I've always dreamt of being able to race at Brands Hatch; knowing it was on this year's calendar meant I had already pencilled the race in as a once in a lifetime moment. The history of this challenging little track makes it one of my favourites.
Great qualifying placed Dan fourth on the grid
A good lap time at Brands in a Caterham requires total commitment. Starting the lap at Paddock Hill Bend, the idea is to have a quick dab on the brakes and carry as much speed as possible. Down Paddock Hill the track rises into Druids, which the Caterham takes in third. Graham Hill Bend follows next, a tricky downhill off-camber corner which is important to get right and carry speed all the way down Cooper Straight. Then you approach the fast left at Surtees which leads into Clearways. This right-hander can be taken flat in fourth gear but this sometimes compromises the exit so a little lift at the apex enables a cleaner line.
Quite a few Academy guys were in attendance at the hot Thursday test day which is always good to see. I used the morning sessions to iron out any problems and the afternoon as practice qualifying sessions where I aimed to set some fast laps.
Qualifying
A solid, consistently fast practice on Thursday had really helped as I managed to set a quick qualifying lap almost immediately. On the penultimate last lap I got a nice tow out of Clearways and down the main straight which secured a great lap time of 56.550! This put me fourth, only two tenths off second. I wanted to qualify in the top four to enable a fighting chance of the win.
As if Paddock Hill wasn't daunting enough!
One of the biggest days of my life had arrived and I was at the circuit early. Qualifying finished at 1115h and the race was starting at 1630h. As the day went on the nerves began to build and so did the pressure. Quite a few family and friends made the short journey up to come and watch so I really wanted to put on a good show.
Following the good luck comments and handshakes it was time to make my way to the assembly area and then the grid. Green flag waved, the warm up lap started. I tried to get as much temperature in the tyres and brakes as possible, knowing that Paddock Hill Bend with cold tyres could be tricky.
After an OK start, we made it through Paddock Hill Bend cleanly. I made sure I defended the inside line going up to Druids so no one could make a move. I went through Graham Hill well and got a slight run on third place Hutchinson; I tried to make a move at Clearways and but couldn't really make it work.
Dan was fighting for the lead before lap eight...
On the following lap leader Horton locked up his brakes going into Druids which nearly sent him off the track. We made our way past him, promoting me to third. Over the next few laps I had to defend heavily to Horton, compromising my lap times and allowing the front two guys to ease away. I knew that it can be hard to overtake at Brands Hatch so decided just to defend some more; there was no way I was going to let him get past!
On lap seven I set my fastest lap of the race which was only two tenths slower than my qualifying time. Then came the race-changing incident on lap eight. Fourth place Horton had a good run coming out of Druids so I made a clear sign by staying on the left that I was going to defend going into Graham Hill. So Horton took the wider line through Graham Hill to ensure maximum speed but misjudged the amount of speed he would carry through. He crashed into my front left wheel which sent me off the track and into the gravel.
At first the car seemed stuck and you can see from my onboard reaction the initial panic and frustration. I eventually managed to reverse slowly back towards the track. The car didn't feel right at first, but when a marshal gave a thumbs up I made my way back on circuit.
Academy racing is always tight and hard-fought
But something was wrong as the steering turned left when I was going in a straight line. However, with everything else apparently fine, I pushed as hard as I could from 18th to make up some places. I went past four academy racers over the next couple of laps which promoted me to 14th.
Unfortunately, that was where I finished. It definitely wasn't the result I was looking for from the weekend but knew there was nothing I could do about it. Friends and other Academy racers back in the paddock said how disappointed they were for me. Everything went to plan with testing, qualifying and most of the race so I will take the positives from that. I had a great weekend still and loved racing at my favorite circuit. It was a dream come true for me and I'm so fortunate that PistonHeads, Caterham and Autosport have given me this opportunity. Onwards and upwards! I will be pushing hard for a good result at Rockingham in Round six of the championship.
Images: Rick Wilson and John Hutchinson