After skipping the season opener at Snetterton, both car and driver where ready to take on Cadwell Park for Round 2 of the 2025 Alfa Romeo & Italian Intermarque Championship. After heading over to the Lincolnshire based circuit on Friday we had the car scrutineered early to ensure there was no panic leading up to our first Race weekend. An action packed Sunday was ahead with Qualifying taking place at 9:00am before Race 1 at 11:15am and Race 2 at 3:20pm.
There was plenty of new parts on the car since our test day at Oulton park last month including a new short ratio gearbox and new Coilovers, replacing the Spring and damper setup we had run on the car for the past few years. We got to the circuit bright and early ahead of qualifying, with all eyes on the dark clouds that filled the sky above. During the hours leading up to qualifying it had been raining on and off but strong winds would help dry the track out, particularly the first two sectors.
Nerves where high as the drivers where called into the assembly area. As predicted the majority of the circuit had dried out, although the final few corners under the trees remained damp. Car No.13 was third out on track following two modified class cars. Qualifying was 15 minutes long and all drivers where required to complete 3 full laps in order to qualify for Race 1. After following the modified cars for a couple of laps Jack found some clear air and set about bringing his lap times down. During a couple of stages during the session we actually had provisional pole position before the quicker cars on slicks got their tyres warm and moved ahead.
With a quickly drying track it was likely the last cars over the line at the end of the session would be at an advantage. An ill-timed safety car while a stranded vehicle was recovered meant we missed out on fastest part of the session and we tumbled from 6th overall to 10th overall in the dying seconds. However, the lap was still quick enough for class pole and put us as the second fastest car not running on slicks. Quite an achievement for our first outing.
The 25 strong grid was made out of an eclectic mix of Alfa Romeo’s ranging from ultra modern TCR Touring Cars to historic saloons plus a pair of mighty quick Punto Abarth racing in the Power Trophy Class. Since qualifying the track had completely dried out and lap times where predicted to be around 6 seconds a lap faster. As the drivers left the assembly area for Race 1 Jack was preparing for his first ever standing start. The formation lap gave everyone the chance to get some heat into their tyres and brakes before lining up on the grid for the first race of the day.
Jack reacted well to the lights and got a superb start, holding position into the first corner and settling into his first racing lap. Over the next lap or two the field was tightly packed with little to choose between the midfield pack that included Jack in his Direnza supported No.13 Alfa Romeo 147 but that’s where things started to change, heading into the mountain Jack went clean around the outside of the car ahead, moving him up one position into 9th and offering some breathing room for the next couple of laps. What followed was an intense battle between Jack, the Ford Brother’s, James & Richard in their Alfa Romeo 156’s and Nathan in his Red Alfa 33, Jack’s closest rival in the Turismo Class.
It was clear the car was at a disadvantage on the straights with the chasing pack closing in on every straight. fortunately the car was setup well for cornering and was very strong under braking allowing us to stay ahead and build just enough of a gap ahead of straights to stay ahead. A huge oil spillage from another car heading into the first corner made the last few laps incredibly tricky with many drivers losing confidence including one of the Punto Abarth’s ahead. This gave Jack the chance to slide up the inside into Gooseneck claiming 8th overall where he stayed until the end of the race.
That result secured us first in class and fastest lap in class while leading every lap. Enough to get score the maximum points available. A great performance for our first race. Lap times where indeed around 6 seconds quicker than qualifying after clocking a 1:47.6 on lap 6 of the race. A whole 8 seconds quicker in fact than our last track day at this circuit back in 2023, showing what huge steps the car has made.
Despite the high’s of the race win it was not without casualties. While waiting in the assembly area for Race 2 it was clear there was a significant issue with the car that would ultimately prevent us starting the second race. The extreme conditions of racing had resulted in the exhaust melting the factory plastic fuel tank, causing a substantial fuel leak and potential fire hazard. Luckily this was spotted before we head out on circuit otherwise the result could have been disastrous. Despite the setback we can only be please with how the day turned out along with the competitiveness of car and driver. We have some fixes and changes to make but we will be back racing very soon!
