After the disaster of Silverstone for the 750MC RoadSports, we had a few weeks to gather ourselves ready for the Club Enduro race at Oulton Park. This time we would have both cars.

All the details and dates for future races we are entering can be found on the Darkside Motorsport Page.

Below is the layout of Oulton Park, we would be doing the International) layout, which is the full track:

Our TT TDIs have a declared weight of 1210kg without the driver, Class A petrol cars can have 300hp/tonne if NA and 295hp/tonne if they have a turbo. We can only have 281bhp/ton due to Diesels having a 1.05 power multiplier. This works out to 339.95bhp on the Championship Dyno at our minimum weight.
So we are ~15bhp/tonne down on Forced Induction and 20bhp/ton on NA cars, which we think is unfair but those are the rules!
The 750MC now uses TSL for timing.

Full Race Day Vlog

We have a full Vlog from the weekend, with snippets of the races:

Testing

Friday testing at Oulton is normally full of red flags, and this weekend did not disappoint! We only did the two afternoon sessions, allowing us to set off early Friday morning instead of another overnight stay.
The Forecast had been for rain on both days, but we arrived to a dry track and no threat of rain until later in the evening, then it looked like a monsoon was going to hit the track at some point the next day. So testing was to make sure nothing fell off the cars, but would be a waste of time from a lap time perspective.
Things seemed to be going well until Ryan lost drive with smoke coming from under the bonnet. When the car was finally recovered back, the bolt holding the driveshaft cup had worked its way loose. Luckily a simple fix!
A quick reprep overnight and the cars were ready for Quali!

ClubEnduro Qualifying

As expected, conditions were vastly different in the morning, the track soaking wet and constant rain so it was not going to get any better. I figured it could only really get worse, so was keen to push early on in case of any safety cars or red flags.
This proved to be the case, as I had held pole with my first lap for a few minutes before the #18 Cupra and #2 Golf beat me. I came very close but not close enough. Pickford then smashed the time on his last lap, so I decided to call it a day and headed to Parc Ferme.
Dylan had started the session and struggled for a clear lap, catching a few slowed cars on each one. In normal conditions it costs you a bit of time, but in the wet, you have to second guess where people are going so you lose a lot of time.
Ryan jumped in and was immediately concerned about how the car felt, so came back in and the bottom ball joint had decided to come loose. It was nipped up and he came out to do his laps, again struggling for space.
When the chequered dropped we were P3 and P6, still in the running for the long race.

Most cars found the track conditions better at the start, but a few did find time towards the end.

I held pole for a very brief period, but had no chance against the RS3! I was shocked there were no safety cars or red flags in the session, everyone was well behaved!

Qualifying Laps

Our fastest Quali laps are shown below:

ClubEnduro Race

The second row on the inside for me, and the third on the outside for Ryan. We could make it work from here!

The whole race was Live Streamed by the guys at AlphaLive which you can see below:

As forecast, the weather got even worse during the day and by the start of the race, the spray was going to be an issue. Luckily we would only have a few cars worth to see through, I felt for the guys further back.
The RS3 on pole would have Wayne in for the first stint, who by his own admission was a fair bit slower than his team mate in these conditions, so he expected to drop back. I just needed to make sure I got round cleanly and didn't tangle with Hadley in the #2 Golf as well as keep the #18 TCR behind!
I had a great first few corners and came out of Cascades with my nose in front. Hadley followed with the Cupra in tow, so it was a 3 way fight for the lead now.
Ryan stayed out of trouble, getting past the Class B Civic that had pipped them in Quali and the RS3 by end of the first lap. Unfortunately he had lost touch with us battling it out so struggled to gauge how hard to push in the early stages.
I was having to push way harder than I wanted to considering the conditions, but whenever I relaxed, Hadley was on me. The Cupra seemed to drop off the pace a little, and after a few laps Blencoe was in the gravel at Cascades, probably caught out by the river that had formed across the track. I was gutted to see it as we would have had a decent battle, but it did help my championship as they were the closest rivals. I could not relax though as the Golf was still on me!
When Race Control determined that the Cupra was not digging itself out, the safety car was called and I could finally chill for a few laps. On the restart I pulled a decent gap but then lost it under braking, the Golf was much stronger into the chicanes.
As soon as the pit window opened, the RS3 was in to get Wayne out and James in. If there were many other safety cars, the gap would soon close and they could have been a threat. This was apparent when he immediately set the fastest lap of the race, but unfortunately suffered a suspension strut failure on the next lap, putting them out of the race. It could have been an interesting battle towards the end.
It was getting close to the halfway stage, so Ryan was called into the pits, however the leading Class B Civic dropped it into the gravel at Druids, and I was sure a safety car was imminent, so I told the guys and they aborted the stop. We'd been told in the Drivers briefing that putting in anticipation of a safety car was likely to ruin your race by being held at the end of the pitlane, so it was a good call as the lights were on pretty soon after.
On the restart, things all went South for Ryan. The Simmerson M4 indicated right to let his team-mate through, and Ryan followed. Paul didn't see him and immediately went for the racing line, cutting Ryan's nose off. They collided, then as the M4 span, hit again, bending the flat floor into Ryan's front tyres. He pulled off and retired the car. Gutting! Dylan was ready in his race suit in the garage!
It was getting close to 30 minutes to the end now, so I decided to take my mandatory 3 minute stop (no penalties this time!) and came back out into free air until the next safety car. Hadley had still not come in, and was dangerously close to being out when the Pit Window closed with 15 minutes left of the race.

Hadley finally pitted, and when he came out, I was well up the road, with the M2 of Ricky Collard between us. We traded lap times until Hadley was on him and they started to battle. With just over 3 minutes to go, the Golf went for a move at Lodge, got a tank slapper on and ended up backwards into the gravel. Again I was gutted as we'd had a proper race and he deserved to be on the podium! With so little time left, the race was red flagged and not restarted.

I think if the track was dry, the results would have been a lot different, but I will take this win! The gap was much less that the timing shows, but when Ricky Collard in the M2 passed the sister M4 GT4 at the restart (where Ryan and the M4 collided), it was before the start finish line. After the race the CoC looked at the video evidence and gave them a time penalty equivalent to the in race stop and go penalty, but they still held second position. We were around 14s ahead when the race was stopped.

Most quick laps were in the middle of the race when conditions were best.

I maintained the lead once all the pit stops were over. Ryan was on for most likely a 3rd position had he not collided with the M4.

The fastest lap changed hands a few times during the race!

Fastest Laps

our fastest race laps are below:

We had no chance of beating the Lap Records in these conditions, but I think the Elise won't be beaten for a long time!

With a poor result at Snetterton, it was tight for the championship, but with the Mauger / Blencoe Cupra in the gravel early on, the Mason / Bialan Cupra not here after their crash at Snett, and the Lawson / Pickford RS3 with suspension issues, we extended our lead to the point where no Class A car can beat us. The only thing left open now is the overall championship, where the Class C German Autowerks and Can-It Racing E36s or the Motion Motorsport Civic can trump us at Donington.

The guys had worked flat out again to get both cars ready, and save for a few niggles in testing, were pretty faultless. Considering Ryan's had a new engine and not running, this was pretty good going. We just need to keep the other cars away from him!
The next and final round is Donington, with both the Roadsports and ClubEnduro being settled there. It is also our birthday weekend, so fingers crossed for good results on both sides of the garage!

Photos courtesy of Mick Walker, Jonathan Elsey Motorsport Photography and 750MC

All the details and dates for future races we are entering can be found on the Darkside Motorsport Page.