Oulton Park - ClubEnduro - 8th October 2022

Round 7 of the 750MC Club Enduro Championship at Oulton Park, less than a month after we were here for the Turismo-X on the same layout. The next day we were straight Anglesey for R6 of the ClubEnduro, where it went pretty well for me, and not so well for Ryan and Danny! You can read about that by clicking the link below.

This weekend Ryan was not available, and Danny was still rebuilding his wallet from Anglesey, so we were only racing with the Golf this weekend.
Below is the layout of Oulton Park, we would be doing the full (International) layout:

For the ClubEnduro, the Golf would be running in Class B, which is 240bhp/tonne without the driver which means we are at similar power to Class A for Turismo-X (and the SuperCup last year), ~270bhp at the flywheel as Diesels have a 1.05 power multiplier, so theoretically we can only have ~228bhp/tonne.
The 750MC uses TSL for timing at some rounds, but also TheResultsLive.co.uk for others, so the results can be found using TRL link for this round.

Full Race Day Vlog

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

Testing

Yes, that is right, testing! We have done basically zero Friday testing this season due to time constraints, with the workshop being so busy. It is also hard when the racing is on the Sunday, we would end up sat around doing nothing on the Saturday, which is less than ideal. This weekend was different as the race was Saturday and we were well in front with the cars at the workshop, especially since Ryan's TT would not be joining us.
We arrived around 12:00 as I had booked the afternoon slot. I'd hoped from looking at the forecast that the conditions would be the same as the race the following day, but that quickly changed on the morning as we set off. We were expecting rain all afternoon on Friday, then none on Saturday. Perfect!
After changing into my 3rd pair of socks before I'd even sat in the car, I was on track for all of 4 laps before a red flag brought the session to a stop where it never restarted. A couple of hours later we were back out for another attempt, with the red flag out after 3 laps this time. We restarted, but before I made a flying lap the flag was out again and our session over. So seven laps in the wet when the race was going to be dry. THIS IS WHY WE DON'T TEST!!

Qualifying

When we woke up to get the cars to scrutineering, it was clear that the track would not be fully dry in qualifying, despite us being 3rd out. The other issue was the length of the Scrutineering queue! It was huge and did not seem to be moving at a pace required to get us back to the garages to get ready for the 9:30 call to assembly we expected. We'd already seen Quali pushed back at Silverstone for the same reason, but the much tighter schedule most likely would not allow that.
Things did seem to move a bit quicker than previously and we had enough time to get some testing on the Live Streaming setup before heading to assembly early and get right near the front of the queue for once. Track position is key at Oulton with so many pinch points that could ruin a lap if the wrong person is in front of you.
Out on track it was very wet and slippery, but with no rain forecast for the rest of the day, and the sun shining over most of the circuit, it was clear the times were going to improve every lap and whoever was out until the end would be in a good position. However, with the tricky conditions, we expected at least a Red flag so had only fuelled for ~25 minutes of running. This would bite us later!
Jake was on the radio to me throughout the session and it seemed like the Golf was performing well against the cars in Class B, where I was trading lap times with Handley. I pitted to check pressures and temps whilst ahead by just over half a second and in the top 10 overall as well.
In the few minutes I spent in the pits, the times dropped again and I had a few seconds to find. Once I got into clear air, this was easy and I was well on my way for a low 1:58 before being held up at the last corner, losing 0.6s I only punched in a 1:58.75. I went again with a nice tow from Rob Baker in the Area TCR, but as I rolled around Cascades, I got a stutter of fuel surge and knew that was my last chance of a full lap. The time I did on Lap 10 was enough for P1 in class and just outside of the top 10, but then I had to sit in the pitlane and watch everyone knock chunks out of their previous best. In the end I was way down in P17 and 5th in class. Not a great place to start, behind the two cars that could deny me 2nd and 3rd in the Championship.

You can see up until my pitstop, I was comfortably in the lead of the class, at some points by over 2s, but the times were improving massively towards the end. The Area guys said the last lap was basically dry so I think I could have easily been into the 1:56s, but I wasn't so I had to make up for it in the race instead!

As soon as I got back from Parc Ferme, I was summoned to the Clark of the Course's office. I had no idea what for. When I got up there, Brendan asked me why I thought I was there. I said I had no idea. He asked me what the Pitlane Speed Limit was. I said 60KPH as per the boards. He asked me again, so I said 50KPH since you have asked me twice! The final instructions were sent with 50KPH, but the boards were left up with 60, not the first time it has happened this season! I was given a warning, and told I would be disqualified if it happened during the race!

