It seemed like an age since the last time we were out in the Golf for the MSV Trackday Championship race at Oulton Park, which you can read about HERE. We basically had the month of September to rest (I didn't rest - I did 4 races in the Focus Cup and 2 in the EnduroKA at Brands!) and back at it for a chaotic October, where we are racing every weekend except one!
First up is Snetterton on the 300 Circuit, a lovely 3.5+ hours drive for us. Saturday is the TDC, then Sunday has the Trackday Trophy.

Below is the layout of the Snetterton 300 Circuit:

We decided this weekend was a good one to test out one of our new TT Cup Cars in a race environment, so whilst I was driving solo in the Golf in the TDC on Saturday, Ryan would be joining us after the race, so we could get ready for a battle between both cars in the TDT on Sunday. In the VW Cup trim, the TT would be way over Class B power to weight (175whp/ton), and despite us running as a guest, we put it back to stock power (230bhp) which would bring us below the limit.
I was pretty surprised when I looked through our data to see the last time we were at the 300 Circuit was in 2019 in the Ibiza! We had a bit of a nightmare, you can read about it HERE. The car was suffering from differential issues after it's crash in the previous race. Snetterton itself is also a bogey track for us, after the worst weekend we had ever had at a race track, which you can read about HERE. Fingers crossed we have finally broken the curse!

Saturday

TDC Qualifying

What we thought was going to be a nice chilled morning with a 10:50 start to Qualifying turned into a nightmare. As we got the paddock, it was clear there were twice as many vehicles as space in the paddock, so we have to play musical cars (and trailers and vans and awnings) to get any usable space to work on the car. The issue was compounded by the fact that the session was called forward by around 25 minutes, so the few hours we left ourselves ended up being about 20 minutes to prep the car, change into my race suit and get into the zone.
The car felt great immediately, and considering I had not done the 300 layout for over 2 years, I was pretty confident I knew where I was going. My first flying lap was a 2:14.272 which put me P1. I had been held up a little in places, so knew there was more time in it, especially as the R888Rs got up to temperature. My second flyer was a 2:14.168, despite being held up again in several places.
I pushed for a 3rd flying lap, but as I turned into the first corner, the car seemed to splutter and had no power. The curse of Snetterton strikes again!
I limped back as quickly as I could, suspecting a fuel pump issue. The guys quickly plugged it in and no faults were found, so the only thought was a lack of fuel or lift pump issue (which would not have brought a fault code up). The car was supposed to have been filled to the top before we left, and then we drained 20L out for quali. I went out and did another lap as we are not allowed to refuel in the pitlane, and I could not get to the rear of the garages without going through Parc Ferme. The car felt OK on my outlap but just before I started a flyer, the surge came back so I headed into the pits and went round the back for Paul to put the 20L we took out back in!
With around 4 minutes left in the session, I headed back out to carnage. Coolant had been dropped at turn 1, a car was spun at the hairpin, so there were waved yellows everywhere. The chances of improving my time were looking slim! Eventually, the session was Red Flagged.

So I was pipped by 0.04s to pole by Colin Tester in the Integra DC5. I knew the car had more in it, but I guess it would make it a more interesting start anyway! I lost 0.8s on my second lap in sector 1 alone!

Comparing sectors, we lost out by a small margin to the Integra in Sector 1, then were comfortably ahead in the rest. Just needed a clear lap and it would have been a decent story!

Pole was snatched away pretty quickly from us, and we didn't get a chance to reclaim it!

My fastest lap is shown below

TDC Race

Starting from P2 at Snetterton on a big grid is not always the worst thing in the world. You are still more or less level, and have the outside line into turn 1, which is pretty fast so if you get a good start, then it is the best place to be.

The full race video is below. I've done a quick rundown of what went on during the race as well, for those that want to have a bit of a read! Hopefully the commentary is OK this time!

