Top Four Start for Nash at Silverstone.

James Nash will line his #14 Triple Eight Race Engineering with Collins Contractors Vauxhall on the second row of the grid for the first of the three races which will decide the destination of the outright and Independents’ titles.

Current Independents’ Points leader Nash battled illness to finish the session fourth and directly behind his only other Independents title contender, Mat Jackson.

Nash didn’t expect a top four qualifying result after the second free practice as he explains: “I’m really happy with P4. After Free Practice 2 we didn’t expect to get inside the top 8. We came into the weekend wanting the top 6 so 4th is very good.”

“For the race I’ll be aiming to keep Mat Jackson in sight obviously, but really we’ll go into the race like we’ve always done, aiming to do the best we can and see what happens.”

“I’m not feeling too great at the moment but adrenaline will sort that one out. It isn’t a concern and I’m really looking forward to the race.”

Team-mate Ollie Jackson once again showed good early pace during the free practice sessions and finished the session free practice inside the top ten.

Qualifying for Jackson however, didn’t go according to plan and his session came to a premature end after an alternator failure. This left the former Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 1 Champion down on the tenth row of the grid.

“I’m very disappointed to be 19th. It was a tough session and I don’t think l deserve to be 19th. Unfortunately the alternator belt snapped which meant that l lost a lot of power in the final run. Without that I think that I probably would have been around 10th or 11th or something like that,” commented Jackson.

“Tenth this morning had been a good result so we know we’ve got the pace. I’ve been working on the starts which hampered me on my debut, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of luck tomorrow and a better day.”

Ian Harrison is pleased to see Nash inside the top four as he explains: “James qualifying 4th here is a very good result. We came here hoping to qualify in the top 6 and we’ve exceeded that. Ollie drove well again. Consistent top 10 times this morning proved he’s got the pace and it is just unfortunate that a simple failure cost him when it mattered.”

Triple Eight Aims to Sign Off Vectra Era in Style.

Triple Eight Race Engineering with Collins Contractors head to Silverstone with mixed emotions as the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship comes to its conclusion.

The team head to Northamptonshire leading the Independent Teams’ Championship and the Independent Drivers Championship and their lead driver, James Nash, has retained an outside chance of securing the outright Drivers’ Championship title.

” I’m really looking forward to this weekend’s meeting. Silverstone not only is closest to where I live of all the venues we race at but it is also one of my favourites,” said Nash.

“I know most eyes will be on the two Hondas and the Chevrolet at the top of the table, but in all honesty, while I might have an outside chance of the overall title myself, my own focus will be getting the job finished in the Independent’s Championship. I’m going to Silverstone to race to win as always and I will look at the points table afterwards.”

Milton Keynes based Nash could leave Silverstone with his first BTCC title while Triple Eight could leave with their twenty third title. The weekend will also see the team running their Vauxhall Vectra for the final time, having debuted the car in 2007.

Ian Harrison, Chairman of Triple Eight said: “ Arriving at the final round leading the independent drivers and teams, and with an excellent chance of third in the overall team’s Championship too, behind only the works Honda and Chevrolet teams is a fabulous achievement no matter how the weekend pans out. It is testament too, to the superb Vauxhall Vectra that we race for the final time and the talented engineers behind it. We’ve run the present Vectra since 2007 and during that time we’ve won three Championships with it and also maintained our record of having won at least a race every season, save our first in 1997. I think that it is still the best chassis out there. Hopefully we can send the Vectra off on another high.”

Partnering Nash at Silverstone is Ollie Jackson, having made his debut last time at Brands Hatch. Jackson, who won the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 1 title just missed out on a debut top ten finish in the first of the three Brands Hatch races.

Jackson heads to Silverstone looking to record some points finishes to help the team finish off 2011 on a positive note: “I greatly enjoyed my first taste of the BTCC at Brands Hatch a fortnight ago and can’t wait to get back in the car this coming weekend. I practiced well and qualified reasonably at Brands so I know that I’ve got the pace but, touring cars are tricky beasts to get off the line and the starts killed me. I’m working on that though and I’m determined to score some points that will help the team in its Championships quest.”

Nash Holds the Advantage Leaving Brands Hatch.

James Nash left Brands Hatch with a seventeen point advantage in the Independents Drivers’ Championship with a trip to Silverstone left in the season for him and the Triple Eight Race Engineering with Collins Contractors.

Nash and Mat Jackson are now the only two drivers with a chance of securing the Independent Drivers’ Championship while Nash has also got a slim chance of bringing home the outright Drivers’ Championship title.

