TJT Racing’s Matt Topham give us his insight into the weekend at Brands Hatch.

Preparation

I found myself still scrabbling around for the Scarab’s steering rack (a full 6 months after sending it away for a simple rebuild) so my car would never be ready in time for Brands Hatch.

A few discussions with Tony Mitchell about buying his Ray were useful but buying a spare car to race 2 rounds and expecting to sell it afterwards seemed an aggressive strategy.

So, back to AHS and rental of the Challenger. I justified the price on the basis that I wouldn’t race at Croft but in reality, in the same way that I raced at Combe because it held a personal connection, Brands is where I have raced 11 of my meagre 19 races and so I simply wanted to check my progress and justify the amount the Scarab is costing.

Getting the car ready for a weekend is really hard work; that mad scramble to get stuff done, packed up and transported, not to mention trackside fiddling which is a mixture of perfection seeking and keeping nervous hands busy.

Renting a car stops all that hassle…but at the price of idle nervous hands. I really prefer the tinkering! I popped over to Brands on Friday afternoon for scrutineering and the AHS Challenger had been mended nicely and I took the opportunity to bolt the camera on so I could take some comparative footage and work out where I was going wrong.

That said, I went into the weekend with reasonable plans but high hopes for a personal best.

Qualifying

A raft of new entrants and some confidence about finding my way around Brands gave me high hopes for qualifying. In reality, a couple of red flags meant that I only did two flying laps. The car felt good and more familiar after using it at Castle Combe, but perhaps lacked some set up to my personal preferences. I was pleased with my starting positions but knew that was just as much about other people’s bad fortune than my own skill and talent.

Race 1

The grid at Brands is always a bit tough as it’s on a slope. Trying to cover 3 pedals, get a clean getaway and make up some places means that the pressure is on. Especially so given my poor start on the front row at the 2017 Festival where cars trying to miss me wiped each other out.

Actually, not a bad start. Clean first corner and a couple of places up – critically ahead of the other TJT cars who make much better starts than me. A good lunge inside Graham Hill bend gets me another place and we start to get into a rhythm.

Until one of the Vee’s in the leading pack has a problem and sprays oil over the track, and the car doesn’t steer or brake as expected. It gets very exciting for a while whilst I get back into it but I’m now running slower. Cautious entry into Paddock Hill and outbraking myself at Druids allows a massive 7 cars to go by. I’m a bit cheesed off at myself and a second oil squirter didn’t improve my mood.

Making up a place from the start and matching my pre-weekend plan doesn’t feel like a result. It’s only when I see the YouTube footage that I realise the problems that other people had and that the rear brake bias still wasn’t right. I’d had a better race than I thought. I have apologised to the metaphorical kicked cat.

Race 2

My second start was much further back on the grid due to my second qualifying time, but I felt pretty good that I’d be quicker off the line than a few cars in front.

Pride goes before a fall…I missed second gear and I must have looked like a rower with my gearstick action. I was dead last and trailing by a distance.

After a good couple of laps and I was up with the pack. A good run into Graham Hill and I knew that I’d have Wom Garner and TJT’s Francis Twyman. As I got alongside, Wom darted out to avoid Francis. Unfortunately, I was in that space. Quick avoiding action got me very sideways in a neat pendulum action, stalled but rolling. I got things restarted in a flurry of impolite phrases and Wom & Francis were a few hundred yards ahead now.

A red flag and restart gave me back that distance. What was that pride thing again?

Another poor start and I was trailing. I did okay to catch Francis but couldn’t overtake him. I barely saw the double yellows at Clarke Curve as I was so focused on Francis’ gearbox, I saw him slow with a hand in the air and I did the same believing a red flag had come out. A car nipped out and overtook us both – quite legally – and I was dead last for the few yards to the early chequered flag.

So…

Better than my pre-event goals but the detail of the weekend left me frustrated that I could and should have done better. The temptation to go to Croft (it’s only a budget…) and set the record straight is very strong. I really ought to concentrate on the Scarab and Silverstone in August.

The 2018 Formula Vee Championship is underway!

