After what feels like a triple header to start the 2025 season off, Round 3 sees us travel down to Brands Hatch for what is traditionally a big event for Time Attack and a strong track for me personally. Before the journey we made some repairs to the car following the issues at Donington, which turned out to be a simple case of a perished O-rings rather than a failed clutch elbow which was our initial assumption. We also fitted a new pair of front tyres as we look to mamise performance and set a new Club 2WD lap record.
Warm Up
This session was to be used to scrub the new tyres ready for Super Attack later on in the day. The plan was 3 slow laps all of which didn’t drop below the 1 minute mark to give the tyres a gentle heat cycle while also ensuring we clocked the 3 laps needed to secure the single point on offer. It was then time to lean on them a little, my target lap time in the session was a 52. Not too long ago this would have been my target lap time for the day which shows how much the car has improved in recent years!
The 1st lap was a steady 56 second lap before registering a 51.961 – Enough to put me P1 in class. After a quick trip into the pits for a pressure check I was back out for 1 more lap which ended up being even quicker, a 51.735. You get no extra points being quickest in warm up but it is something I wanted to target to set the tone for the day.
Attack 1
After warm up it was time for a tyre change, I would be running 3 different pairs on the front throughout the day. This set was the oldest I had, so in theory they would yield the least amount of performance. Again, it was time for a few laps to get heat into the tyres, check the pressures and then head back out for some faster laps. Before coming in I had clocked a 51.502 lap time which was 2 tenths off my PB and left me in 2nd place in class. After checks we head back out to try and reclaim that P1 spot but getting the performance required out of these older tyres was starting to become quite difficult as they were now obviously well past their best. After one hot lap I was having to do 4 or 5 cool down laps to try and get them back into a usable window. As the flag came out, I had managed to grind my lap time down to a 51.490, just 0.103 off P1.
Attack 2
After the small setback in Attack 1, I was even more fired up for Attack 2 to make sure I secured first in class. This time I was another set of tyres, these being slightly newer so should offer a better lap time if I could extract it from them. In these sessions my first lap which is always a banker but this time around turned out be more than just that. It was enough to win the class with a 51.345 secured on Lap 1.
Although, I didn’t know that… so after two cool down laps I went for another lap which was a solid 51.188 putting over half a second between me and P2 as well as coming in as a new PB the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. After this lap it was time for a trip through the pits to do our usual pressure checks and then back out onto circuit chase down the class lap record. Sadly, in this session it was not meant to be. A combination of fading tyres and traffic prevented what could have been. The Garmin was actually predicting an optimal lap time of 50.63 which would eclipse the record by 2 tenths. While a positive on the whole I was annoyed to not stitch the whole lap together.
Super Attack
It was now time for the session I had been waiting for, Super Attack, with confidence high and on some fresh rubber on the front. As always the plan was to set a banker lap somewhere around the previous best lap before hunting down the lap record. With the banker lap completed, a 51.244, I made my way back to the pits feeling very pleased ahead of the pressure checks. Unfortunately & to my surprise I was informed someone had clocked a 51.042 out of know where!
Rather than chasing the lap record my goal now was simply to beat my closest rival to earn P1 but no matter how much I tried and believe me I tried, I couldn’t achieve it. Lap after lap after lap something cost me time. Be it it be traffic, a slight mistake or the grip just not being there. Looking back, I probably over drove the second half of the session after being thrown off my original plan and it felt like it just wasn’t meant to be. I ended Super Attack P2 in class. The Garmin once again telling us we had the potential to set a lap quick enough for first in class. Despite the disappointment, overall it was a success, with the car showing the potential and the pace I hoped for while coming away scoring the most points in my class, extending my lead in the championship.
Next up is round 4 at the end of July at Snetterton on the 200 layout. The longest break between rounds this season. With a little under 6 weeks to wait before we attempt to continue our great start to the season.
