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 Guys,
 
What a week! I have been here, there and everywhere. I’ve been flying loads and doing my final exams which were tough. Lots to know about clouds and stuff. I played in a charity match at Loch Lomond which was amazing. It was an unbelievable place. Our team came 2nd overall which considering I thought I didn’t play that well I was pretty happy with. I also went to the last round of the BSB and did a bit on the Think! stand and the Chris Jones auction.

 Oli Ran her half marathon that weekend in London and raised over £1000 for her elephant charity and did the run in under 2 hours so she was so happy with her achievement. Out of 20,000 runners she came 4820 which I think is amazing. She wanted to that everyone who supported her and donated to her charity – there will be lots of happy elephants out there now. 

As I’m sure you know I have signed for Alstare Suzuki for next year. It was a tough decision as Stiggy has been fantastic and gave me the opportunity in the first place to come back to WSBK. I am so grateful for that but the Suzuki deal was too good an opportunity to turn down and I’m very excited about it.

Last race though and I would like to thank Stiggy and all my sponsors and fans with a double podium.
 
Sorry it’s late my computer went kaput!

Leon

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

Hi everyone

Not a bad weekend then. I really enjoyed the track but the racing was quite lonely for me. We chose the harder tyre in the first race and it didn’t work quite as well. I was the only one using that tyre too so it was a bit of a gamble. In race two we had a couple of electrical problems but nothing too major so I just couldn’t push as hard as I wanted.

It’s true that I will part company with Stiggy after this season which is a shame as I have really enjoyed being a part of their team and I think we have worked really well together. Suzuki is on the cards for the next few days and I will let you know as soon as it’s a done deal, but it’s all very exciting.

I’ve been flying again today and this weekend I will go to Oulton on the Saturday to see some of the BSB boys in their last race. Then it’s off to Loch Lomond to play a couple of rounds of golf with friends. Oli is in London this weekend doing her half marathon. She’s been training really hard so she should blitz it.

I can’t believe the season’s nearly over, it’s gone so fast but it’s been awesome too. I love being in WSBK.

Speak soon

Leon