13/11/2019
Brands Hatch October 26th-27th 2019
After leaving Dublin at 8am on October 24th, we arrived at Brands Hatch at 8.30pm and unloaded the cars into the garage.
Friday 25th - Testing
We arrived at the circuit early to do a track walk and noticed that the track was quite greasy. I decided to do the afternoon test session in the hope that the wet track would dry out.
1st session - The track was still quite wet but I decided to go out on slicks to see where the grip was. After a few laps I was building up speed and had a big moment coming down Paddock Hill Bend and just managed to keep the car out of the gravel. I pulled in as it started to rain heavier.
2nd session - I changed the settings to a wet set up, changed the tyres to wets and headed back out. Straight away the car felt really good in these conditions and I was happy enough to leave the car with these settings for qualifying.
Saturday 26th - Qualifying
We arrived at the circuit early as we were scheduled to qualify first. Although the rain had stopped, the track was still quite damp so I took a gamble going with a dry set up and new slicks.
The first 6 or 7 laps were very slippy but I gradually built up temperature in the tyres and the car started to feel good.
A car needed retrieving from the gravel which meant a red flag so I proceeded to the end of the pit lane to wait for the green flag. When qualifying resumed I would have a clear track ahead of me. Qualifying started again and I felt that the tyres had switched on and the car was getting quicker every lap. I got the signal from the pits that I was on pole. I was amazed to find that, according to the time sheet, I was 1.5 seconds ahead of my closest rival for the championship.
Race 1 - Starting from pole I didn't get off the line great and spent the first couple of laps battling with Cameron Fenton and Philip Jones. As Fenton wasn't a contender for the championship I didn't fight too much with him and let him go. Myself and Jones spent lap after lap swapping positions at nearly every corner until I managed to pull away from him and I could see he was battling with cars behind. I crossed the line in 2nd place, knowing that I had gained 1st place points towards the championship. With all my championship rivals finishing behind me, I gained an advantage in the championship standings.
Race 2 - The rain that was promised arrived about an hour before the race was due to start. Confident in the wet set up from testing on Friday, I was really looking forward to the race. Starting on the front row I got off the line better this time and went around the outside of Fenton in turn 1, only to find that Jones had gone down the inside and taken the lead. We had a great battle for a couple of laps until Fenton spun into the gravel bringing out the safety car. Luckily I had managed to overtake Jones in Druid's before the safety car came out.
From the safety car restart I got away well and started to build up a bit of a gap. It stayed that way until the last lap when a mistake lead me to run wide in Paddock Hill which slowed me down enough to allow Jones by. This would prove to be a costly mistake. I finished the race 2nd behind Jones, with Charlie Linnane close behind me in 3rd.
October 27th - Race 3
Race 3 was an unfamiliar rolling start with myself and Jones on the front row. We came through Paddock Hill side by side, and coming into Druid's myself, Jones and Linnane were 3 wide, with Linnane taking to the grass. Contact was inevitable, resulting in Linnane spinning and Jones taking the lead. For the next few laps myself and Jones battled incredibly hard. The safety car was deployed when Max Drennan and Ian Newport collided and this closed up the field. At the safety car restart myself and Jones resumed our battle and I finally managed to make a move coming out of Clearways and got by Jones. I began chasing Fenton down, who had managed to get past us. I closed the gap to within 1 second on the last lap, crossing the line in 2nd place, once again with full championship points.
Unfortunately, that was not enough to win the championship as Jones finished directly behind me giving him the championship win by 2 points.
All in all, it was another great weekend at Brands Hatch with some very close racing. We're looking forward to doing it all over again next year!
Congratulations to Philip Jones, 2019 Irish Supercars Powered by Pirelli champion!
Thanks to Joe Power of TDR Performance, Robbie Parks of Vertical Racing, Alan Watkins and Darren O Hara for all of your help during 2019.
And the biggest thanks goes to my team boss, tea and bacon bap supplier and my number 1 supporter, Liv, whose constant presence and support for every race weekend means so much.
Now, onwards and upwards.... only 23 weeks until the 2020 season begins!