The first race weekend outing at Castle Combe saw an extremely wet qualifying session with the first laps being undertaken behind the safety car.  Visibility was poor with the standing water and rivers making for a slippery track.  Fortunately, all TJT Racing drivers survived the conditions and qualified – Francis was 24^th, Matt 25^th and Vaughn 26^th out of 30 successful qualifying drivers. Not the best qualifying results but each driver was just happy to come away in one piece.

 

 

 

 

 

The first race started after lunch with the track drying out but the occasional light shower kept the driving conditions challenging.

All drivers had excellent starts making up several places with Francis and Vaughn fighting for a place heading up Avon Rise and Matt just behind.  Sadly Francis ended up on the wet part of the track and span to avoid hitting David Leniewski (No. 62).  Unfortunately, Francis then collected Peter Kennerly (No. 69) resulting in Peter’s car becoming airborne after hitting firstly the back, then the front wheel of Francis’s car.  Francis then came into the paddock to assess the damage, resulting in a DNF.  

Image courtesy of Steve Jones & 750MC

Vaughn and Matt managed to avoid the accident and continued to do well until a few laps later Matt moved aside to let fast man Tim Probert (No. 8) by and tried to take Camp Corner on the slipperiest part of the track.  An immediate 360 scrubbed off some speed but Mat promptly hit the tyre wall head on.  The subsequent damage ended the race for Matt.  Matt later realised that the brake bias was entirely to the rear making any braking “quite exciting”. Matt’s notes to self-include sticking to the racing line and checking a car out before driving it!

Vaughn ended up in a race on his own but managed to put in good consistent times as the track continued to dry out.  His best lap coming on the penultimate lap (lap 10) with a 1.29.275.  Overall Vaughn finished 13^th and 4^th in B Class just off the podium.

Weather conditions remained cloudy and damp for the Formula Vee’s second race at the end of an excellent Howards Day event at Castle Combe. 

A fuel leak was spotted coming from Francis’s car which prevented him from starting the race, and the damage sustained to Matt’s car also ended his days racing.

Vaughn started well making up about 8 places before Quarry.  On lap 2 an accident between several cars resulted in Phil Waterhouse’s ‘Filari Tasso’ (No. 66B) rolling resulting in a red flag.  The Vee’s returned to their original starting positions on the grid ready for the restart.  Unluckily Vaughn had an issue with the gear selection on the restart causing him to pull out of the race and had a grandstand view from the Marshals post for the remaining laps.

So a little work to do on the cars.  Matt’s steering rack issues with his Scarab Mk5 may mean he is unable to enter the next event at Brands Hatch on the 21^st and 22^nd April. Vaughn’s car appears to be good to go after a day in the garage.  If the fuel leak that stopped Francis competing in Race 2 at Castle Combe is a small fix, he’ll be back out for Brands Hatch.

Take a look at TJT-Racing’s videos on our YouTube channel. 

TJT Racing would like to thank Castle Combe for their hospitality and the superb work carried out by the Marshals (especially in the superb quick work they did helping the upside down Phil Waterhouse and recovering Vaughn after the final race).

As always, our thanks go to the Formula Vee sponsors Heritage Parts Centre, The Vee Centre and the 750 Motor Club.

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It has been a busy winter for TJT Racing with much tinkering and overhauling of the Vee’s being fitted in around family life and work commitments.

Matt has had some major repairs to the suspension and steering and hoping the engine gremlins have been eliminated.

 

 

 

 

Francis now has a straight front beam from the off at Cadwell and has made major adjustments to the general set up.

Vaughn has had a new exhaust, general refurbish, updated electrics including installing a new dashboard and has been busy fabricating odds and sods as usual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The start of the season is fast approaching with the first outing at Castle Combe on the 2^nd April.  Francis and Vaughn went for a shake down test at Llandow Circuit on the 16^th March.  Always a friendly welcome by John and we would recommend the circuit to anyone for a testing day.  A gloriously sunny morning gave way to afternoon showers. A good greasy track made for some interesting moments.  All went well with no serious works needed and both drivers felt the cars were feeling good with only a few minor things to be added to the ‘to do’ lists. 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately Matt’s replacement steering rack will not be ready in time for Castle Combe, a real disappointment for Matt as he was looking forward to racing at Castle Combe.  On the positive side Matt will now have time to finish the car preparation in time for the next race at Brands Hatch on the 21^st – 22^nd April which is his local circuit.

Roll on the start of the 2018 season!