“Going into the last round leading the Class D championship is pretty nerve-wracking. The smallest of margins of just a couple if points meant we needed a near-perfect showing here.

“A test day on the Thursday before raised confidence levels a bit, with a solid day of back-to-back testing setups and even brake pads. Starting the day on EBC RP-1s and moving on to the RP-Xs in the afternoon so we could better understand the two compounds. Both mated with Ultimax discs, and still utilising the EBC Bluestuff compound on the rear with a plain disc – which has lasted all year with no crumbling, pad wedging, or deterioration over long stints, as well as very little wear.

“We opted to run the RP-X pad up front as it was nice and dry, and the little extra retardation and temperature window would help us over 45 minutes of hard racing. Both compounds have their place in our arsenal though, and we now better understand what conditions and scenarios they would be best in going forward.

“Qualifying was a straightforward affair; Henry went out and within three laps had established a good ‘banker lap’ at 57.0 – which was three tenths under last year’s pole time – a good demonstration of the rate of development within the class. Kev jumped in and late in the session put in a 56.9, putting us P2 just behind our main competitor by less than three hundredths of a second. Game on for the race!”

“The race start was extremely busy, allowing us to maintain position with our main competitor in the BMW Z3 dropping back to third.

“After a couple of laps, a move round the outside at Druids enabled by some of the latest of late braking put us leading the class, leaving P2 and P3 battling it out and losing time behind.

“A late safety car meant diving into the pits at a moment’s notice, with Kev having to jump in at the drop of a hat. All seemed ok, but upon trying to tighten the seatbelts back up, one of the tethers had become stuck in the buckle! This cost us an extra eight seconds in the stops and putting us back out in P2 behind the Z3!

“Kev went out like a man possessed, clearing traffic with some staggering moves deep on the entry into Paddock Hill, closing the gap lap by lap and gaining the fastest lap of the race in the process, ensuring that all-important extra point!

“As the chequered flag dropped, we finished a tenth behind the Z3 in second place after the best battle all year in the closing laps. Neither the Z3 of Jamie Jeffries nor ourselves knew who had won the championship.

“It wasn’t till two hours after the race that it was confirmed – Team Schnell (Fiesta Club Racer), 2021 Class D Trackday Championship champions, by 4 points after our dropped round!�

“After drying ourselves out from a wet weekend at Oulton Park, round 5 took us to Norfolk on the Snetterton 300 circuit layout – a favourite our ours on the calendar. The weather forecast again looking like it was going to be a total washout.

“Fortunately, the weather for the morning of race day was actually dry, which was a nice surprise! This meant a full dry setup with some aggressive setup options to go and make the best of the conditions and try and get as far up the grid as possible with the inevitable rain due before our race time.

“We utilised our ‘go-to’ option for ultimate retardation and braking power: 91´«Ã½ Racing’s RP-X pad on an 91´«Ã½ Ultimax slotted disc up front, and 91´«Ã½ Bluestuff pads on a plain disc on the rear, all bedded in nicely from the previous round and showing very little in terms of wear and tear upon inspection.

“After initially finding ourselves a nice bit of space and heading straight to the top of the class time sheets, the BMW Z3 of Jamie Jeffries nipped us to the top slot in the dying moments of the session after our mandatory driver change. A solid effort regardless, right in the mix of a lot of higher-class cars and above all the other class contenders.

“After qualifying, we set about getting the car readied for monsoon conditions. This meant a full setup change including geometry, and a quick bleed of the brakes for good measure! As forecast, the rain came down shortly before the race and the track was saturated with standing water, with rivers running across the circuit for drainage. Not ideal conditions, however also a real chance for the lower classed cars to mix it up at the thick end, with the added potential of a big points haul. So, with this in mind, it was full focus on getting a good first lap in and staying out of trouble!”

“As the red lights went out, I managed to get a superb start as I was looking across at the class leading Z3 miss a gear and drop back as if he was in reverse.

“Also taking advantage of lots of slower starting class C cars in the process, and some cars that had made contact causing a bunch-up. Some carefully timed moves off the line on the brakes allowed us to further improve positions on the opening lap taking us from P17 overall to P8, as the leading Class D car! From now, it was going to be a case of head down and stay out of trouble.

“After getting a good lead and creating a bit of a gap with some other class cars between us and P2 in Class D, a safety car period bunched us all back up, allowing the Fiesta of wet weather specialist Ronan Quinn from his P4 starting position to close the gap and eventually into the class lead after a one-lap battle of ins and outs. I dived in to the pits to handed over to Kevin.

“During the pits, another safety car was deployed due to the increasing number of cars going off and getting stuck in barriers at various points on the circuit. Taking so much time to clear, and then releasing lapped cars to re-capture the leader. Once the pack was finally released, this resulted in a one-sprint lap to the finish. Kevin held position perfectly, staying out of trouble and guiding the car home for a P2 in class and P6 overall out of 34 starters, which is a fantastic result for the championship battle going into the last round.

“Upon returning to the paddock, we both commented on how the brake temperature fluctuations during safety car periods didn’t change the feel or bite of the pads once bit. Full confidence at every green flag lap to keep on the limit, and perfect pedal feel and modulation throughout as always. Onto the final round at Kent’s Brands Hatch Indy circuit, where it’s all still to fight for!�

“The first round after the summer break took us to Oulton Park– coming straight off the back of a dominant victory at Castle Combe in the searing heat where car and driver combo performed faultlessly.

“The weather obviously had different ideas with a weekend forecast of absolute torrential rain and wind this time around, though – typical British club motorsport weather!

“With zero running between the last round due to other life and work commitments, we readied the car with our normal wet weather suspension settings and RP-X pads up front (and Bluestuff brake pads in the rear). Both sets of pads were showing very little wear from the last round upon post-race inspections.

“We sat in the holding areas ready for the off, with the rain lashing down and the circuit looking more like a river tan a race track.

“Most of our class competitors had opted for either testing the previous day, or to run in the Trackday Trophy Race prior to ours, so had already had some seat time – we knew we’d have our work cut our based on this alone!

“The conditions were extremely challenging; standing water and varying Tarmac sections making line choice and braking points hard to judge. The brake combination again gave us perfect feedback and worked well with the factory ABS to give confidence in the braking zones, which makes a huge difference in weather like this.

“No over-grabby feeling or inconsistency due to varying heat ranges. We managed to put the car 4^th on the grid in class, directly in the middle of the 38-car grid from the race start. No pressure!”

“The race itself was going to be a case of keeping it clean and avoiding trouble. Due to the class points structure, it’s easy to get good points in the wet as it’s a real class leveller.

“After a good start, and the usual inter class battles and higher-class cars getting past on the straights and holding us up in the corners, we settled into a rhythm with a pack, just behind the first three class D cars, managing to keep pace as the track started to dry a little.

“As the predicted yellow flag and safety cars for a car stuck in gravel traps materialised, we capitalised and made our way into 3^rd place during the pit stop phase of the race with a pit time right on the limit!

“The first two cars at this stage showed no signs of slowing and would have been a case of risk over reward to try and catch them in these conditions, with some good points on offer for overall finish. So, we maintained pace and took it home for an uneventful podium in 3^rdÌý±è±ô²¹³¦±ð.

“After race inspections on the braking components, they again showed less than 1mm disc wear after two rounds of 30-min qualifying and two 45min races, which is impressive. The pads also showing no pad ‘wedging’ or crumbling of any kind. Testament to the quality. The wear rates are the most impressive considering the conditions and what we ask of the pads!

“With two rounds now remaining, we are currently in 2^nd place with it all to play for once again in the closing stages of the championship!