Qualifying Lap

My fastest qualifying lap is shown below, you can watch my Delta tumble at the last corner when the BMW turned in for the apex and I had to back out. Gutting!

Race

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

I was way back on Row 9, looking at the rear bumper of my title rivals. I needed a great start to get close to them as quickly as possible!

I knew I had my work cut out to get in front of the Cayman and Packer in the Golf. I needed to finish 1st and the Cayman 3rd to get 2nd in the Championship, and just needed to finish in front of Packer. If I finished 2nd the Cayman needed to be in 6th, so that was going to be very difficult.
The green flag lap was started straight out of the assembly area, no gridding up, and as it was now perfectly dry, we would only do 1 lap. The difficulty for me was that I was surrounded by Class A cars that had struggled in the damp conditions, so I was likely to lose a few places before I actually gained any.
As we rounded the final corner, I was watching the 2nd gantry lights just above the dip, ready to accelerate as soon as it went out. I'd got a great run on the cars in front as they went out, but as we rose over the blind crest, a wall of cars and brake lights emerged. This lost me all the momentum and allowed some of the TCR cars from the side and behind to get away.
At turn 1 I had nowhere to go with the Holden in front struggling on cold tyres, so lost another place to the Boxster. Into Shell Oils, everyone seems to go for the inside line on entry to defend, so I made an easy pass of the Holden and Porsche around the outside. I'd put the car into 5th instead of 3rd so lost a bit of time on the exit, however by the exit of the 2nd chicane I was back on the bumper of the Ginetta and lining him up for a pass into Lodge.
I was now looking at the rear of Packer whilst trying to keep the faster Class A Porsche behind. I did another move around the Golf on the outside at Shell and on the exit took Handley who seemed to have slowed with an issue.
I was not in the difficult section, the Class A cars with their slower drivers all defending for their life. This kept us all bunched up as the faster cars pushed their way through, and I hoped carving a path for us as well. The Yellow E36 was defending very hard, squeezing me towards the grass and kerb at The Avenue. A little naughty! This allowed the Porsche to make another pass but I then used my favourite spot again to pass them both.
The Porsche got me again on the straight into Hislops, before giving the Knibb TCR a love tap as he outbraked himself. Into Druids, the faster cars seemed to be less confident to carry speed into it, slowing me down on the long run to the final corner. Luckily the Golfs were all squabbling behind so I have a reasonable gap.
The next cork in the bottle was the orange E46 which seemed to be burning some oil underneath. He was dispatched in my usual place, but this time to the inside. I could see the Cayman but he was getting away as he had more clear air in front. I just got my head down and pushed hard. Qualifying laps every lap!
I had a couple of clear laps where I got my times down to the 1:54s then at Shell Oils, the mangled E36 brought out the safety car. I later found out he had been overly defensive against Packer in the Golf and they had touched under braking and sent the BMW into the barriers.
I expected the safety car to be at least a few laps with the car buried in the gravel, but the recovery crew and marshals did a great job and after only 1 full lap, we were back racing, which caught me out a bit. It seemed to catch everyone behind me out too, as I had a massive gap! I could also see the Cayman was struggling with the faster cars behind compromising it's line into most corners as they passed.
I stuck with the Knibb TCR and when it passed the Cayman at Island Bend, I tried to follow it through but had my nose cut off. I stuck closely and would just wait for a mistake. Into Hislops the Cayman braked way earlier than expected and I nearly went into the back of him and almost straight on to avoid it! A bit of time lost but not too much!
I was going to be difficult to get the Cayman in a straight line as it is a fair bit faster, but as we navigated Deer Leap, a puff of smoke came out of it's exhaust, and it seemed slightly slower than expected. I committed to the inside for Old Hall and made it stick. The Cayman was clearly struggling as I pulled a decent gap immediately. It was looking good for 2nd at this rate!
Now 1st in class, I had no control over what the guys did behind, so I just needed to get my head down and stay out of trouble. A few of the cars I was lapping put up more of a fight than you would expect, but they did not lose me too much time.
We were now waiting for a safety car for the opportunity to pit. I knew the Cayman had already done their mandatory stop under green, so a well timed stop would give us the gap we needed to secure the position in the points. 28 laps down, the Corten-Miller TCR and Ginetta (yes, the one from Anglesey!) had come together at Shell Oils and beached themselves. This brought out a perfectly timed safety car. I had a full clear track in front of me, so could push to get back to the pits without losing too much time.

