MotorsTV UK Official Blog

Hi everyone.

This blog is a mixture of happiness and sadness. Happy because after a fantastic season I was crowned champion, but sad as it means another season of motorsport is nearing an end.

Leaving Silverstone a few weeks ago I didn’t know that I’d just wrapped up the driver’s championship. It was fellow competitor Ed Hayes tha t worked it out on Monday morning. A very excited call from my Dad that afternoon marked one of the most incredible moments of my life, though admittedly it didn’t feel quite real.

Snetterton will always be special for me, as it was where I took part in my first ever motor race, on my 17th birthday in June last year. Back then I wouldn’t of imagined that I’d be returning a year later as driver’s champion and two finishes would earn Matt Blyth Motorsport team’s championship.

Testing on Friday took place in dry conditions and we were setting the pace, a couple of tenths up on our rivals. The same could be said the next day however, with damp conditions making for a very tricky qualifying session, where I managed to grab 2nd on the grid, the highest I have qualified since taking pole at Oulton Park back in May.

 Come race 1 later that afternoon, and still the damp conditions persisted. I made a fantastic start to get into the lead on the first corner and was able to pull out a small lead over the first few laps. However, due to the treacherous conditions and the need to finish in order to secure the team’s championship for Matt Blyth Motorsport,  I drove cautiously, perhaps a little too cautiously and ended up dropping back to 4th. However this was enough to mean I could really go for a fantasitc in race 2 and end the season on a high.

Race 2 took place in much more pleasant whether, so the final race of 2009 took place in dry conditions. It was a fantastic end to the 2009 season, with a great battle between me and old rivals Peter Ratcliff and Simon Young. I’ve had some fantastic battles with them this year and so I must thank them both for a great season of clean, hard racing. For this race though I was happily the one who came out on top to win the last race of the season, and take both the driver’s and team’s championships.

So as 2009 draws to a close I would like to thank my team Matt Blyth Motorsport for all the effort they have put in this year as well as my sponsors KM Dastur and Ian Hutcheson & Associates, for without them I wouldn’t be on the grid at all.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading these blogs, take care of yourselves.

Dan

Hi all

Apologies for the lateness of this blog, but I have been very busy lately due to starting university at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. I still haven’t got my Internet sorted so am currently writing this from my local Internet café.
 
Sine my last blog a lot has happened in the Caterham Superlight R400 Championship with arguably the two most anticipated races of the year: Spa Francorchamps & Silverstone GP.

So onto Spa, and a very exciting occasion for my team Matt Blyth Motorsport, who after months of talk were finally able to use their incredible new lorry – with a nicer interior than my house! Spa itself is simply incredible; there is defiantly a really special atmosphere there that is not present at any other track.

Whilst Spa is notorious for its weather, we had beautiful sunshine all weekend making for a simply unbeatable weekend’s enjoyment. As for the racing itself, we had the biggest entry of the year with an incredible 28 Superlights on track. The nature of the circuit made for some very close racing, with the high-speed layout and tow affect that is so apparent in Caterhams heightened even further to mean that you could enter the Kemmel straight in first, but be in 6th by the end of it. Whilst this encouraged ultra-close racing, it made it very hard to stay in the lead and so led to a very tactical first race, which I judged very well and was able to take my 3rd win in a row, albeit by only 0.078 seconds from championship rival Peter Ratcliff.

The second race was much of the same, however I didn’t judge my ideal position on the final lap meaning I was 4th heading into the bus stop chicane. Fortunately though a spinning car ahead of me gifted me 3rd place and a 9th podium of the year. To add to that, I also collected my first ever lap record, a 2:41 second lap that just added to an already phenomenal weekend.

Two weeks later and back in the UK to go to another magical place, Silverstone. This was my first visit the Grand Prix circuit and I have to say it is an incredible circuit. Like Spa, it encourages close racing because of its high-speed layout. Another strong grid – 23 cars for this meeting and more beautiful weather set the one-day event up to be another thriller.

After struggling to get enough out of the car in qualifying I faced an uphill struggle with my two main championship rivals taking up the front row. Race 1 was very tough with 5 cars fighting for the lead. Whilst I couldn’t take the win, a third place was good damage limitation as my rivals didn’t take too many points out of my championship lead.

For race two I started in a better position and took full advantage of it, by taking my sixth victory of the season and another fastest lap. This means that I now have a 13 point lead in the championship going into the final round at Snetterton in three weeks time. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Take care,

Dan

After a tough weekend at Anglesey three weeks ago I was determined to make up for it at Donington Park, one of my favourite circuits and one that I always go well at.

It was great to be back on the British F3/GT package, and there was a really good atmosphere in the paddock all weekend. Despite the miserable weather, a big crowd turned out to watch all the action.  Furthermore, a strong 20 car grid including reigning champion David Mayes promised some fantastic racing. This surely indicates the benefits of being part of the F3/GT meetings, so hopefully there will be more than one meeting on the package in 2010.

