MotorsTV UK Official Blog

Hi everyone,

Well, my season is now underway. It had been a long wait since my last race at Monza in September 2009!

It is fantastic that my sponsors believed in me over the winter to let me continue my career and especially with Carlin in British F3 that is very good.

I did a few days testing in the F3 car before Christmas although it was pretty tough because most of them were wet so only really at the first official tests earlier this year did I get to learn about the car in the dry conditions. I was struggling for pace initially in the dry tests but I knew it would come but experience was certainly an obstacle. My team mates were pretty fast initially and coming from FRenault compared to me in FBMW they were just used to a car with more aero and of course the circuits! I was able to really learn from their data and with my engineer Brice I was able to make great progress at every test.

At my final test at Silverstone before the first race at Oulton Park I gained a lot of confidence and certainly made a lot of progress with both myself and the car. I was never outside of the top 3 in all of the sessions which certainly was encouraging but still it was just a test and I still didn’t really know where I really was on pace.

I arrived at Oulton Park pretty relaxed and calm for my first race weekend in British F3. The whole paddock seemed to have a really relaxed atmosphere which I really liked compared to the very confined and busy paddock of the F1 support paddock which I have been used to!

We had no free practice so we just had to go straight into qualifying on Saturday morning which certainly was a new and hard challenge for me! The circuit had been wet although it was drying so I chose to start on slick tyres immediately in qualifying as did most of the grid. The first few laps were very slippery indeed but as the temperature built up in my tyres and I began to take risks I realised I had great pace and after 10 minutes of the 25 minute session gone I was on pole. I managed to get a few clear laps and certainly I was in the fight for pole position. There was a yellow flag in the second sector with around 15 minutes to go so I decided to pit for another set of new tyres whilst I wasn’t able to set a faster time. In hindsight maybe I should have just kept the same set of tyres on my car because the circuit was drying very quickly and I had a really good balance. Still, I pushed hard on my second set and once my tyres were up to temperature I was able to fight for pole in the final minutes. I had to settle for 4th eventually but this was still a great result for my first qualifying in British F3. I had qualified 3rd and 4th for races 1 and 3.

My first race was on Saturday afternoon. I had a pretty bad start off the line with too much wheelspin but still I held 5th position from the first to the last lap and I was very happy to achieve that. In my first ever British F3 race to finish 5th was a good result.

The second race was not until Monday morning because of course we did not race on Easter Sunday. I was starting 3rd after the top 7 were reversed on the grid. It was similar conditions to qualifying actually so once again I was very happy to start on slick tyres. The grid was still very slippery though and I had never made a start in these conditions so I just picked my revs and thankfully got a much better start than race 1! I held my position for the first lap and I immediately realised I was fast enough to win. I took advantage of Dias and Nakajima fighting with each other to move into second and once I was behind Nakajima I knew if I could pressure him on to the damp parts of the circuit then I would have a chance to overtake. This opportunity came on the third lap at the first corner and once I was in the lead I just kept my head down and pushed for a gap. I help the lead to the flag and won my first British F3 race in only my second race and first ever weekend! That was pretty special.

The third race was on Monday afternoon and was 40 minutes long. This was the longest race I have ever competed in so it was pretty tough! I didn’t find it hard physically but it was a new challenge for me to think about saving my tyres and ensuring that I always had a balance I was confident with. I started 4th and had a pretty good start although I had to swerve hard to miss Huertas who had stalled on the grid. This opened a gap from me to the top 2 and after the first lap and a small mistake from me the gap was around 4 seconds to the leaders! I realised pretty soon that my race was for 3rd and that I needed to think about that. I managed consistent laps and stayed focussed to finish 3rd and get another podium.

So, what a great first weekend. 5th, 1st, 3rd. Sunoco Driver of the Weekend and 3rd in the Championship. I was very happy. I have to pay a lot of credit to the great start to my season to my team Carlin who have made the transition from FBMW to F3 very manageable for me. They have given me the confidence I needed all the way so I am very thankful to them. There are still 27 races to go and there are a lot of areas I am not happy with and need to improve with so I will maintain my focus and structure to continue achieving good weekends and of course more race wins.

It was very hard to secure the funding for this season because of the way the economies are around the world at the moment but hopefully this great first weekend has gone some way to showing my sponsors they were right to believe in me.

I have one test at Silverstone before I go back to Silverstone on 1/2 May for my second race weekend of the season. I will approach it with the same mentality with which I approached Oulton Park.

I will spend the downtime back at home training hard and improving more, as for sure that is what the competition will be doing.

