Michelin Le Mans Cup

Rd.2, Le Castellet, Race Report

Rd.2 of the Michelin Le Mans cup took place at the Circuit of Le Castellet in France. We started with testing on Thursday where we would have two sessions. Between myself and my team mate Antoine Doquin, we covered very good mileage and were both very quick from the get go. We ended the day P2 in session one, and P1 in session 2, so the weekend was off to a brilliant start. Friday we had FP1 and FP2, with my team mate participating in the Bronze collective test session. FP1 went very well, we were P1 until the closing minutes to be just pipped at the very end, finishing up P2. The Cool Racing car was absolutely mega to drive and the confidence was very high for both of us. Following the Bronze test, we topped of the time sheets, and in FP2 our plan was to do race runs on old tyres. We ended that session in P4. After the two days of testing, we had been super quick and our race pace was looking very strong once again, so I was very excited to see how we would perform on the Raceday.

Saturday would see the qualifying session – in which the Bronze drivers must take place – so my team mate hopped into the car for this topping of the timing sheets on lap 4. But then a loss of power following that lap left us stranded out on track and unable to take place in the rest of the session, however, we amazingly held onto pole position. Unfortunately we had to have an engine change and the team had very little time before the race to do so, but due to there stirling efforts they got the engine in the car and built back up in time for us to make the race. Antoine would start the race before handing over to myself at around the halfway mark. He retained the lead at the start, and from then on it was all about just managing the gap to the car behind. A safety car around 30 minutes into the race, meant a great strategy call by the team via an a early pitstop, before working his way back up to the race lead before handing the car over to myself. I jumped in the car and would come out of the pits in the lead with a 5 second gap back to P2. I focussed on hitting the same lap time every lap, and trying to be as consistent as possible whilst managing the tyres. I extended the lead out to 18 seconds but then we ran into some difficulties… we had a power steering failure, and fluid leaking out onto the exhaust resulting in the car to catching fire, and us retiring from the race with just over 20 minutes remaining.

This was very disappointing after all the effort by the team to get us back out on track before the race, and after leading by so much. Overall we had a great weekend, our pace was incredible and that’s something to build on for the coming rounds.  I would like to say a massive thank you to Cool Racing for all their hard work, Greenlight Sports Management and my team mate. Impressive weekend all round guys with more to come for sure!

 

Next Round will be at Monza in Italy.

Michelin Le Mans Cup

Rd.1, Barcelona, Race Report

Round 1 of the Michelin Le Mans Cup took place at Barcelona Circuit. I was very much looking forward to this new experience, and the season we had planned ahead. In the pre-event testing we improved every session out on track, and I was getting a lot more familiar in the car. Everything was going well, as the track and car were new for me of course, but we still had many things to learn going forward into the race weekend.

Friday’s Free Practice went very well, where I had very good one lap speed, and our pace over a longer stint was looking very positive as we were near the top of the field on every outing. I was very happy with the progress I made, and as a team how we improved the car. It was also looking very promising for the qualifying and first stint of the race as my teammate, Antoine Doquin, had mega pace. In the qualifying sessions the bronze driver needs to qualify, and so it was Antoine who took to the car. He completed a fantastic job for the full session, where we ended up grabbing pole obviously the place you want to be for the race.

Race: Antoine did an impressive job at the start of the race, retaining the lead from the start whilst managing the gaps from behind. Safety car outings did hurt the gaps he had managed to pull out, as everyone entered the pits at the same time, so the pit lane was very busy to say the least!

We had a super driver change and I was in the car for the last hour and 10 minutes of the race. Unfortunately, in the pit stop we lost several amounts of time as a driver who earlier had pitted didn’t need to spend the full 210 seconds in the pits – which is mandatory – so as I went to exit the box he was driving up pit lane stopping us exiting, and instead of re-joining in the lead we slotted back in 5th.

I felt very confident, and our pace was looking very strong on the opening laps in my stint catching the cars in front. An unfortunate mistake whilst making a move, resulted in a locking of the rear brakes, a spin, whereupon my rear wheels planted themselves in the gravel necessitiating a tow out. At the point of rejoining the race, I was a full lap down on the entire field so the hope of a strong result was unfortunately gone. I got my head down and focused on putting in the best recovery drive possible. By the end of the race I had worked back up to 12th position, with a strong pace and is something we can carry forward into the coming rounds.

There were many positives to take away from the weekend as a whole, although I am certainly disappointed with the mistake I made, as it cost my teammate and myself a great result. Hwoever, I take away the positives, will move forward and come back better and stronger. I would like to say a big well done to my teammate Antoine, for a super job all weekend, Cool Racing for all their hard work and dedication – both at the track and back at the workshop – and to all my sponsors.

