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,

I know it has been over a week since the race meeting at Silverstone, on the 14^th and 15^th of August, but this has been the first chance I have had to sit down and write up a blog.

My aim going into the weekend was to qualify in the top 10 for all 3 races and have 3 top 10 finishes.

Qualifying started very well with me running in the top 6 for the first 3 flying laps, but as the session progressed people started toeing each other around down hanger straight, this gave them around a 3 tenth of a second advantage. As this happened I dropped down to 9^th quickest by the end of the session, with 3 very consistent laps, this gave me 2 9^th place qualifications and 1 8^th. This was my highest qualification so far this year; with all being in the top 10 my first aim was complete.

Race 1 was perfect conditions for me, with a damp track that was to dry for wets. Due to my confidence in these condition, from practice in similar on the Thursday test sessions, I called slicks very early in the assembly area, leaving many other drivers panicking about tyre choice right up to the formation lap. This perhaps meant I was a lot calmer than the other drivers at the start and I capitalised on this by driving through from 9^th to 4^th on the 1^st lap. A few laps later and I had passed Josh Hill, at Abby for 3^rd and pulled an advantage. Unfortunately, just 2 laps from the end of the race, the conditions that gave me this opportunity for my first podium caught me out, at Vale I slid wide onto a damp patch causing me to go wide onto the wet astro turf at Club instantly diminishing my gap and I was swallowed up by the pack, dropping back down to 6^th.

Race 2 never really got going due to an early safety car that took up over half of the race. I had managed to get up to 7^th before the safety car period, but an error on the restart caused me to drop 3 places into 10^th.

Finally it was here Race 3, my highest ever grid position. I got a great start from the inside of the grid, the slippy side; this allowed me to gain 2 places straight away. At the end of the 1^st lap the safety car boards had been put out due to a first corner incident. The restart and straight away Emi Bernstorff, Silverstone lap record holder, made his way past me followed by Finish driver Anti Burri. The race for me was very much a case of follow the leader from then on for me until the last lap. On the last lap the pack was split by contact between the 2 championship leaders, I thought this was my time to strike but I was only able to re pass Burri into Bridge, however investigation into the last lap are still on going.

This meant that I had achieved my 2 goals, with 9,9,8 in Qualifying and 6^th, 7th, 10th in the races.

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

Hello Everyone and welcome to my mid season blog.
We are now half way through the ten round British Formula Ford Championship and so far it has been a mixture of highs and lows. Taking my 1st outright win at Zandvoort was without doubt the highlight of my racing career. To stand on the podium in front of the huge grandstand while the national anthem played makes it all worth while. In contrast parting ways with the Kevin Mills Racing team only week or so previous was a real low. The first time in my 8 year history I have switched teams in the season. 

My latest race at Rockingham turned out to be a nightmare in many respects. There are so many variables in motor racing already and to then have the added issues at the weekend really made it difficult for me, and I’m sure there were others. In testing I had headed the times for the past 2 weeks. At both the pre race tests we were right up at the front if not quickest. Yet come qualifying I had a car that could barely make it through a bend without wanting to chuck me into the nearest wall. The data showed a huge loss in grip and with nothing changing from Friday to Saturday but the tires, we were sure this was the issue. We did our best and in Race 1 I managed to just hang on to 6th place from Dan de Zille. Dan drove an excellent race and I just managed to be quick enough in certain parts of the track to hold him off. I have a lot of respect for the way he handled being stuck behind me for so many laps. Many other drivers wouldn’t of thought twice about just moving me out of the way. Myself included had it been someone in front of me.

In Race 2 we made the decision to run my spare tires to try compensate for our problems. I got a great start and jumped up to 5th by turn 1 from my 6th place starting slot. I then managed to pass Scott Malvern a couple of laps later into turn 1 for 4th and that is where I stayed. The guys in front had just got too much of a jump on me and without a tow I just couldn’t make up the ground. I felt I had the pace had I of been with them to to challenge for a podium position. I consistently pulled away from Scott and was well clear at the flag. My team mate Tio Elinas won both races from pole so congratulations to him on a great weekend.

On the Tuesday after Rockingham we travelled to Snetterton for some official F3/Ford testing. The main aim for us at this test was to prove we had a tyre issue and see what we could do  about it. In session 1 I was consistently the fastest driver and was narrowly beaten in the dyeing seconds of the session by Josh Hill. In session 2 we did some back to back testing of our tires. My first set were from the Friday at Rockingham and my second were from the race. I lost roughly 5 tenths of a second when we changed them and confirmed to us there is a serious problem somewhere down the line. 5 tenths around a track with a long straight and 5 corners. It could easily be and probably was more at the twisty Rockingham circuit. Many other teams were also finding problems and it is clear that the championship could be greatly effected unless something changes.  In session 3 I ran new tires also from the Rockingham batch and set a lap good enough for P1 on the day. The tires seemed normal and showed non of the issues we had at the weekend. All very odd and certainly means all the teams will be paying close attention next time out.

We now have a a couple of weeks off until Silverstone where we will race on the Grand Prix circuit something I am very much looking forward to. 

