More Class Podiums for RP-X™-Equipped Modified Fords Racer

Cadwell Park

“I arrived at Cadwell Park with a nervous energy; I had never set a tyre on the circuit before in any form, so it was always a case of learning and getting better. We also debuted a new greener look to the car to change it up slightly – it certainly was more noticeable!

“Qualifying saw some beautiful track conditions and, as I heading out, I felt at home almost instantly. Getting quicker, I managed to sneak in the top 15 overall and 5th in my class, the car itself felt superb and the stopping power of the RP-X™ pads meant I had the confidence into the harder hairpin turns around the mountain. Game on!”

“Race 1: a good start on a tight grid meant the first few laps were a case of trying to find room to get into a flow and progress up the field. After the field had spread itself out more, the lap times quickly came tumbling down and I shaved a whopping two seconds off my qualifying time. The class podium was a realistic target and after dispatching the Mk1 Escort of Gary Johnson, I got my head down and worked on holding 3rd in class and a bank of points involved… My only problem was the turbo Puma catching me that wanted the same podium spot! Lap after lap of defensive driving in my most vulnerable areas and utilising my superior braking performance meant when the flag came it was a podium for me once again! 3rd in Class and 11th overall on my first race EVER at Cadwell Park. 

“Race 2: after a driveshaft change overnight (a weak point on this setup this year) I started race 2 with even more confidence and quickly moved inside the top 10 and 2nd in class, Hot on the heels of Chris Baker, I got past on lap 3 and got my head down aiming for a class win into the 1:40.1 lap time. Then, it all came tumbling down: as I rode the kerb over Chris Curve, it ripped the boost pipe off and that was the race done. Gutted! We go again…”

Brands Hatch

“Brands Hatch is always the highlight meeting for the year in the Modified Fords series, with crowds of 15,000 celebrating all things ‘blue oval’ as part of the Ford Power Live show. A grid walk allowed people to get close to the race cars and I had a lot of interest in my car in particular. Testing went okay but by the time we went out for qualifying, I knew the car was getting tired from a hard season’s racing: a failed connector pin had made sure I didn’t get a lap in qualifying which was really frustrating. Starting from the back of the grid, I made up a lot of spaces and was quickly battling my class competitors for the podium once again. Iain Blackley’s Puma was in 3rd and as he made a mistake coming out of McLaren, I looked to capitalise… Just as cylinder 4 dropped. Coil failure. Once again, a great result slipped through due to mechanical issue.”

“Then came race 2. Once again starting from the rear of the grid, I made my way through the field and onto the rear of Ian Blackley’s Puma once more. The handling characteristics of the cars are the same, but I found once again that under brakes, I had a significant advantage. The only problem with all of this was that Ian was driving a consummate defensive race. My final chance came on the last lap of the race. Using the superior braking advantage, I hung around the outside of the Puma at Druids and got the inside line for Graham Hill Bend… Podium once again! And retribution for a difficult start to the weekend.”