Well, theres not really much of a story to tell from Donington Park when it comes to on track action, but the correct decisions were made by the BRSCC to cancel the races on the Sunday due to the extreme wet weather we were facing.
We had made a lot of changes going into the weekend to try and get the car back into a happy place in the dry as well as the wet and Friday morning was going to be a bit of a make or break period for us to see if we could get the car back to some form of balanced platform whilst potentially unlocking some performance and rotation in the car that I've been really struggling with since Silverstone.
Unfortunately, session 1 was brought to an abrupt end after 2 laps, with there being oil down from a car failure through the final chicane, and with the session not restarting, it was a session lost. Donington very kindly put on a session at lunch time to make up for our lost time, but due to the balance issues I was having under braking. The car was quick, but so unpredictable under braking which made every lap an adventure, and this was potentially a symptom of one of the biggest changes we made to the rear of the car. Reverting the change meant we missed the additional lunch time session and with it valuable track time.
With changes made to help settle the car, and a bit of data comparison with Oli Allwood over lunch, we set about trying to improve things for sessions 3 and 4, going back to a more conventional set up. However, I was still struggling massively in the 3rd session with the brakes, with some really unpredictable pad knock off and an inconsistent pedal, which I would just have to live with for the rest of the weekend, and with some final changes for session 4, the car felt more stable under braking, but had unfortunately lost the rotation I had been hunting for making the car feel once again very numb like it was at Oulton and Cadwell on the front end.
I always like to aim to be first one out for Qualifying to get a banker lap in as soon as possible, which was much to the annoyance of Oli. As we had agreed to help each other out with towing around the lap, he got a bit of a shock as to how early I like to get down to the assembly area! But getting down early seemed to work well for us, as for the first few laps I got a tow and then roles were reversed for a couple of laps, with both of us finding time compared to Friday. But just as we were about to get onto the back of a larger pack of cars, his diff mounting broke over the chicane kerbs causing a driveshaft failure on the exit of Redgate. From then on, I was pushing my own air, putting in consisten but not quick laps. The result was qualifying 14th for both races, being 0.2 from 6th place. The racing from there would be difficult.
After getting a pretty average start but then battling back through the chaotic opening lap, I found myself having gained a place into 13th, and over the next few laps I would pick my way up to 11th and closing on the cars in front all the time, the race pace felt genuinely really good! However on lap 5 on the apex of Coppice, I was rear ended forcing me into the gravel and losing 8 seconds in the process. From then on I was miles off the pack in front, with 0 hope of catching. My race ended up being a battle with Kamal Kalsi which ultimately ended when I had severe pad knock off from trying to break the tow down the back straight, resulting in me unexpectedly having no brake pedal as I got to the chicane, having to take to the run off before eventually carrying on to a lonely 12th that became 11th after penalties were applied.
As disasterous as Race 1 ended up though, it was nothing compared to what followed. That evening during the Fun Cup race, the heavens well and truly opened, and a truly impressive thunderstorm hit Donington Park. The wet would be a perfect chance for me to progress after we knew we had a good car in the wet from Croft.
Arriving at the circuit Sunday morning though, it started to become apparent very quickly that racing in the unrelenting rain, that had carried on all the way through the night and got heavier again in the morning, was never going to be a safe option for any of the drivers. It even got to the point where all the drivers went up to the clerks office of their own accord to stress the conditions were not acceptable for racing.
Soon after, the decision to abandon the meeting was made, and although the rain thankfully lightened for a brief period when dismantling the awnings, just an hour after I had made the massive 10 minute journey home, the heavens opened again and stayed for the remainder of the day. The correct decision was made.
Deano's best efforts to sweep away the water weren't enough to keep the race meeting alive!
As for the championship itself, there is 1 round left at Brands Hatch, but with 4 DNF's there is no feasible way of getting any kind of result, and after being hit off the track in 2 of the last 2 races, I have taken the decision along with my family to not finish the season. Its been a very testing season, and with plans already being put into place for next season that could see me step away from the Supercup, there seemed to be no point in carrying on. A decision thats not been easy, but with other options on the table, it feels like its time for a change of scenery with the potential of even being away from Mazda's entirely.
Thank you to everyone for their support throughout this season, and you'll see me on track potentially a few more times before the year is out.
Jack
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