I look forward to bringing you an update soon,
Cheers
Dan

Hi everyone,

Just back from my first race meeting, in a Mygale chassis, at Rockingham Speedway, in Northampton. Which to my surprise stayed dry, for my time on the track, with all the weather forecasts prior to the weekend showing rain.

My aim going into the weekend was to finish qualifying in the top 10 and have two top 10 finishes.

I had a hard qualifying session, with a red flag causing a pause to my progress as I settled into the session; at this point I was running 14th. However when the session was restarted I managed to claw some more speed out of the car and up until the last lap was running 10th, being beaten back into 11th by just 1 thousandth of a second. At the end of qualifying I was 11th for race 1 and 9th for race 2, which I was happy with as I felt that averaged out to reach my goal.

I made a poor start on Race 1 from 11th on the grid, due to never making a practice start in the Mygale, as it uses a different clutch system to the Van Diemen, this left me in 12th by the end of the first lap. I then spent the majority of the race fighting, with the likes of, Josh Hill down, son of World Champion Damon Hill, and Nathan Freke, the 2006 MSA Formula Ford Champion. I finished the race despite the fighting still in 12th, which disappointed me, but really showed me the importance of a good start.

Race 2 and this time I made a much better start, with me not losing nor gaining any places. After fighting for several laps, the pack settled down into an order with me up to 8th. I spent the remainder of the race Chasing Down Josh Hill once more, but never making any headway, as when I managed to up my pace so did he constantly maintaining the gap.

This meant that I had kind of achieved my goals, in one way or another, and had learnt about this different chassis and how it should be driven.

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

Hello and welcome to my post Castle Combe blog for the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.
With limited testing at the Chippenham based circuit due to budget constraints we knew it would be a tough weekend. Losing precious track time to my championship rivals is never helpful and put us on the back foot from the start. Having had over a week out of the car by the time qualifying arrived Saturday morning it was always going to be a struggle to jump straight in and perform. I was therefore very happy to have qualified 4th for both races of the weekend. In front of me were the 3 Jamun Mygales of Scott Pye, Josh Hill and Emil Bernstorff all of which tested the Thursday before the meeting so to be 4th was an excellent effort. 

Sunday saw Formula Fords with 2 races which would make up rounds 9 and 10 of this years championship. I got an excellent start from 4th on the grid and was up to 3rd by turn 1 at Quarry. The always fast Starting Ray driven by Scott Malvern was already up to 4th right behind me. I managed to pass Josh Hill on lap 2 When he ran wide exiting the final turn and I could out drag him up the hill to turn 1. I quickly began to catch Scott Pye who was leading the race from pole position. I got within a Couple of car lengths and was beginning to detach Malvern when I started to realise I was struggling to slow the car down. I was pressing the brake harder and harder but to no avail. On lap 3 I could barely slow down enough to even make the corner let alone the Apex and Malvern was right back behind me. Going into turn 1 on Lap 4 I braked as late as I dare but still couldn’t quite slow the car enough and Malvern gained an easy position. From there I went back a few more places as I was now driving with no brakes at all. By lap 6 I was down in 6th or 7th but with quick thinking I had managed to cool my brakes just enough and could feel the bite coming back. I managed to re-pass Dennis Lind and was closing on the group ahead. Emil Bernstorff was right with me coming out of the Chicane and unfortunately I ran slightly wide on the exit and missed a gear going over the bumps, Emil had nowhere to go but into the back of me launching into the air and clean over my car. He landed hard in front of me and both our races had come to an end. It was very disappointing to see good points disappear so quickly especially when I had dealt with my brake problems so well.

The Second race was in the Afternoon and was run in very warm and sunny conditions. Another great start saw me up to 3rd again by turn 1 where I stayed until the race was Red flagged after Chrissy Palmer crashed at tower. The speed at the front was very fast with Pye leading from Hill then me. My team mate Tio Elinas was keeping me honest with Malvern close behind him. I felt that would be the end of the race but after a good 25 minute stoppage we were back on the grid for a full restart. Something I knew would benefit the fast starting Ray of Scott Malvern. After the long run down to turn 1 he had already inched ahead of me from 5th on the grid and I settled into 4th place. We managed to pull away from Tio fairly quickly over the 5 lap sprint to the finish. I was all over the rear of Malvern but was unable to find a way past so I was 4th at the flag. I was disappointed to lose my podium position as I felt for speed I certainly deserved it and the full restart was such a big advantage to Scott who’s car always gets excellent traction.

It wasn’t the best weekend’s racing I’ve had but we always knew it would be tough with little testing at the circuit. Especially when I am new to the JTR team and Mygale Chassis. I believe at the more technical tracks of Rockingham, Silverstone and Snetterton things will be much different. I now stand 3rd in the Championship with a long way still to go, so I am confident I can get my season back on track and win some races.

The most difficult thing of all at the moment is finding the budget to continue my season. Anyone interested in Sponsorship and what I can do for you should contact myself or Chris Hodgen.
Details can be found on my website at www.danielcammish.co.uk

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and I look forward to seeing you at a race soon.

Regards

Dan