Having secured a ninth and sixth place finish during the first two races of the day, Nash then secured his third victory in as many weeks as he finished third overall in the final race – and he ended up as top Independent. Having secured his maiden win in the BTCC at Rockingham, he then secured the GT4 honours at Donington Park in British GT the following weekend.

“The race three result was good for the whole team. We’d struggled until then for most of the day actually so it was nice way to end the day. Silverstone promises to be exciting and while it’s obviously good to be leading the independents in all honesty whatever the points lead is it can never be enough really,” said Nash after the Brands Hatch weekend.

Joining the team before Brands was former Porsche Carrera Cup GB driver Ollie Jackson. He just missed out on an outright top ten finish on his debut but Jackson says that the series was everything he had expected it to be: “ We had good pace yesterday in practice so I know that the potential is there to be higher up the grid. Unfortunately, the opening laps hurt me and each race was a fight-back but we brought the car home each time in one piece, which is good.

“The whole weekend has been a great experience. Racing in the BTCC is everything I thought it was going to be. It’s a real challenge and I’m already really looking forward to the next race at Silverstone.”

“It’s been a tough day for us. There were a couple of strange results in races one and two but James got a decent result in race 3. We’ve got to keep scoring points to maintain the Championship leads,” said Triple Eight Chairman, Ian Harrison.

“Ollie had a bit of a baptism and Brands Hatch isn’t the easiest of circuits on which to make your touring car debut. He did well and improved through the day. He’s got to work though on those first 5 laps but we will help him with that. I’m sure his head is spinning at the moment. He’s learnt a lot today and together we’ll get him further up the track at Silverstone.”

Triple Eight Look to retain their Independent’s Championship Advantage.

Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit marks the penultimate round of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship and the Triple Eight Race Engineering is looking forward to racing once again on the famous Kent circuit.

Having taken their first victory of the season last time out at Rockingham, the team heads to Brands Hatch sitting third in the overall teams’ Championship, behind Honda Racing and Silverline Chevrolet while they lead the Independents’ Teams Championship.

James Nash is the current Independent Drivers Points leader and he heads to Brands Hatch on the back of two wins in two race weekends – he secured his maiden BTCC victory at Rockingham in the final race of the day before piloting the Lotus Sport UK Lotus Evora GT4 to victory at Donington Park a week later – on his British GT debut.

Away from the race track, Nash has found himself starring in the music video for former Busted front-man Charlie Simpson. In the video for the single “Cemetery”, Nash is driving a Chrysler Valiant Charged and he demolishes a fruit stand which Simpson is standing alongside.

Nash is hoping to keep his run of victories up at Brands Hatch this weekend:”I said at Rockingham that it was about time that I’d won and then, just a week later I’m winning again! Hopefully, I can continue the habit this weekend. I’m leading the Independents again and obviously I want to stay there. A good qualifying, top six is my first aim and then to take the weekend from there. I won’t be worrying about anybody else’s race, just concentrating on my own.”

Joining the team for this weekend at Brands Hatch as well as for the Silverstone finale is current Porsche Carrera Cup Pro-Am 1 Champion Ollie Jackson. Brands Hatch marks the touring car debut of the twenty seven year old from Reigate.

Jackson said about the weekend: “Brands Hatch promises to be brilliant. I’m really looking forward to the weekend. It’ll be my first time in a front wheel-drive car, let alone a touring car so they’ll be lots to learn but I’m with the best team to help me. Three competitive races will be my primary aim and if we can score some points too to help with Triple Eight’s Championship bids, even better!”

Triple Eight Chairman Ian Harrison has openly admitted that the team aren’t about to change their approach, despite being in contention on four fronts – they can still secure the outright drivers Crown (Nash is currently fifth overall), the Teams’ Championship as well as the Independent Drivers and Teams’ Championship.

“Two rounds to go and we’re still in with a shout on all four fronts. However, there’s no point in changing our game plan now because we’re nearly at season end. After all, the game plan got us here in the first place. Just as James has said, we’ve got to concentrate on what we’re doing and leave the worrying and the maths to others,” said Harrison.

“I’d also like to say that I’m pleased to welcome Ollie to the team. Stepping into a touring car, and a front wheel-drive one at that won’t be easy. He is though, a Porsche Cup Champion and drove a Lotus GT sportscar to victory at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium recently so I’ve got every confidence in his ability to do the job.”

Jackson Joins Triple Eight.

Ollie Jackson will compete in a Triple Eight Race Engineering Vauxhall Vectra for the final two weekends in the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, at Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit and at Silverstone, on the national circuit.

