MotorsTV UK Official Blog

Hi everyone, August Bank Holiday I raced at the blustery Norfolk circuit, Snetterton.

Aim going into the weekend was to qualify in higher than I had before and finish higher in the races than I had before.

Anyone that knows Snetterton will understand how important slipstreaming is to qualify well, as there is one huge straight. Due to this we (the JTR team) decided it was best to work as a team, toeing each other round to set our fast laps, however this meant you had to give up 2 laps for 1 quick lap. This didn’t work well for me, with me making mistakes on what should have been my quick laps, I think the pressure got to me. Nearing the end of the session I miss judged my braking into the Esses causing me to run wide on the exit and losing 5 seconds and the slipstream effect from my teammates. I thought that was it my qualifying over, but I pushed on regardless. Somehow this seemed to benefit me, maybe as the pressure was off, and I managed to slowly put faster and faster laps in. As the chequered flag dropped for the end of qualifying I had got up to 7th, my best qualifying of the year so far.

Race 1 came along with the rain. This made an interesting opener to the race, as although there had been wet testing it was only ever damp and drying, not fully wet. Even on the green flag lap a front-runner, Antti Buri, spun off down the start finish straight and into the Armco, putting him out of the race. As the race started I only managed to keep my position unsure of the conditions, with the 2nd year drivers much more confident in these conditions. However as the race went on I gained confidence and closed down on the front pack making a pass for 5th, on the penultimate lap, diving around the outside on the brakes into the Esses, however the move open the gap back up to the next car halting my progress. This equaled my best race finish to date, going all the way back to the 1st round at Oulton Park.

The track had dried when it came to race 2 with me starting 9th on the grid. Straight from the off I was stuck in a 10 car battle for the lead with no one being able to make a break. This continued in the opening laps, until lap 3 when a clumsy attempt by Josh Hill, where he ht my rear wheel flinging him up into the air and out of the race, damaged my suspension. This made the car unpredictable and different round every corner, consequently I dropped of the leading pack managing just to hold my position. Lap 7 and lightning stroke twice as I picked up a puncture from the debris left from Hill’s crash. This forced me to bring the car into the pits for a tyre change. I went back out a lap down but managed on my own to set the 5th fastest lap of the race despite being on my own, with no slipstream effect, and bent suspension wishbone and push rod.

Even with the bad luck of race 2 I still achieved my aims and I am very much looking forward to the race this weekend at Brands Hatch, supporting DTM.

I would like to thank the team, JTR and also my sponsors; Superseal, BG Printers, Mobile Telephone Services and Sue-Sew for all their help and support.

Please feel free to visit my website, www.jamesjtucker.co.uk

Hi everyone…well, Spa was certainly an eventful weekend on all levels but at least we came though it with two more points finishes and moved up into the championship top five as well.

Realistically I think fifth in the standings is the best we can hope for with only two races left at Monza less than two weeks from now. After the bad luck we’ve had this season in GP3 though, if we can end the championship in fifth place I’ll be pretty happy.

It’s definitely been a tough year and I thought it was about to get tougher after qualifying at Spa when I went off early in the session. We ran slick tyres from the start on the damp track expecting it to dry – which it did – but the car got away from me at Les Combes and that was the end of my run.

Even though we started at the back of the grid (29th place to be exact!) for the first race, I thought we might have a chance to come through quite well as I expected a few incidents. My start was good and I got to the edge of the top 20 on the first lap but then it all kicked off with a mad downpour.

We did a good job with our pit-stop around the time of the Safety Car and when we came out I was 10th which wasn’t bad at all after only a couple of racing laps from the back of the grid! It was just frustrating we couldn’t make any further progress with the race not re-starting as we had the right tyres for the conditions and I know I’d have been able to pass several of those on slicks ahead.

Some drivers were penalised for overtaking under the Safety Car so that boosted me into the top six after the race which was a pleasant surprise. This meant I started on the second row for the ‘reverse grid’ on Sunday and at the start everything went really well.

I got a good getaway and took second into La Source and then on the run from Eau Rouge I managed to get the lead. As the others battled I was able to pull out quite a good gap pretty quickly but I was a bit too cautious when it started to rain and that did cost me.