Looking forward to Round two at Paul Ricard in June!

British F3 – Snetterton, Rd.5

3/4 October

The British F3 Championship Snetterton

Josh: “Tough weekend for us this time out. Everything was looking so good in testing, and we were being very strong in both conditions. We had a gearbox issue in qualifying which was out of our hands, but still managed P10.”

Josh: “The races were always going to be tricky what with the wet conditions and the spray. We managed a P7, P3, P6 and a DNF, the latter from being caught up in an incident that was no fault of my own. Happy to be back on the podium, but I’m disappointed because the weekend could have been so much better. Onwards and upwards to Donington however! Big thank you to CDR for all their hard work this weekend.”

Race 1: P7
Race 2: P3
Race 3: P6
Race 4: DNF

2020 British F3 Championship: 6th (256 points)
https://www.britishf3.com/standings/2020-championship-standings/

Next up:
24/25 October – Rounds 19/20/21 – Donington

British F3 – Donington, Rd.4

19/20 September

The British F3 Championship Donington Park

The Tewkesbury-based team travelled back to the East Midlands in buoyant mood on the back of a double victory and career-best result for Josh Skelton at Brands Hatch last time out.

A few issues in pre-event testing put Josh – consistently a front-runner in the series this year – on the back foot for qualifying, and in an ultra-competitive grid, moving forward in race trim proved tricky. He still took a hat-trick of points finishes to keep his title chances afloat, and maintained his enviable record as one of the few drivers in the field to have scored in every round, no mean feat for a Rookie! His pace after a front wing change in the finale, mixing it with the front-runners, showed there is definitely more to come when the series returns to Donington later in the campaign.

Josh: “It was a difficult weekend at Donington Park for me, we had a few issues throughout the weekend which put us on the back foot a little heading into the races. Nevertheless, we never gave up even when the results weren’t what we wanted; we managed to get there pace wise in the end and can hopefully take the positives out of the weekend to move forward in the future. As always a massive thank you to CDR for all the hard work over the weekend and we will bounce back stronger at the next one.“

Race 1: P14
Race 2: P6
Race 3: P14

2020 British F3 Championship: 7th (205 points)
https://www.britishf3.com/standings/2020-championship-standings/

Next up:
3/4 October – Rounds 15/16/17/18 – Snetterton 300

British F3 – Brands Hatch, Rd.3

29/30 August

The British F3 Championship Brands Hatch

Another solid weekend for the Chris Dittman Racing Team in Rd.3 of the British F3 Championship at Brands Hatch.

Josh: “Showing solid speed in both conditions on Friday testing, everything was looking good heading into qualifying on Saturday morning. The qualifying session was wet but the track was drying every lap. We were very quick all the way through the session, but on the last lap I got held up and dropped from P2 to p6. All four races would then be run in dry conditions. The first two races we struggled for a bit of pace compared to others.”

“Race 1: P6 > P6, Race 2: P9 > P8. We had lots of work heading into the two races on Sunday, but we worked well as a team, identified the problems and made some changes. Race 3: P2 > P2, and then Race 4: P9 > P6. Overall another amazing weekend scoring lots of points moving me up to third in the championship. Big thank you to the team as always, and all of my sponsors.”

Race 1: P6
Race 2: P8
Race 3: P2
Race 4: P6

2020 British F3 Championship: 3rd (180 points)
https://www.britishf3.com/standings/2020-championship-standings/

Next up:
19/20 September – Rounds 12/13/14 – Donington Park

British F3 – Donington, Rd.2

15/16 August

The British F3 Championship Donington!

Josh: “Qualifying was an improvement for us this week, we ended the session P7 for Race 1, and P5 for Race 2, meaning we had a strong starting point. Race 1 we made up a position and ended the race in P6, with very strong speed throughout the race catching the leading pack from a bit back. I would start the reverse grid race from P13. Race 2 on Sunday didn’t quite go to plan. After having a great opening few laps, I made a mistake that cost us good points. Nevertheless, we showed a really strong pace and were feeling very positive heading into the final race of the weekend.”

“Race 3, starting P5, I managed to bring the car home in P2 after a long battle throughout, which ultimately came down to the final corner. I think it’s been another strong weekend for myself and the team, and I would like to say a massive thank you to CDR for all their hard work, and providing me with an amazing car all weekend!”

Race 1: P6
Race 2: P14
Race 3: P2

2020 British F3 Championship: 6th (108 points)
https://www.britishf3.com/standings/2020-championship-standings/

Next up:
29/30 August – Rounds 8/9/10/11 – Brands Hatch