After a fully dry qualifying, the heavens had opened, making this probably one of the wettest races I have done so far, and the first time racing in the wet at Snetterton! It was hard to stay on the track even on the two green flag laps!
Learning from last time at Oulton, I set off like I was going to the shops, and pulled a massive lead on everyone else into turn 1. By the end of the first lap, I was 3.19s ahead, but some carnage on the start line brought out the safety car, eliminating the healthy lead I had gained.
At the restart I was able to pull a lead on Freddie (the same Freddie who was our teammate in the KAs at Oulton and Snetterton!), but he kept me honest until Julian Roberts (Team KAR) in the Civic got past him on lap 4 then hunted me until he passed on lap 6, with a great exit from the last corner. He had so much more grip and just sailed by. At this point I was struggling for grip all round. We had started with higher than usual tyre pressures, which helped me early on, but was beginning to hurt me now.
I wanted to stay out as long as possible, as I felt another safety car was inevitable considering how treacherous it was, but I did not want to risk falling off the track!

Inevitably, as I was on my outlap, the safety car was out to aid the recovery of two cars. Luckily for me, my nearest rivals had pitted at a similar time, so I was not jumped with the pit stops. Strangely, the safety car boards were out half way around the track before the car had left the pits, so stupidly I slowed down slightly, expecting a serious incident. It was not the case, and as I crossed the line, the Civic was just coming out of the pits. Had I pushed around 1s harder on my outlap, I would have retaken the lead! I reeled the Civic in by a tenth or so a lap, but it was not enough, despite me setting the fastest lap over the line for the last lap, I was 0.413s behind. So close yet so far! So two wet races in a row and Roberts had beaten me! I need to up my game!

At least I got the Fastest Lap point to help me in the championship fight! We were over 25s slower than qualifying, such were the conditions!

The lap chart tells the whole story. Maybe with another lap or two, I would have had it!

I only had 1 flying lap with the tyre pressures dropped, and was instantly 3.5s quicker. Had I pitted earlier, or there were a few more laps, who knows!

It just goes to show how the rain can level things off, with the Class C and D cars right in the mix at the top of the best sectors! Our high low down torque does not help in the wet, it is really difficult to get the power down and the turbo spools so aggressively, making it difficult to modulate on the throttle. A winter job for the tuners!

Roberts held the fastest lap for most of the race, but I snatched it at the last second!

The P2 gave us 33 points out of a total of 37 available. This means we are still at the top of the table with 142 points. The Honeybone's Clio was hit at the start so they had to retire, and Colin Tester in the G&M Integra was hit at the safety car restart, so dropped to 15th.
Taking into account dropped scores so far, we are 38 points ahead of Team KAR. Since there are only 37 points available for a perfect race, we look to have sealed the championship with a race to spare!

Sunday

TDT Qualifying

After we had thoroughly dried out and ate a load of pizza, we headed back to the hotel and hoped the rain would stop! Ryan and Mark had arrived with the TT just before, but since it was still pouring, we decided to leave it until the morning to get set up.
The weather Gods were smiling down on us, as by the time we arrived at the track, it was bone dry and no rain forecast. We even saw the sun for a brief period! This meant we swapped over to the Yokohama A052 tyres on both cars, and set them back up for the dry.
Qualifying started really late, we were not on track until 2pm, which meant it was not looking good for us having a full 45 minute race, since it was scheduled right at the end of the day, ending just before the 18:30 curfew!
As we headed out, immediately the Golf felt a million times better on the Yokohamas instead of the Toyos. The front end grip, especially on initially turn in was a huge improvement. I pushed right away, but struggled with traffic on the first few laps, only managing 2:15s. As soon as I got a relatively clean lap, I punched in a 2:12.657 that put me comfortably on Pole.
Ryan had struggled with the Traction Control kicking in on the TT, which severely hurt his times. The cars had been raced with the ABS disconnected, so it was not an issue, but now with it plumbed back in, it was cutting power and nipping the brakes at the wrong times. A quick snip of a wire to the Steering Angle Sensor by Paul, and he was able to get a 2:14.903, which was an easy 4th place behind Colin Tester in the Integra, and the Team Norfolk Clio.
Dylan, in the Darkside tuned Ibiza TDI, managed 5th, so it was looking good for a Darkside Podium if all the stars aligned!

