Hockenheim ETC

Silverstone Produces Great Races in Formula BMW UK Championship

Motor racing is full of highs and lows and I am still very much on a high after the Magny Cours weekend. I was certainly hoping last weekend to see some great racing and good performances from the Formula BMW UK Championship boys and I was not disappointed.

Before giving you a little more of an insight in what happened I want to say that a man who knows all about the lows of motor racing is our only privateer in Formula BMW UK, Tim Bridgman. He had a fantastic weekend winning race one from second on the grid and coming second in race two from pole. However, the weekend ended on a low for him as he was given a ten second penalty for a false start in race two. This dropped him down to fifth but still keeps him in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. I had a chat with Tim afterwards as I wanted him to take this on the chin and not get too down. I know how such things can affect you after such a great weekend and so hope I was able to give him some good advice on how to cope with such disappointments and bounce back.

The weekend was not an easy one for all the drivers as the weather conditions were ever changing. The Friday free practice was in the dry, Saturday first qualifying in the rain, Saturday second qualifying on a wet track, but the rain had stopped, and then on Sunday they had one race on a damp and greasy track and one in the dry. I am sure many of the drivers learnt a lot about themselves and their cars.

The Championship is still very close with Tim leading Philip Glew by three points. Tim really stormed away in the first race and then in the second Josh Fisher, who had his best qualifying session to put him third on the grid, had a great scrap with Tim and eventually not only got his first podium but his first win.

In the Rookie class Dean Smith was brilliant. He was amazing in first qualifying and started fifth on the grid and then turned this into a fifth in the race. It was a cool and calculated drive and his results were the best of any Rookie so far this year. Ross Curnow is a very consistent driver and so he took Rookie honours in race two. In race one he was unlucky as he had an off and so had to finish with no front wing. While these two shone, I still have to have a chat with a couple of my BMW Scholarship boys as they still tend to get a bit excited in qualifying.

A special guest of BMW GB at the race was my FIA ETCC Team Manger, Bart Mampaey. He came to have a look at what was happening in both Formula BMW UK and the BTCC and was very impressed with what he saw. We even had him on the podium presenting the trophies. My only worry is that he may be looking at the lads as future drivers to replace me when I am old and slow!

Seriously though it was great to have Bart there and I am now looking forward to getting back behind the wheel myself this weekend in Hockenheim. I like the track and hope we can do well there. I am still only nine points off the FIA ETCC Drivers’ Championship lead so need a good weekend. Two good race results would be good and, as I have no ballast this weekend, I need to make the most of that. Coming away from there second or third in the championship would be lovely.