It’s fantastic to be back racing again and I am really looking forward to an exciting season!!

Take care.

Thanks,

Rupert

Hello everybody,

It has been quite a while since I last spoke to you and since then a lot has been happening!

After Hungary I went with a couple of friends to Spain for a week which was great. We all just chilled out and took things very easy for a few days. It was nice because we all live very different lives so for all 3 of us we had a lot of catching up to do and things to laugh at!! I spent my days sleeping a lot and then running on the beach and then sleeping again! The season had been pretty busy up to that point so I had some recharging to do.

I also had a family wedding which was very enjoyable. I had not been to a wedding in many years and I thought the whole thing was pretty cool! It was great to see all of my family come together because they live in so many different countries now that I don’t see them too much. Christmas will be the next time I see them all which I’m looking forward to.

My next race after Hungary was Valencia. It is quite a tricky street circuit really as it does not really flow like most other circuits and I found I needed to attack it quite differently. With such limited free practice time (25 mins) I needed to get my head around the place quickly.

The overwhelming factor all weekend was the temperature. At times it hit 40 degrees and for me it was definitely the hottest conditions I have ever raced in.

Qualifying was looking pretty good and I felt comfortable but unfortunately on just my third timed lap somebody missed their braking and hit me hard from behind. I continued the session but my left rear wishbones were bent and my car handling was seriously compromised. I just had to fight on as normal and still rather incredibly I managed 14th and 10th on the grid so it wasn’t too bad. I was disappointed but I knew I could fight back.

My first race did not get off to the best of starts though. At the first corner 2 cars had hit the wall and I was coming around the outside so my path was blocked. I just stopped. I had nowhere to go. I reversed up and continued but I came around on lap 1 in dead last position. Thankfully, the safety car was called out so it gave me a chance to bunch up to the cars in front. At the restart I just got my head down and pushed very hard. By the end of the race I finished in 10th! It was a good comeback from what could have been a much worse result. I had third fastest lap and so for the next race on Sunday I felt good!

My second race started much better. I had a great first lap but behind me there were so many shunts that we had 2 safety cars which left just 3 laps racing at the end. I made a few moves and crossed the line in 5th. I had great pace and after starting in 10th to finish 5th after so few racing laps I was very satisfied.

I felt very confident going into Spa in just a week’s time.

Spa came around very quickly as I just had 2 days at home before I flew out Belgium. Dennis came with me for Valencia but I did Spa all on my own. My Mum dropped me off at Stansted on Wednesday afternoon and I flew into Cologne airport which is only about 1 hour from Spa. You can hire a car in Germany at 18 years old so I had got myself a little car… which ended up to be a Fiat 500!! It was quite a funny car to drive really but just so slow and no feel at all in the steering! I cannot understand at all what the fuss is all about with this car! I trundled along up to Spa and had a really enjoyable meal with my team on Wednesday evening in an Italian restaurant in the Spa town itself. I have been with DoubleR for 2 years now and in that time I have built up some great friendships with them all and I always enjoy my time with them.
 
On Thursday it is quite a boring day with not much to do but me and my friend Michael ran the circuit around lunchtime which was good and tired me out a bit! It was good then because a few more of us got together and went up the road just out of the circuit for some lunch. It was me, Michael, Asad and Ollie and we had a good time. It is nice because when we race we are very hard with each other but away from that we can have a really good time and laugh about things.

Friday morning came around soon enough and free practice was upon me. Spa is a bit special early in the morning as the dew hangs around for a bit and the whole place feels a bit spooky. For free practice we tried a bit of an experiment which certainly did not work! But, it was good data and very good for me to feel the difference and also I knew where my time was for qualifying. Qualifying went very well until the last 2 laps where there was a yellow flag so I did not want to push anymore in case I lost my lap times but then others did and nothing happened about it so it was frustrating. Still, I was 6th and 7th on the grid and I cannot complain too much with that. My pace was truthfully more like row 2 but it was OK. Race 1 was very tough and I kept my nose clean but raced hard. I finished in 4th just off the podium but it was a satisfying result. The same story pretty much for my 2nd race. I came through to 4th again just off the podium with great pace but it was all I could do in that amount of time especially after the tow to the cars in front was broken so I had a pretty lonely race.

I was very happy with the weekend though. Consistently now I am a front runner. I have shown my speed consistently now and I feel ready to win. I want to win. It is certainly possible, just some things have not come together quite as I want. But I know that when I am ready and when my time comes I will win. I just have one more race weekend to do it at Monza, my favourite race circuit! We will see what happens.

Take care.

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well.

