Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2021 MG Trophy took place at a sunny Oulton Park and yielded a great day’s racing for the second MGCC meeting of the year. Well, that was the plan anyway. But both the weather and my engine had other ideas… Read on for the full report – it’s quite a short one…
Wet qualifying
In what felt like a flashback to our last time out at Oulton Park, the weather for the morning’s qualifying session was foul. I’d headed out on some very old wets (the same ones I used at Snetterton in 2019) but immediately wished I’d broken out the fresher set. We weren’t quite at the stage of rivers running across the track, but the spray and sheer volume of water meant it was a hugely challenging session.
With no ABS fitted to my car (some B class entries do have it), I was struggling to brake on the racing line, so had to go off-line in search of grip. I’d found that once the car was stopped, mid-corner grip and traction was surprisingly plentiful, yet getting to that point was another issue.
Following two mistakes and one lap being held up, I was languishing in mid-pack and needed to put in a strong lap in the dying minutes. A safety car for Jack Chapman’s spin cost me precious time, but on the final lap I managed a time good enough for 3rd in class, with my second fastest lap maintaining that position for race two. In hindsight, it could have been a lot worse…
Race 1 lasts under two laps for James
With race 1 starting just before lunch, the track was around 85% dry meaning we could ditch the wets and head out on the semi-slick Dunlop Direzzas. Great news – yet I’d never driven Oulton in properly dry conditions so knew that the first half of the race would very much be a learning curve.
As the lights went green I managed a decent start (on the damper side of the track) and got down the inside of polesitter Tylor Ballard for the first corner. Seeing water on the apex, I braked early to avoid a potential first corner incident, yet it was quickly obvious that I’d over-compensated. Not only did Ballard hold position, but Josh Bacon carried the extra speed around the outside and came through as we made our way down to Cascades.
However, just a few seconds later I sensed an opportunity into Shell Oils Corner and dived down the inside. It was a quick and clean move and although Josh had the run on the outside coming into Britten’s chicane, I was in front by just enough to make the move stick.
The rest of my first lap was a little scruffy as I let the class A cars of Adam Jackson and Patrick Booth come through, while lap two started with a scary incident involving the former (see video below).
The worst behind me (or so I thought), I’d made a nice gap to Josh Bacon and set about doing my best to catch the lead cars of Fergus Campbell and Tylor Ballard. But then, disaster struck. My freshly built engine suffered what can only be described as a catastrophic failure coming up Clay Hill and I had no choice but to retire the car.
This was a huge (and expensive) setback and with no spare engine the day’s racing was over for my number 14 car. It was nobody’s fault (the engine was built to an excellent standard and with the best parts) but sometimes motor racing is a cruel and frustrating sport. Not to mention expensive. Did I mention how expensive it is?
Congratulations to Fergus Campbell for getting the class B win in race 1 and Tylor Ballard for a superb pass to take race 2 – the latter especially made excellent viewings from the sidelines. The good news is I will be back out for Silverstone on June 12th and 13th owing to some magic from Paul Streather Motorsport.
Massive thanks as always to Paul, Powerflex, Garmin, the MGCC and Trophy, Oulton Park, those who came to support me and all the other spectators who were finally allowed back in to watch some enthralling motorsport – you were very much missed!
Championship standings can be found here.
Pics by Dickon Siddall
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