For me, the weekend itself couldn’t have started any worse thanks to an engine failure just 20 minutes into the first practice session on Friday. We still haven’t had any word from engine builders Minister Power as to what has gone on the engine, but we have our fingers crossed it won’t be too expensive.

Thankfully a spare engine was on hand and thanks to great work by Mat Blyth Motorsport, Rob from Tecserv and Simon Lambert for finding an oil filter in a van I was able to get a good run in the car before racing.

So onto the racing. Qualifying presented a tough challenge for me because I am running in a one car team. it would be better to work together with another car to capitalise on the huge performance advantage a tow down the straights can give you in these cars. This meant that whilst I was quickest in clean air, it was championship rival Peter Ratcliff and team mate David Mayes who took the front two positions on the grid, whilst I had to settle for third.

Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon in lovely sunshine and the race itself was defiantly one of the best of the year. Having eight cars fighting for first place underlies why the R400 Superlight championship is so good. As Mayes built up a good advantage at the head of the field I had to deal with all three of my closest championship rivals trying as hard as possible to find a way past me. Luckily, their squabbles meant I was able to break the tow and hunt down Mayes, eventually passing him into Goddards to take the win. It was a great feeling to finally finish in front of him after spending the last three rounds of 2008 coming second best to David.

Race two on Sunday provided challenging conditions, with heavy rain falling minutes before we went out to race. A late tyre change by us proved a great move as, despite losing the lead on the first bend to David, I was back in the lead again by the start of lap two from where I sped off into the distance, winning the race by over 32 seconds.

A really great weekend more than made up for the disappointment at Anglesey and made the hard work of changing engines on Friday very worthwhile.  The fantastic results mean I am now 13 points clear at the head of the driver’s championship with six races left to run. There is a long two month wait until I’m next out, but it should be worth the wait as the next round of the championship is at the awesome Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Many people consider this the best circuit in the world, so I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Dan

Hi all. Has been a while since my last update due to a four-week break between races. Rounds 5 & 6 of the 2009 Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight R400 Championship took place at the Anglesey circuit, in North Wales and using the full International GP configuration. This is a circuit that before the announcement of the calendar I didn’t know existed so was a nice surprise to find that, despite the long travel distance, it really is a great circuit with some interesting sections, ample overtaking opportunities and with the mountains of Snowdonia in the distance, it couldn’t be in a more beautiful location.

So onto the racing itself, and it was a weekend where we really struggled to get onto the pace in the dry. Unfortunately dry testing time was cut short by showers in the afternoon. In the wet we were the pace setters, but it wasn’t the weekend to be quick in the wet with glorious sunshine basking over the circuit on Saturday and Sunday.

For qualifying, horrendous understeer combined with not being able to pick up that all-important tow up the long straights meant I was confined to my lowest qualifying position of the season, 7th place. For race one, I was engulfed in a furious five way battle for 3rd place. All five of us had the same chance of crossing the line to take the final podium position – the honour eventually falling to Grahame Tilley. I eventually finished 6th, throwing away 5th place by way of an overoptimistic move on my part on the final corner, which resulted in a 360 spin and my lowest finishing position since Brands Hatch last July.

Saturday night saw Caterham Motorsport team up with the people at the Ma5da MX5 Cup to enjoy a very pleasant evening at the circuit, featuring Hog Roast and live band, a truly great way to spend the evening and was great to socialise with the rest of the racers at the circuit.

A long wait for our race on Sunday was made easier by the gorgeous weather, though our race took place at probably the hottest time of the day. The team at Matt Blyth Motorsport did an excellent job improving the set-up and some of my race lines meaning I went into the second race with much more confidence than I did on Saturday. The changes really made a difference as I quickly shot up the order and raced hard with Bill Addision and Grahame Tilley for 3rd place. The great battle was cut short y mechanical problems for both Bill and Grahame, Bill suffering a coolant leak and gearbox troubles for Grahame meant that I inherited a very pleasing 3rd place. It was a great feeling to get on the podium in what had been a difficult weekend.

Despite the tough weekend, I still have the lead in the drivers’ championship and Matt Blyth Motorsport still top the teams’ championship. What’s better, our next round of the championship takes place at Donington Park, a circuit I really enjoy racing at and one where I always seem to go well – I collected my first ever win in a car there last year in the Caterham Eurocup. Donny has had a lot of problems recently and I really hope it pulls though as it is such a great circuit.

It is also great to get back on the British F3/GT package at Donington. It is a real shame that we only have the one race with them this year, as it is a great package put together by SRO and is where I feel the R400 Superlight Championship is best suited.