The team made the announcement this morning and Ian Harrison, Chairman of Triple Eight is pleased to have signed Jackson for Brands Hatch and Silverstone: “We’re pleased to have signed Ollie for Brands and Silverstone. I’m sure he’ll soon find his feet. It’ll be good too to have a second car out there again to hopefully to secure some more points for us in both Championships.”

Twenty Seven year old Jackson, who is the reigning Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 1 Champion has spent the 2011 season racing in the British GT Championship alongside former Triple Eight driver Phil Glew. The two of them have been racing a GT4 Lotus Sport UK Lotus Evora, and they recently won their class in the ‘away round’ of the series at Spa-Francorchamps.

Brands Hatch this weekend will mark Jackson’s debut in the BTCC and his racing debut in Front Wheel Drive racing machinery. He is thrilled to be making his BTCC debut with Triple Eight: “I’m thrilled to have signed for Triple Eight and can’t wait to make my touring car debut. So far I’ve only had an afternoon in the car and Brands will be the first time I will have raced a front wheel drive car so clearly they’ll be lots to learn once Saturday morning practice starts. That said, I’m really looking forward to the experience, I know the track and I’m confident that I can put up a good showing.”

Rockingham Ready for British GT Season Resumption.

British GT Race Start at Spa last time out - the series heads to Rockingham this weekend.

September is all set for an adrenalin-fuelled kick start thanks to the resumption of the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, following the song summer break since the last round, at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

The top Sportscar drivers in the UK go head to head in a pair of one hour races at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire, driving supercars from Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Audi and Ginetta. A field in excess of twenty two cars is expected, with sixteen cars entered in the GT3 Category.

Heading to Rockingham, the Championship battle couldn’t be any closer or exciting. Currently, the points are being led by Mike Guasch and Matt Bell in their Audi R8 GT3, run by United Autosports, but they only have a two point advantage over father and son pairing, Jim/Glynn Geddie in their CRS Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. The Scottish pairing has been a regular visitor to the podium in 2011.

Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron in their MTech Racing Ferrari 458 are coming up the standings fast and they secured the victory out at Spa last time out. They secured a strong seventh place finish out at the Slovakia Ring recently in the FIA GT3 European Championship. That was despite some technical issues.

“It was a tough weekend in Slovakia,” said Griffin, “and I hope we can put all that behind us for Rockingham. We need a couple of good, solid finishes there to keep the ball rolling having turned our season around a bit. But it won’t be easy because British GT is so competitive and because Rockingham has historically suited the Porsches more than it has the Ferraris.”

Rockingham marks the last double header of the season for the British GT field. Their next outing, at Donington Park is a three hour endurance style race while the season finale at Silverstone is a two hour race. Benjamin Franassovicci believes that it will be a fascinating season finale:  “The three circuits coming up all offer their own unique challenges, as will the format of the races at each. The championship is wide open and will be, I think, all the way to the final round. We are expecting to see 27-plus cars on the grid at Donington, which is even more exciting.”

Also lining up in the GP3 Category will be reining Champion David Ashburn in his Trackspeed Porsche. He has secured two victories this season while the teams’ second 997 will be driven by Gregor Fiskin and Tim Bridgman, who secured victory at Brands Hatch.

CRS Racing will also have their second Ferrari 458 out, with Andrew Tate and Alex Mortimer. Both the Geddie’s car and the Tate/Mortimer car will have a striking new livery for Rockingham.

2009 Champions, David/Godfrey Jones will be out in their Team Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS, fresh from coming seventh overall out at Spa during the Spa 24 Hours, while Oulton Park victors, Michael Lyons and Charles Bateman will be looking to secure yet more success for the young Scuderia Vittoria outfit.

Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam will be driving the Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin while Corvette is also represented by Piers and Ron Johnson, who are piloting the Speedworks Motorsport car. The duo collected a season’s best sixth last time out.

Ginetta will be represented by three G55’s, at the hands of Century Motorsport’s Julien Draper and Freddie Hetherington.

In the GT4 class, the battle for the title is just as fearsome. Currently leading the way is the ABG Motorsport duo of Peter Belshaw and Marcus Clutton, in their KTM X-Bow. They have secured GT4 honours three times already this season.

Spa-Francorchamps saw maiden class wins for Dan Denis and David McDonald in the Scuderia Vittoria run Ginetta G50 and the Lotus Sport UK run Lotus Evora for Ollie Jackson and Phil Glew. Jake Rattenbury and Josh Wakefield have also secured a class victory in the Century Motorsport G50, during the second Oulton Park race. After their maiden GT4 Podium finish at Spa, Peter Erceg and Chris Holmes will be hoping to repeat the feat in their Secure Racing Aston Martin.

