2021 was without a doubt the best year I ever had racing, but 2022 was time for a new challenge and a step out of my comfort zone, and its safe to say its been a trying year for not just myself, but all of my family that have supported me and particularly my dad, who quite literally spent every waking day in the garage at one point trying to sort out our troublesome Supercup car, and also all of the Tucker Motorsport team, that have tried so hard to get the car fighting at the sharp end of the grid every weekend.
All season has felt like we have been taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back until finally some progress and extremely promising race pace at Donington, so going into this final weekend of the year, there was still a distant hope that maybe, against the odds we could sneak a podium for everyone to celebrate.
Friday was an extremely busy day for the team, in between the Donington & Snetterton rounds we had made a raft of chassis and brake changes to help improve the straight line and cornering performance based on the information and experiments we had done previously, and from the first session on Friday the car hit the track feeling consistent and strong through all the sectors, with a few over-rotation issues that were soon dialled out for the 2nd and 3rd sessions, the overall pace in clean air seemed more competitive that previous Fridays. The final session of the day we unfortunately had a mechanical failure but thankfully it turned out to only be a minor issue, and the testing we needed to do have been complete.
Unlike at Donington Park, this time in Qualifying the car hit the ground running, with a couple of build laps, the car was soon bang on the pace of Friday putting in a 2.16.020 followed the next lap by a 2.15.901 to put me just inside the top 10 for the first time in a Qualifying session, with both times done in clear air without a slip stream. It was time to go hunting for a tow down the back straight, so a tour through the pit lane and some excellent timing by James got me out into a nice bunch with Will Blackwell-Chambers and Tom Griffiths, however what followed were a series of untidy laps in the 2.18's until the final lap of qualifying putting in a 2.15.672 moving me up to 7th and a best qualifying of the season by far, which eventually turned into 6th for Race 1 and 5th for Race 2 once Disqualifications had occurred for technical infringements for the Pole sitter.
It seemed for the first time since 2021 that everything was heading in the right direction for the 1st race of the weekend, and with my best launch off the line that I've had in the car, I had good momentum through turn 1, where I unfortunately then got crowded to the outside of turn 2 and last a hand full of positions, being side by side all the way through the infield section. Then heading down to the final corner, disaster. As the cars concertinaed up I got dived on from a long way back which resulted in wheel to wheel contact, smashing both of my wheels on the passenger side of the car resulting in yet another DNF and a set of wheels and tyres absolutely destroyed.
It seemed as though I was destined to never catch a break in 2022.
After an evening of relaxing and all of the Mazda paddock gathering to wish Mandy a happy retirement, it was time to dust myself off for Race 2 on Sunday morning!
Starting on a completely unknown set of what were basically scrap tyres, and starting in P5, my highest ever grid slot, I can honestly say I was expecting most of the race to be looking in my mirrors and fighting to maintain position, however the complete opposite happened as I got an insight into why Avon were saying no one had been buying tyres this year. The worn out tyres were golden! Having had another good start, lap 1 I dropped back a little bit to 6th and just off the pace of the front 5, but within a lap I was back on the back of the pack setting much improved lap times!
Even after a fumbled gear shift and dropping to 7th briefly, the pace was still good, moving back up to 6th and chasing after the front pack again where I found myself battling for 4th with James Cossins and Tom Griffiths.
Lap 6 and the battle for 4th was nose to tail with James seemingly struggling for grip, coming onto the back straight a gearbox issue caused him to lose drive out of the corner and with Tom so close behind, I managed to jump both and claim 4th, where I realised why James had been sliding so much. Grindrod's car in front had been dropping oil and being the car directly behind made it like driving on ice!
I was a sitting duck on the last lap as Tom drove clean underneath me through turn 1 with my car on the absolute limit of grip. But the result was my first top 5 in the Supercup, resulting in a 3rd place start for the final grid with the reverse of the top 7 positions.
The final round of the year, and there was a lot of tension and a lot at stake for 2 drivers on the grid, and having been apart of a championship battle where foul play and tactics came into play, I wanted to make sure I was fair and clean with both drivers fighting for the championship, and with the both starting behind me, I knew I was going to be well and truly in the thick of it.
Having a few imbalances caused by the well worn tyres from the previous race, we made a change to the car to try and help keep the tyres on all race and what a difference it made! It was always going to be a race about patience and chaos as the excitement of the final race always seems to get the better of some.
After a slightly slower start for the final race I initially finished the first lap in 5th place, with some very quick cars behind still, losing a place to Ali Bray on lap 2, but gaining on Will Morris, keeping 5th place over the first 3 laps, until Ali had an issue under the bridge dropping back behind me just as Nick Grindrod steamed through down the back straight, I seemed destined for another 5th, but the race was coming towards me, still just over 1 second behind the leader on lap 6 of an ever changing race.
As Knibbs, Grindrod and Blackwell-Chambers went 3 wide under the bridge on lap 7 I crossed the line 0.4 behind the leader, taking a very safe move on Blackwell-Chambers to move into 3rd place! Not quite believing I was so high up, I was hanging on to the front 2 as they headed into the last corner on the last lap, Knibbs pulling a risky move compromising them both on the exit, but not quite enough for me to get a run on them both. I crossed the line 3rd, and my first podium in a year, and first in the Supercup!
I have had some extremely high moments in my time racing, but crossing the line in 3rd I think was my greatest ever achievement. My first race win will always be special, but after the extremely difficult times this year, I don't know how my harness held me in my seat as I crossed the line, the relief and the emotion was too much for both me and my number 1 Deano, both of us could barely speak to each other after the race, just a massive massive cuddle for a guy that has never stopped pushing me and believing in me all season!
My post race interview was probably the worst interview i've ever done in my life, with me struggling to contain myself all the way through it, and it was great to have my mum and dad there to witness something that they have both sacrificed so much for this season! Even James smiled!!!
Its safe to say that 6 years ago when I started at Tucker Motorsport in the Mk1 I never thought I would get this far, but it's a credit to every single person who has helped us and the team along the way, and we're not done yet!!!
A massive thank you this year to Airbourne Graphics and Signs for making sure that I always have the best looking car on the grid, EPTA projects for the massive support and helping me massively with the new engine midway through the season, Melliard Motorsport for the incredible amount of support in helping us build the car and even helping me get to round 2 of the season when the van decided to have one of its character building moments, and PerformanceOne Clothing for all the team gear this year. The progress we have been able to make has been down to all your support. Thank you.
Now its time to start planning and trying to get onto the grid for 2023, a difficult winter ahead, but there's unfinished business as I feel we are onto something really special.
Thank you all for following me this year and the messages of support!
See you soon
Jack
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