In the aftermath of the incident at Pembrey on the last round, we were left with only a handful of days to prepare the car, and ourselves, once we got it back. Huge thanks to Mark Heap and Pool Lane Classics for the amazing work on the car, under the hood has never looked so pretty, it looks brand new now and most importantly, straight.
I would also like to thank everyone who after our appeal for help on socials, donated..., bought One Nine merchandise,.. the kind people who lent a hand,.... Facebookers who offered salvaged parts needed,...also our good friends at JPC specialist motorsports ,and Motorpoint helping us out with the new mechanical spares to replace damage.
A looong Sunday and few late nights, and we were finally ready to return to Brands Hatch on a wing and a prayer, (almost a replay of last year). This is where I had my very first JSCC race as the finale of the My Life on the Fast Track documentary.
As always big thanks to Adam Kluj Transport Services for getting my Saxo to track again for Friday practice. First run went well, with very minor teething problems after its first real shakedown. That left us free to test different setups and I ended the day happy with the car, and my pace on old tyres,... plus the forecast was to continue dry for qualy and the three races of the weekend. Once again thanks to Aston and Nurburgring Tours for the help with setup and data, and bringing his knowledge and experience of his local track.
Saturday morning came with a thick dew covering everything, including the track, but we struggled when we went out for qualifying as the track wasn't as slippery as expected. Also we had limited worn rear tyres to choose from due to the last ones used at Pembrey only completing two laps before the incident. Car just wouldn't rotate enough, and I came away disappointed with P20.
When time came for Race one we had tweeked the setup to compensate for the excess rear grip from earlier. This worked much better, although I did lose a couple of places on the first lap just being too cautious through the tricky and crowded first corners. Soon got into a rythm and comfortable with the feel of the car, so once the field spread out a little I could take places and managed to finish P15.
The rounds for this final JSCC triple header were for double points and despite my DNF at Pembrey dropping me to P19 in championship I was determined to score enough points to reach my target of top 15.
Race two in the afternoon was slightly warmer and after a couple more tweeks to the setup we returned to grid. Not the fastest start off the line and things were tight again in turn one and two, had to fight my way back again. An early incident led to a safety car which helped bunch the cars back up, and unlike last year, this time I was much closer to the car in front and ready when the safety car peeled off for the restart. Had a great race making my way up to 15th, patiently waiting for my chance I made a move on the last lap and got up to thirteenth briefly, but a broken engine mount caused me to lose third gear and momentum and I was disapointed to then lose the places again on the last couple of corners.
Lucky for us and by chance, Mark and Ashley Gregory, who have really helped Sandro all season, were on hand and everything was soon working fine again ready for Sundays third and last race.
Being the end of the season Saturday night was presentation night and we were joined by my grandparents and our racecar family. This was a great night and an opportunity
for us to discuss future plans with my sponsors away from the weekend garage/awning. Exciting news incoming, but not before Race 3, read on....
A foggy Sunday morning but it had already lifted by the 11 o,clock silence for rememberance, and not long after lunch we were once again heading up to grid.
Made a great start this time starting from P19 for this one, knowing that a finish in front of Dix would achieve my target of top 15. Managed to avoid the incident at the hairpin but it resulted in a red flag and we would then grid up again for a delayed restart. This was my best off the line from the weekend, and after a few moves managed to pass and gap one group, to catch up with another battling group a few seconds ahead. I then enjoyed some good clean trading places with Ryan and James, eventually timing my move on the very last corner to squeeze up the inside along the pitwall and take P11 by a nose. Sadly wasn't quite enough for my p15 target as Dix still finished three places ahead and the shortened race didn't give me any opportunity to try and catch.
Still very pleased to have finished sixteenth in championship, and eighth rookie, with the other seven in front all being team backed drivers. The tenth place race finish just eluded me with three p11s. A massive thanks has to go to my mum and dad who, completely inexperienced, have serviced the car for me,... changed gearboxes, driveshafts, brakes and made sure that I finished every single race this year. And also thanks to everyone who has been there to advise and guide them throughout the year, it has been a steep leaning curve for us all. Thanks to my mum for providing our guests with the most amazing hospitality, I am sure our friends will agree the food has been first class. So as you may have guessed I have some big news coming and after much thinking, Brands Hatch was actually to be my last race in my Saxo.
Thanks to JSCC and all the people involved in making this the biggest junior championship , including fellow competitiors around the paddock, who come together and make it an enjoyable place to race. It has been an amazing experience to visit all these iconic tracks with old and new friends, and I now have some great memories of an opportunity which I had only ever dreamed of.
Thanks again to all my sponsors, we couldn't have done it without you, I hope I have made you proud, especially Adam Kluj, Nurburgring Tours, and Arthur Morgan for not only supporting me throughout this last year, but also for their ongoing commitment with me into my next step....
So, sharing here and now my exciting news for 2023. Next year I will be getting back in the BMW. The first racecar I ever drove on the first day of filming last year......teaming up again with my 'big bro' and mentor Matty Street in endurance racing.
Can't wait to get started on that, and also we have got some big plans for Racing with Autism UK, and some huge events with our friends at JPC Specialist Motorsport... Lots to work on over the winter months, plenty of sim racing to get my racing fix, and a cool series to get started on learning how to drive the Nordschleiffe with Nurburgring Tours.
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JSCC car for sale with/without trailer, 2022 spec & all equipment in date & includes a number of spares and rims/tyres 07403 565060
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