long years, we were back out and competing in the 2022 BTRDA Rallycross competition for round one at Blyton.

鈥淕etting ready for heat one, there was nerves but more importantly excitement being back in Rachy [the Porsche] and on the race track.

鈥淧ractice was a good reminder of how the course went ready for heat one.

鈥淗eat one started brill (as always) 鈥� the dirt was wet and there was hardly any grip. After a few pirouettes, nerves started to come back, but we managed to finish the heat with an okay time. But the day could only get better.

鈥淲ith no damage and nothing to fix, we went to see people we hadn鈥檛 seen for the last two years and give Rachy a bit of a clean down.

鈥淎nother good start to heat two. Three of us battled for the hairpin corner at the end of the first dirt section. Due to one of the other drivers having front end damage on their car and it stopping, the race got red flagged and was restarted. After the restart, we managed to scrape 15 seconds off our time from heat one. Chuffed was and understatement!

鈥淭he unfortunate event came in heat three. Great start, again on the hairpin Rachy was hit by another driver on her front right wheel. Trying to carry on with the track it soon became apparent that there was no left turning 鈥撀爏omething wasn鈥檛 quite right.

鈥淪he was taken off by the tractor where we assessed the damage she had. On first look it seemed like we could fix her enough to get us back out and competing in the final. When we looked further, we could see she had bent both the track rod and steering rack pretty badly, meaning this was game over for us.

鈥淪he was doing so well all day and there were improvements happening.

鈥淭his was the first time we really had tested out the new brakes that had been supplied by 91传媒. They are working really well. Can鈥檛 wait to try them further at the other rounds!鈥�

Thanks to for the images.