I am now just chilling out back home after a very solid weekend in Budapest. I love the circuit and I love the city. In the evenings I spent a lot of my time downtown and went to some great restaurants and saw some incredible views. It is not very often that whilst racing I ever get the chance to have a good look around the actual city so for me it was a bonus!

In my free practice my car felt pretty good and I was happy with my balance so for qualifying I felt good. Of course though, the circuit changes so much from free practice as the temperature increases and more rubber is laid down from F1 and GP2.

For qualifying on my first set of tyres I felt pretty good although I had some understeer but I was expecting this slightly and I realised how to drive around it. In qualifying there is no time to change the car really so it is down to me to just get on with it. On my second set of tyres it was very scrappy but I pulled a couple of okay laps together to qualify 8th and 5th for my two races. This was satisfying and I knew with some improvements I could race forward.

We made some good steps forward and in race 1 I made a mega start and a good first lap got me up to 6th… and that is where I stayed for the next 12 laps! My pace was really very good but without being a big margin faster or another driver making a mistake it is very difficult to move forward. But, 6th is solid points and I was happy. My car balance felt good but could be improved I thought.

For race 2, I expected a little more starting from 5th and I wanted a podium. I had another good first lap, moving up into 4th. I tried for 3rd around the outside at the fast sixth gear turn three but this was not happening!.. I went very wide and dropped to 6th…once again this is where I stayed and where I finished my race. My car was about the same as race 1 but overall my pace was good and 6th is very solid points. Both of my races were very professional with no real drama in either and I am happy for that after the messy races I have had previously this year.

I now have a big three week break. I have been training super hard recently and will keep this up because I expect Valencia to be very hot like Budapest. I am going on holiday to Spain this Sunday with a few of my close friends which will be great because I can just relax and switch off for a little while which I think is important… but don’t worry, my training gear will be packed!

I really enjoyed the Valencia circuit last year even if it is not a traditional street course, but still, I am now up to 7th in the Championship and closing in on 5th so I cannot wait for my next race. I feel very happy with my car’s balance in most conditions now so I feel well prepared.

I will speak to you when I’m back from holiday with an update on what is happening in my life during the three week break.

Take care and speak soon.

Rupert

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well. Please accept my apologies for the very late update but my life has been incredibly busy recently and whenever I get some spare time all I feel like doing is nothing!

After my success at Silverstone I of course felt very confident going to the Nurburgring. I spent my days in between the 2 races just seeing my friends, training and flying my planes. I also went along to see the F3 at Snetterton because it’s good to see my team as they also race in F3 and also it gives me my fix of motorsport when I have had a boring week! The weather was so so good!… so seriously big bike rides during the day and then long evenings flying my model planes was how it went for a couple of weeks.

Dennis came with me to the Nurburgring and the weekend started very well. We flew out Wednesday evening from Stansted to Cologne which is about 1 hour drive from the circuit…. the hotel though was a further 40 minutes over the hills so it was quite a journey! The weather was miserable all weekend. On the Friday it was like a March test day not a July race weekend… it was just above 12 degrees and I don’t think anybody was prepared for that.

Free practice started well, I finished the session with a comfortable balance and I knew for my qualifying that I had a very good car. My qualifying on the first set of tyres was very good but of course when you pit and have the second set for the final 10 minutes you naturally will go faster as both yourself and the circuit improves. I was beginning my first flying lap on the second set when I had traffic come out of the pits in front of me. I decided to immediately just give up the lap and not take too much out of the tyres and have another go on the second lap. This lap was OK but once again I had traffic…. and my session eventually ended with me having traffic on every lap on my second set of tyres. I did just about pull out two good laps to take 6th and 7th on the grid but just with a clear lap I would have been fighting for rows 1 and 2. I know I am always moaning about traffic but I guess when things are not going your way in a session there is not much you can do about it. But I knew that my car was very good and my pace was also much better than my grid slot suggested so I felt confident for my race.

I started the first race very well and had just fought my way up into 4th at the first corner on about lap 5 but then at turn 3 I just felt a knock from behind and I was spinning. It was a great shame because my pace was so good and 4th was the worst result possible for me in that race. I didn’t see anything in my mirrors although I knew who it was. These things happen and while it is very frustrating, I was once again fighting at the front so it is not so bad. When things are out of your control there is no point in getting upset about it.

Race two was very very wet! Unfortunately for me they decided to start behind the safety car so the grid was very spread out for the start and it was very difficult to make progress but I finished a solid 6th which is good points and I was happy for that after what happened in race one.

