NastyEvilNinja
4 wheel racer, 2 wheel lunatic
I know some of you like cars, so you might find my story so far interesting or even inspiring! If cars aren't your thing, look away now! For those who do read this, thanks, and feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try my best to answer!
I've always had some off-the-wall obsession through my lifetime. Martial arts, sword fighting, American Football, playing in a band, motorcycles. I'd throw everything into it, be the best I possibly could, and then inevitably get bored and move on to the next thing to get my hit.
I'd been stagnating for a few years in a crappy job, with no real passion other than bikes to keep me going. And where was I going? Nowhere.
So I asked myself what was it that I really wanted to do from as young as I remembered?
Easy. I wanted to be a Bounty Hunter, and a racing driver.
Having already stuck my fingers in the surveillance/P.I. field, it made sense to have a look at the second one.
This was a few years ago, and although I'd been riding bikes for 10+ years, I'd only actually first driven a car 2 years previously. I'd already done a skid control course and upgraded my 1 litre Fiat Uno to an old 1.4 Honda Civic Sport. Now I wanted to get 4 wheels on track.
I looked at the expensive 'driving experience' things around, but someone suggested taking my ARDS National B race license test - as I'd get to use their cars for free, and (hopefully) get a race licence at the end of it. It made sense - so I drove down to Silverstone and thraped a Caterham around some cones, then managed to pass my test in a Megane RS250.
My Step-Dad, who is a previous Formula Vee champion, was running a car for my sisters ex, but with him moving to Sweden, I was offered the chance to have a go in one of the Vee's. Of course, I bit his hand off, but a few delays with rebuilding and modifying the car meant a few years passed, culminating in me finally jumping in the car at Donington at the end of last year, getting to the third corner on my out-lap, and then spinning out as the engine seized solid.
Test over, the following days race cancelled, season over.
Life and work got in the way, and we missed all the races this year, until finally we went to Llandow at the end of July to shake the car down. It went well until the front suspension broke. I showed good lines, and thought I was fairly quick considering I wasn't doing anything stupid - that was to prove to be completely wrong when I finally met some other Vee drivers on track....
Last week we had our second test on the Silverstone National track, having entered the race that would be on the International track the following week. The test was in horrendously wet conditions that really did nothing except destroy any confidence I'd gained in the cars handling at Llandow. Fun, but nothing really to be learned.
The test day for the International was dry, and was to be my first time on track with similar cars. I was still trying to keep the car safe, and was faster than a few, but the really quick drivers came past me like I was stood still, even when I was confident and starting to push.
Building speed in the 3rd session, I lost power at the end of Hangar Straight, saw lots of smoke in my mirrors, and switched off as I rolled into pit lane, thinking it had all happened again.
Luckily, my Step-Dad quickly diagnosed the problem with a piston, and we had a late night getting it all apart and rebuilt.
We made qualifying the next morning, and although I was keeping the revs down to 6000 hoping the problem didn't happen again, I was going about as hard as I could everywhere else.
I qualified 29th for race 1, and my 2nd fastest lap put me 28th for race 2. Respectable for my first ever time out there amongst 37 other far more experienced drivers, but I knew I was in trouble.
It’s easy to watch the slower cars racing in Formula Vee, and you like to think that you’d easily beat them… I found out that even the ‘slow’ people out there in the UK championship are REALLY fast! Much better than I was doing.
I had to reset my brain.
I’d followed Ben Miloudi briefly as he passed me, and noted how he was braking for a much shorter time than I was, and then just throwing the car into the corners at a speed that was mind blowing to me!
I tried it tentatively on the last lap and was surprised to find my car made it! There is no way I’d have made the corners at that speed on a bike without the front washing out.
I chatted to a lot of drivers through the day, and listened to all the amazing advice they gave me. I had to put my trust in them and in the car, and just go for it. It was either that or give in to he doubts creeping in about whether I should even be out there with these real racing drivers. All my time, energy and money wasted? I wasn’t good enough to mix it with them, as I’d greatly underestimated the skill levels in Formula Vee, and I didn’t have those skills…
Hell no! I realised I had to forget almost everything I’d learned to get through the ARDS test. I trail-brake to the apex on my bikes, so I’d have to do this in the car – braking in a straight line and then turning into the corners had to go, if I were to even get close to the other drivers.
Last weeks wet test had done a surprising amount of damage to my confidence in the car, but this was now my time to properly test myself – I couldn’t let myself down, and I couldn’t let Glenn down after all the work he’d put in!