I had a 20s penalty in the stop due to my 2nd position at Anglesey. This allowed Jon Packer in the Blue Area Golf to just jump me in the pits, I was right on his bumper as we exited. Handley in the Green Golf had stayed out, which did not look like a bad idea as the Recovery guys had acted swiftly again, moving both cars out of danger so quickly it was back to Green Flag conditions as we came out.
We'd fitted fresh (scrubbed) front tyres, and the car felt shocking. Normally we'd come out with a few laps behind the safety car to warm them up, but instead I had to push to keep up with Packer who had left his warm A052s on.
After the outlap I started to knock chunks out of my delta, so I knew it was the right call and I quickly reeled the Golf in. At turn 1 on the next lap, I was compromised by the same MX5 as earlier, losing a bit of ground. However Packer had a moment over the exit kerb and lost enough speed for me to push past, just as the mental E46 of Kevin Clark shot round us both.
I was hoping it would be plain sailing from here, a decent gap behind and clear air in front to push and maintain the lead. I punched my best time of a 1:53.40 and stayed in the 1:53s for a while. However, it can't be this easy for us can it? On lap 41, the 4th gear decided it wanted to leave the party. 2 gearboxes in 2 races! The last box had done nearly 2 seasons!
I lost a bit of pace as I worked out the best way to approach the lap with the gear that I was using for probably 70% of the time missing, but eventually I got used to it and was only losing between 1 and 2s a lap. This did not help with the gap to the guys behind, who were making up at least 1s, if not 2s on most laps.

I was losing the most time in the straights. I could carry the speed in 5th through most corners, but had less acceleration out of the bends so lost 2 - 3 tenths on most of the big straights.
On lap 45 a Lotus had hit the barrier, again at Shell Oils but I managed to put an MX5 between me and Packer behind before the Safety Car boards were out. This meant on the restart I had a massive gap to give me some breathing room. As the race went on, I was struggling to get the car in and out of gear. Sometimes it would stick in 3rd, other times it would not want to go into it. I had to be super steady with the changes.
On lap 49 Jon was right on my bumper after another mis shift, and into Shell Oils, I saw he had locked both fronts so avoided turning into a massive crash, as well as struggling to get 3rd gear!
Jake was on the radio to say that Packer had some Track limit penalties, so as long as I stuck close enough to him, I would get P1. It was going to be a struggle, but I could see that he was also locking up a fair bit so would not be getting away too quickly.
I stuck to his rear for a few more laps, and with around 6 minutes to go, the Red Flags were out due to a massive crash at Turn 1. The Clark BMW had tried to fit through a gap that was always going to get smaller, firing himself into the pit wall and then the barrier at high speed. A nasty looking crash. After being cut out of the car, he spent the night in hospital but was released the next day.

That was it. With 15s of track limit penalties (probably not helped by his dead front tyres) I jumped Jon to claim my first victory in the ClubEnduro! With the Cayman down in 4th position and Handley with the fastest lap, this meant I had also sealed P2 in the championship. Talk about leaving it until the last minute!

My lap times were pretty consistent until 4th gear let go. I still managed a 1:54.58 without it, which I think is pretty good going. I believe with the new tyres and lower fuel level towards the end, I could have been easily into the high 1:52s. My ideal lap from the VBOX says so.

Fastest Lap

My fastest race lap is below:

So it has taken a full season to get to this point, but I knew that the car was capable of it. Shame we didn't get the fastest lap, but I think with less fuel and a working 4th gear, I could have dipped into the 1:53s. We will save that for next season!
The 15 points from this round puts me in P2 in the championship, which I think considering all the points lost this season due to mechanical issues, it is a great comeback. I had been miles in the lead at the first round at Donington, so that is 13 points lost there. Then R2 at Croft I was comfortably in the lead before the boost pipe popped off, sending me down to 4th, so another 6 points lost there. Just those two rounds alone would have put me miles ahead of Handley, but as they say, to finish first, first you have to finish! Reliability is the key for next season.
Thanks to the guys who have supported me and worked hard all season to make sure the car was ready for the race every weekend. Doing two championships has meant we have had some rush jobs to get the cars ready, but it paid off, especially towards the end of the season.