Even so, we came back out in second place after pitting for wets but the tyres just didn’t have any grip which was really strange. Still, finishing sixth and fourth wasn’t bad – especially after it all went wrong in qualifying. Thanks, as always, to the Racing Steps Foundation, Tomax and Carlin. Hopefully at Monza we can finish the year on the podium.

www.deansmithracing.com/

About Dean:
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Dean Smith is unquestionably one of the top, young single-seater racers on the globe and in 2010 gets his first taste of true international competition in new FIA Formula One World Championship support category GP3. After just three years in karting, Dean won a scholarship to race in Formula BMW UK in 2004 and went on to win the championship in his second season in the category. Named a BRDC Rising Star in 2007 and receiving his first nomination for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award after becoming Formula Renault UK Vice-Champion, he raced in Eurocup Formula Renault in 2008 before coming back to the UK last year where he won the Formula Renault UK crown with an exceptional campaign. Dean’s graduation to GP3 this year with Carlin has been made possible by the support of the Racing Steps Foundation and Tomax. He is also one of the BRDC’s ‘Superstars’.

Back to Knockhill for Round 6 of the Scottish Mini Cooper cup, Friday testing went well with a wet and a dry session, the car felt good so was confident for Saturday come rain or shine, and just to mix things up a bit, I’m competing in the Scottish Ford Fiesta ST cup this weekend too.

Qualifying

Great qualifying, with a cracking lap which put me on pole by seven-tenths of a second from David Sleigh, with Kenneth Brewster in third.

Race 1

Got a great start at the lights, and led into the first corner with David Sleigh right behind.  Good first lap but David was all over the back of me.  He was very late on the brakes going into the hairpin and I had to watch for him in my mirrors as he looked very racey.  The two of us had pulled a few second lead from Vic Covey who had got up to third, but going down Duffus Dip on lap five, Sleigh got into a massive slide and just about went off, allowing me to get the gap that I needed as he dropped back into the clutches of Vic Covey.  I stretched my lead out whilst Sleigh and Covey battled for second, I got the win, and it was Vic Covey behind me, closely followed by David Sleigh in third.

Race 2

Race 2 was a very easy race for me, I have to admit, as I got a great start and a good lead whilst once again Vic Covey and David Sleigh battled with each other for second.  This continued through the whole race, and at the flag it was me with the win, David in second, Vic in third.  Good race for me, and a fastest lap.

Race 3

Last Mini race of the day and reverse grid time.  Got a good start off Grid 5, into fourth place past Kenneth Brewster on lap one at Carlube Corner with a move up his inside.  Bit of a gap then to catch the first three up, but with them all scrapping for position I was on them by half a lap.  Got on the tail of fast newcomer, Chris Smiley, going into the second corner and made a very late-on-the-brakes move up his inside; made it stick and was now on the tail of Vic Covey and David Sleigh.  As I went into the hairpin I made a bit of an ambitious move on Covey and went flying up his inside.  Unfortunately I didn’t pull it off and he got back though, but on the next lap Vic did the same move on David Sleigh and went very wide, allowing me to get past and into second.  One lap to go and on Sleigh’s bumper – he was driving a very wide Mini and on the last corner, last lap, I made the move.  Sleigh, however, was determined not to let me past, and he got a very well-deserved win, with me in second and Vic Covey in third.  Fastest lap for me, which I was very happy with.

A great weekend with two wins and a second, two fastest laps and no damage.  Championship lead stretched, and now looking very good!  And not to forget my additional races in the ST’s today, where I got pole, two wins and two fastest laps.  Thanks very much to Iain Cowie at ICR Motorsport for giving me the chance, and as always, thanks to David Kerr and his team at Tynecastle racing for a great Mini.

It has yet again been a while since I posted a blog, and a lot has happened since my Oulton Park blog in June. Firstly, I have had two more race weekends at Snetterton & Silverstone – rounds 6 & 7 of the Ginetta G50 Cup.

Oulton Park was my first meeting back after my Thruxton crash, and was mostly about getting back into racing after the incident. With a two month gap between Oulton & Snetterton, it was great to get back in the car for Friday testing at the Norfolk circuit. Snetterton is a circuit that has always been kind to me, qualifying 5th for my first ever car race in 2008 and clinching the Superlight R400 championship there last year.