Next part to follow...
View my full journey to this point, and more inside information on my blog at www.jamescaterracing.co.uk
I've always had some off-the-wall obsession through my lifetime. Martial arts, sword fighting, American Football, playing in a band, motorcycles. I'd throw everything into it, be the best I possibly could, and then inevitably get bored and move on to the next thing to get my hit.
I'd been stagnating for a few years in a crappy job, with no real passion other than bikes to keep me going. And where was I going? Nowhere.
So I asked myself what was it that I really wanted to do from as young as I remembered?
Easy. I wanted to be a Bounty Hunter, and a racing driver.
Having already stuck my fingers in the surveillance/P.I. field, it made sense to have a look at the second one.
This was a few years ago, and although I'd been riding bikes for 10+ years, I'd only actually first driven a car 2 years previously. I'd already done a skid control course and upgraded my 1 litre Fiat Uno to an old 1.4 Honda Civic Sport. Now I wanted to get 4 wheels on track.
I looked at the expensive 'driving experience' things around, but someone suggested taking my ARDS National B race license test - as I'd get to use their cars for free, and (hopefully) get a race licence at the end of it. It made sense - so I drove down to Silverstone and thraped a Caterham around some cones, then managed to pass my test in a Megane RS250.
My Step-Dad, who is a previous Formula Vee champion, was running a car for my sisters ex, but with him moving to Sweden, I was offered the chance to have a go in one of the Vee's. Of course, I bit his hand off, but a few delays with rebuilding and modifying the car meant a few years passed, culminating in me finally jumping in the car at Donington at the end of last year, getting to the third corner on my out-lap, and then spinning out as the engine seized solid.
Test over, the following days race cancelled, season over.
Life and work got in the way, and we missed all the races this year, until finally we went to Llandow at the end of July to shake the car down. It went well until the front suspension broke. I showed good lines, and thought I was fairly quick considering I wasn't doing anything stupid - that was to prove to be completely wrong when I finally met some other Vee drivers on track....
Last week we had our second test on the Silverstone National track, having entered the race that would be on the International track the following week. The test was in horrendously wet conditions that really did nothing except destroy any confidence I'd gained in the cars handling at Llandow. Fun, but nothing really to be learned.
The test day for the International was dry, and was to be my first time on track with similar cars. I was still trying to keep the car safe, and was faster than a few, but the really quick drivers came past me like I was stood still, even when I was confident and starting to push.
Building speed in the 3rd session, I lost power at the end of Hangar Straight, saw lots of smoke in my mirrors, and switched off as I rolled into pit lane, thinking it had all happened again.
Luckily, my Step-Dad quickly diagnosed the problem with a piston, and we had a late night getting it all apart and rebuilt.
We made qualifying the next morning, and although I was keeping the revs down to 6000 hoping the problem didn't happen again, I was going about as hard as I could everywhere else.
I qualified 29th for race 1, and my 2nd fastest lap put me 28th for race 2. Respectable for my first ever time out there amongst 37 other far more experienced drivers, but I knew I was in trouble.
It’s easy to watch the slower cars racing in Formula Vee, and you like to think that you’d easily beat them… I found out that even the ‘slow’ people out there in the UK championship are REALLY fast! Much better than I was doing.
I had to reset my brain.
I’d followed Ben Miloudi briefly as he passed me, and noted how he was braking for a much shorter time than I was, and then just throwing the car into the corners at a speed that was mind blowing to me!
I tried it tentatively on the last lap and was surprised to find my car made it! There is no way I’d have made the corners at that speed on a bike without the front washing out.
I chatted to a lot of drivers through the day, and listened to all the amazing advice they gave me. I had to put my trust in them and in the car, and just go for it. It was either that or give in to he doubts creeping in about whether I should even be out there with these real racing drivers. All my time, energy and money wasted? I wasn’t good enough to mix it with them, as I’d greatly underestimated the skill levels in Formula Vee, and I didn’t have those skills…
Hell no! I realised I had to forget almost everything I’d learned to get through the ARDS test. I trail-brake to the apex on my bikes, so I’d have to do this in the car – braking in a straight line and then turning into the corners had to go, if I were to even get close to the other drivers.
Last weeks wet test had done a surprising amount of damage to my confidence in the car, but this was now my time to properly test myself – I couldn’t let myself down, and I couldn’t let Glenn down after all the work he’d put in!
Next part to follow...
View my full journey to this point, and more inside information on my blog at www.jamescaterracing.co.uk