I left my fastest lap right till the end, knocking another second off to net me a 2:11.643, a full 2.3s ahead of the rest of the field. The car had more in it for sure, with the sector analysis below showing an ideal of 2:11.301. Ryan could have also knocked 0.5s off his time if he got a good lap in, and he also lost another 0.5s between the sectors due to traffic, so it was nearly a front row lockout for us, but that is racing!

This time the Golf dominated all 3 sectors by a comfortable margin, with the TT down in 5th for Sector 1. Looking at the data, Ryan was too cautious in Turn 1, which is much faster than feels right, especially in a new car.

We traded fastest lap but the story would have been a little different if I had clean air from the start of the session, as the Golf was on rails from the off.

A comparison of mine and Ryan's laps are shown below

TDT Race

The positions on the front row were reversed from the TDC race the day before. This time I had the confidence to get a good launch and stay ahead. Ryan was more unsure in the TT on the second row, with launching the TT from a standing start a complete unknown!

The full Vlog of the day including the race is below. I've done a quick rundown of what went on during the race as well, for those that want to have a bit of a read!

My start was pretty good in relation to everyone else, and I was able to keep the lead into turn 1. Ryan had a poor initial start as the car did not want to get off the line, but then it reeled me and the Integra in for Turn 2. This meant Colin was on the defensive into turn 3, giving me some breathing room to make a brake for it.
I was pretty much on my own, pulling almost an 8 second lead on everyone else, which Ryan and Colin battled until 5 laps in when the Integra pitted and released Ryan.
A few laps later, Ryan dove into the pits, and as he had done a few great laps while the Integra was stationary, he came out in 2nd position.
I waited a little longer then made my mandatory stop after 11 laps. Whilst sat in the pits, we thought we had made a strategy error, as the safety car was deployed while I still had 40s left to wait. Dylan had left it until the last minute, and looked like he would jump us all while we trundled at the safety car pace.

Then something strange happened, the safety car peeled into the pits, and the chequered flag was waved to the cars in front of me. There was supposed to be ~19 minutes left of the race, but as we had come close to the curfew, and an extension was not granted, the race was cut short.
Luckily as I was back on track, I still took the win, but Dylan had been robbed of what would have been a definite 2nd, and possibly the win if the race had been just 1 lap longer.
Stuart from MSV fought his corner and managed to get a count-back to the lap before Dylan pitted, and applied a 2 minute penalty to his race time, which put him back to 4th. Not ideal but better than where he would have been since he crossed the finish line in the pit lane!
So despite a strange end, it was a solid 1-2 finish for the Golf and TT, with me finishing a mental 38s ahead of Ryan.

You can see how quickly I pulled a gap which Ryan and Colin held each other up, and we started to lap the Class D cars by the 5th go around.

The Golf was on point and gave me the confidence to do qualifying laps every lap. I was disappointed in the 2:12.990 lap I did near the end while negotiating some traffic, otherwise every one of my laps would have been in the 2:10s or 2:11s, every lap quicker than anyone else on track. Only the TT beat the 2:12 time, so I guess it is not all that bad!

This time the Golf was followed by the TT in the sectors, the changes made to the chassis between quali and the race giving Ryan the confidence to push harder.

The fastest lap was easily in the Golf's favour throughout the race.

So a dream weekend really. A hat-trick in the TDC again would have been nice, but we can't have it all! A 1-2 finish on it's first time out is great for the TT, and it would be great if we can emulate that at the End of Season race at Brands Hatch in November.
Before that we have the Birkett Relay race, which we were so close to winning in 2019! This year we are fielding two teams, Darkside SeatSport TDI with Nick and Brad in the Leon BTCC with Michael and Dylan in the Ibizas to fly the all diesel flag, then Ryan and Myself in the Golf Mk5, TT and the SRS Mk2 (purely as a backup Stef!) in another team. Fingers crossed for another good weekend racing!

Photos courtesy of MSV and Mark Lees.