Finally, whilst the R400 championship has suffered with patchy grid numbers this year Anglesey once again showed that it provides some of the best racing around, despite the low numbers. At all three rounds this year there has been fantastic racing throughout the pack making it fantastic to compete in and, according to my family and friends, awesome to watch both live and on Motors TV. Combine this and the fact that 2009 is one of the most competitive R400 championships in recent years (4 different winners from 6 races) should in itself act as great advertising for a fantastic series.

Hi all,

I’m Dan Denis and this year I am competing in the Caterham Superlight R400 Championship, Caterham’s premier motorsport championship. All the cars are identical, featuring a monstrous 220bhp Cosworth engine and Quaife 6-speed sequential gearbox. Having all this power in a car that only weighs 600kg makes for some very fast speeds and having no aerodynamic aids, makes the racing extremely close and exciting to both watch and drive.

This is only my second season of car racing, having come out of karts at the start of 2008. After a busy few months trying to raise the money, I contested 5 of the 6 rounds of the Caterham R400 Superlight championship, where I had 4 consecutive podiums and one win, in the Caterham Eurocup.

For 2009, I have a different car and great support from sponsors KM Dastur & Co Ltd, Ian Hutcheson & Associates and The Haywaggon Inn, Heartfield. For a second season I will be running with Matt Blyth Motorsport, who will be providing driver coaching and car preparation throughout the year.

The championship got underway on Easter Weekend at the Silverstone International circuit, my least favourite track on the calendar. We arrived at the circuit Thursday night in foul conditions that didn’t disappear throughout the weekend, contrary to all the weather forecasts! This probably helps explain why there wasn’t a single soul in the grandstands for the whole weekend, which added to a very dull atmosphere. Friday was the wettest day of the weekend, and in free practice we showed good pace though it proved difficult to see our true pace because the seemingly endless string of slower Roadsport & R300 cars that we had out with us during the practice made it near impossible to get a clear lap.

For Qualifying the track was drier but was incredibly greasy meaning that grip was lower than in Practice. The conditions weren’t like anything I had raced on before and they quickly became my least favourite conditions. The lack of grip meant that, despite the best efforts of the team, there was seemingly constant understeer into the corners that was balanced out by a heap of oversteer on the exit. The challenging conditions caught me out on my first flying lap, almost binning it in the graveltrap at Abbey. Despite my best efforts we could only manage 4th on the grid.

Some setup tweaks for Race 1 made a noticeable difference to the car giving me much more confidence under brakes and through the corners. This allowed me to battle race long with the leaders only just missing out on the win, but got the fastest lap.

For Race 2 on the Sunday, conditions were a slight improvement with a dry line appearing for our race. I knew I had to get the lead early on as overtaking would be almost impossible given the treacherous conditions off line. I was able to get a fantastic start to put me into the lead, one I held for the whole duration of the race despite being put under immense pressure. I just stayed on line which meant no one could get past without seriously compromising their exit speed. Overall a very successful, if wet, opening weekend.

Round 2 at Oulton Park couldn’t have had more different conditions. Glorious sunshine basked over the track all day and a good crowd led to a very nice atmosphere. It was a real treat to race on the full international circuit (and a surprise for some who had mistakenly tested on the shorter Island circuit). The twisty, technical nature of the circuit really appealed to me and it has shot up to the top of my list of favourite tracks.

Using the same setup we developed in testing earlier in the month, I was confident of showing good pace despite my relative lack of experience and I was able to grab pole by two tenths of a second. Qualifying for this meeting presented a new challenge I have not experienced before. Due to the meeting being one day, the decision was made to combine our R400 qualifying with the qualifying of the slower R300 cars. This led to quite a busy track and made it hard to put in a fast lap that wasn’t compromised by being stuck behind the R300’s.

For race 1, my start was disappointing and knocked me back to fourth. However I was able to gain all these places back in the first two laps to retake the lead. From here I was able to break the tow on the fierce battle for second behind and pull out a good gap. An excellent setup by Matt Blyth Motorsport meant the car didn’t go off at all and I was able to take the win by over 9 seconds.

For race 2 I got a much better start and led into the first corner but this time couldn’t shake off the pursuers, and I engaged in a race long battle for the lead which eventually went the way of Simon Young by only a few hundredths of a second, with me in 2nd.

Losing by such a small margin is always tough to take, but me and Simon both raced extremely well and I didn’t feel disappointed at all, as having two very strong, consistent point scoring weekends gives me a 10 point lead at the head of the drivers’ championship and Matt Blyth Motorsport enjoying a comfortable lead in the teams’ championship.

We have a four week break until round 3 at Anglesey, a circuit I didn’t even know existed until a few months ago. It is a circuit very few in the series have raced on before and the first time me, or any of the official Caterham championships, have visited the circuit. Being a new circuit to most of the competitors, it should make for a very level playing field and some fantastic racing. From those I’ve spoken to who have raced there before, opinions are mixed. Some say it’s fantastic, others say it’s dull. I guess we’ll all find out on the 27th-28th June.