My potential for the weekend was certainly much higher than what was achieved but this is motorsport and I know that I did nothing wrong all weekend and that only circumstances prevented me. My next race is in Hungary this weekend which I leave for tomorrow afternoon. I absolutely love the circuit. In fact, it’s close to one of my favourite circuits. Every corner is so crucial with each one flowing to another without any long straights. That means you cannot afford to make a mistake because you will always pay twice.

Last weekend I also raced an Abarth 500 in the Trofeo Abarth 500 European championship at Brands Hatch. I got a phone call at around 5.30PM on Thursday asking if I wanted to come and do it for some fun… so I did! It was my first time in a left hand, front wheel drive car with a roof above my head but it was very enjoyable. The racing was very close and because I blew an engine in Quali I had to start last… but I had a mega race and came through to 3rd! It was good fun and of course great experience.

However, on the Sunday of course the whole weekend and the whole of the motorsport world was saddened by the news of Henry Surtees’ death. I first raced with Henry in karts at Rye House when I was 8 years old and ever since our paths have crossed on and off over the years. It is so very upsetting to me to have witnessed the accident and know of the consequences. It was a reminder for me of what a dangerous sport motorsport is, and that the chance of that freak accident can never really be taken away. But, what I do not agree with, is how easily the wheels are flying off the F2 cars and I expect this to be overcome because the accident should never have happened. I wish his family and friends my deepest sympathies.

The harsh reality for me is that I have a race this weekend and a career to pursue and maybe when I start moaning of getting traffic in my qualifying and what has happened to Henry puts it all into perspective a bit.

I am very much looking forward to Hungary this weekend and I look forward to updating you soon after.

Take care,

Rupert

Hello everyone,

Sorry for my slightly late update after Silverstone.

Well, what a weekend…. it all came together for me and I finally scored my first podium on Saturday and then went and got another on Sunday!

With the weekend being my home race there was a lot of media attention beforehand. On the Wednesday evening before the weekend BMW asked me to attend a BMW UK Motorsport evening where all of the BMW UK employees attended to see Robert Kubica, Troy Corser, Andy Prilaux….. and then me being interviewed by Murray Walker about our own racing seasons and how we are getting on and more a bit about us as people.  It was just great for me because Murray Walker is one of my TV heroes and I have stared at him on the TV interviewing the F1 greats and now he was giving me an interview! It’s another very special moment. He was really good fun and had a great way about him to keep you relaxed so it all went very smoothly.

Also, on the Friday morning after free practice and just before qualifying myself and three other drivers went and did a BBC Radio 5 Live interview…. now I really should have got the clue in the name of the radio station but I had no idea it was a full on live interview until the last few seconds when we went on the air to the whole country!! It was all done upstairs in the Brawn GP motorhome in the F1 paddock and, well it was another pretty scary thing to begin with but it all just went very smoothly and we could just have a great laugh and a conversation really! I think the BBC were happy with the job we did. The funniest part of all though was we kept on having to stop talking to cut down to the F1 paddock to hear Bernie Ecclestone but I felt quite sorry for the reporter because this is what he said… ‘Hello Bernie, we are live on the BBC what can you tell us?’… Bernie: ‘Tell you about what?’… BBC: ‘The problems going on with Max Mosley at the moment’.  Bernie: ‘Max is having problems? I didn’t know that’. At this point they just gave up and cut back to us all looking very angry. I don’t think my laughing helped!

Now, my racing. Free practice went very well indeed – 2nd place – and then the rest of the weekend followed suit. In qualifying my car was so good but I got blocked on my best lap. Still, 6th and 3rd on the grid was satisfying enough. I really had to fight hard in the first race for that first taste of champagne. Lifting the trophy for the first time was definitely very special for me and when I scored another podium the next day it did not feel half as good!

After the very difficult start to the year it was really satisfying to come and score a weekend like that, especially as it was my home race which made it very special indeed. We have had the pace to be on the podium all year and would have been last weekend if not for my penalty at Zandvoort. But importantly, I have now proven my potential and shown it so that makes me very happy. It is very easy for people to doubt you when you are struggling sometimes but many people always believed in me and this really is important to me to show them that they were right to do that.

I have been all over the place since the weekend, not really knowing what to do with myself! I have just been training in the sun and flying my planes but today I will see my friends for a BBQ so I am looking forward to that … but next weekend I get to go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed which is just awesome because it has been three years since I last went and so I cannot wait. You get so close to the greatest cars from the greatest races.

I hope this has been interesting and I just cannot wait for my next race weekend.

Thanks everybody and I look forward to updating you soon after my next race at the Nurburgring in three weeks.

Rupert