This year however, things didn’t go my way in qualifying as I struggled to get a consistent lap time together meant I lined up a disappointing 15th on the grid, doubly disappointing seeing as I was one of the fastest cars around the first half of the lap. After qualifying I had two races to complete on Saturday, making for a very busy day for us all. Race one took place in dry conditions and I made a new places off the start, but was prevented from moving further up after a safety car on lap 4 scuppered my chances of moving further up the grid. Due to the race only being 11 laps, by the time the incident had been cleared and the safety car had gone in it left me with too few laps to move further up the order.

Rain between race 1 and two meant, for the first time this year, I would be racing the G50 in the wet. Not being used to full on rain tyres (the Caterham’s always ran a treaded tyre, no slicks & wets) I was initially surprised by just how much grip the tyres gave and quickly gained confidence in them as I again climbed up the order, taking advantage of other people’s errors to get my first top ten finish of the year – a solid 9th place.

On Sunday the sun was back out and the crowds were flocking in. Our Sunday race took placein the afternoon in front of a great crowd. The race itself however was short-lived, an accident involving Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey, brought out the safety car for the second time for the weekend. However, a 7th place finish marked my best performance of the year so far.

Moving forward two weeks, I arrived at the home of british motor racing, Silverstone, for rounds 18 & 19 of the G50 Cup. Despite the forecast claiming that we would be in for wet weekend, all the weekends running took place under dry conditions. After some fundamental set-up changes in testing we seemed to unlocked something extra in the car, catapulting to an excellent 5th place on the grid. For the Saturday race, poleman Chris Dittman retired with a broken driveshaft, putting me up to 4th as the lights went out. Through all 22 laps I held my position well, to cross the line a superb 4th, meaning a podium place was insight for the race on Sunday.

After a losing a few places off the start on Sunday I was holding 5th position well, until being turned around by Dittman on the final corner, dropping me to 9th. A disappointing end to an otherwise fantastic weekend.

Unfortunately, budget shortages means that I will be missing the next round at Knockhill but will be out again at my favourite circuit, the re-opened Donington Park, at the end of the next month.

Hope to see you there
Dan

Hi everyone,

I’m back from Rallye Deutschland and at M-Sport headquarters today catching up on some emails.  

I’m quite pleased with my result in Germany – we hadn’t done any testing in the [Ford] Focus on asphalt since the last all-tarmac round in Bulgaria in June so I wasn’t sure how it would go.  We had a few ups and downs throughout the weekend, I didn’t have as much experience using the hard compound Pirelli P-Zero tyres compared to the softer tyres so our times suffered a little bit.  It was good to get some practice using them though, especially as we have two further asphalt rounds coming up this season.

Saturday was probably our most difficult day, we had a whole new set of notes for Saturday morning’s stages so that slowed us down and then Kimi Räikkönen, who we had been ahead for most of the rally, started to pull away from us.  It was so frustrating.  However, Sunday was much better and we put in a clear run on the day’s first stage which put us back in the hunt.  Kimi was close on our tail throughout the day though and as the last stage of the rally was a Super Special I was pretty nervous – Kimi had a definite advantage as it was his preferred surface from his Formula One days.  He put in the fastest time but I finished the Super Special second-fastest and secured sixth place ahead of him.  I was pleased to have fought back and it’s been my best result in Germany to date – a good rally all round.

We also had some new team-mates in Germany – Francois Duval and Denis Giraudet.  I hadn’t worked with Francois for a couple of years and it was nice to see him back in a rally car after several months away from the WRC. Scott [Martin] and I were impressed by how fast he was, especially on Saturday before he had his big crash.  We were behind him on the stage and saw what had happened before everybody else – Francois was standing outside the car which was on its roof and waved us on but I couldn’t see Denis.  We were both concerned as we hadn’t seen Denis and thought maybe something had happened to him but we later found out he was OK – it was a huge relief.  The guys were lucky in a sense – the hinkelsteins that are littered at the side of that stage are designed to stop tanks as the area used to be a military zone, if they’d impacted directly on a hinkelstein instead of just beside it then it could have been much, much worse. 

I’m going to London tomorrow for a couple of days with my family but then I’ll be back at the end of this week to prepare for Japan.  Japan is an interesting place – it’s so different culturally.  I’ve got a bit of a love-hate relationship with the country, it’s great initially because it’s so different but after I’ve been there for a week I’m ready to come home again. We’ve got a good track record over there – I finished fourth there a few years ago so hopefully we can do well again there this year.  I can’t believe there’s only four WRC rounds remaining – this year has gone so quickly, I’m aiming for another top five before the end of the season.

MW