In GT3B, the class will be contested by MTech Ferrari drivers John Dhillon and Aaron Scott while the GTC Category will see Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid in their Chevron GR8.

The British GT Championship is sponsored by UK tyre manufacturer Avon Tyres and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.

British GT Rockingham Schedule:

Saturday, 3 September:

09.00 – 10.00: Free Practice 1
11.45 – 12.45: Free Practice 2
16.20 – 16.55: Qualifying

Sunday, 4 September:

10.00: Warm Up
12.50: Round Seven (60 Minutes)
16.25: Round Eight (60 Minutes)

Picture Credit: British GT Media

Porsche Carrera Cup GB – the final round preview

Caine and Harvey have taken 17 podiums each in a year which has seen them dominate the Pro catagory

All Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pics – Dad 😀

Porsche Carrera Cup GB:

The 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship has seen a record amount of entrants over the three classes, producing some close, exciting racing. The story of the season though is of two drivers dominating proceedings: Tim Harvey and Michael Caine.

Between Harvey and Caine, all eighteen race victories have gone their way and they hold a commanding lead over the chasing pack – making the overall title battle a two way fight.

Harvey, the 2008 Champion has led the way all season long having dominated the opening ten races of the season – nine wins and one second have formed the basis of his points advantage over Caine, who has had the upper hand over the second half of the season – six wins to Harvey’s two.

Driver Stats after Donington:

Driver	First	Second	Third	Pole	Fastest Lap
Tim Harvey	11	6	0	9	4
Michael Caine	7	8	2	8	9

In the races – Harvey has had the upper hand as seventeen podiums in eighteen races shows, the one non podium came at Knockhill after he slipped off on liquid and dropped back – he recovered to fourth. Caine, on the other hand has also had seventeen podiums but with the added disappointment of a retirement at Oulton Park. Caine has proved himself as the fastest driver in the races, with nine fastest laps to Harvey’s four, while qualifying between them has been pretty equal.

Caine needs a DNF from Harvey to claim the title; Harvey is on course to secure his second PCCGB crown. Brands will be exciting.

Jackson is favourite for the crown, Gilham is an outside bet

In the Pro-Am 1 Class, the title favourite is Ollie Jackson who has a commanding 38 point advantage over his nearest rival, Jonas Gelzinis with 44 points to play for. It’s pretty much a two way battle – however with PA1 drivers dropping one score it might not be all over for Gilham.

PA1 Driver Stats:

Driver	Pole	1st	2nd	3rd	Fastest Lap
Ollie Jackson	11	9	4	4	9
Jonas Gelzinis	7	5	4	5	8
Tony Gilham	0	4	5	4	1

In both qualifying and the races – Jackson has had the upper hand over his nearest rivals, with 17 class podiums out of the 18 races while Gelzinis, who has visited the podium fourteen times has also suffered three retirements, seriously hampering his Championship Challenge, while Gilham has thirteen podium finishes but has ended up being the driver most likely not to reach the PA1 podium. Pace wise, Jackson and Gelzinis can’t be separated – nine fastest laps for Jackson, eight for Gelzinis – Gilham has the final one.

All Jackson needs to do to secure the title is to finish – if Gelzinis wins the opening race at Brands, a tenth place secures the crown – while Gelzinis needs both class poles, both class fastest laps and a brace of outright podium finishes to snatch the crown if Jackson has a double retirement.

PA2 Championship leader George Brewster - only 2 points seperate him and Glenn McMenamin

In Pro-Am 2, it is slightly more confusing as each driver drops scores, so the points after Donington are for each driver’s best seven weekends.

With twenty points on offer at Brands, there is still a clear two way fight for the crown, with another two drivers able to win if the Championship leaders have a coming together or fail to score overall.

PA2 Driver Stats after Donington:

Driver	Pole Position	First	Second	Third	Fastest Lap
George Brewster	1	1	6	3	4
Glenn McMenamin	1	6	2	4	3
Mark Hazell	2	3	3	2	1
George Richardson	3	2	1	8	3

The PA2 class has seen all of the title contenders relatively evenly matched in a competitive class, with guest drivers also claiming wins while early pace setter Steve Parish had to withdraw for a while to recover from injuries sustained at Oulton Park.

The PA2 title battle is sure to go down to the final lap of the final race – which way it’ll do, I can’t predict.