Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Elsey Motorsport Photography
Winning the 2021 championship involved a certain amount of luck, given that the events of Anglesey gifted me a useful lead that I was able to maintain to the end. That said, there was some notable competition towards the end with Chris Gough and Mick Harris significantly closing the performance gap. I didn’t really change too much last year, a new radiator being about the fullest extent other than an engine rebuild.
Silverstone National
It was, therefore, with trepidation that I unloaded the car at Silverstone, fully expecting things to be close and tense. They were, but not as I had imagined. Olly Collet was back and clearly meant business. Silverstone delivered two wins, but only after titanic battles with Olly. I managed to lead the first race, but Olly was up my chuff for the whole race. Olly jumped me at the start of race two and led for the first few laps before a quick spin which gave me the best part of a 10 second lead, which I then managed to gradually squander allowing Olly to close to within a few tenths, although I benefitted from traffic to hold onto the win.
I think the difference came in the high speed corners, particularly Copse which I was able to take flat, even with a tow, and my newly rebuilt engine seemed to have a bit more sparkle than it had previously. That said, Olly was mighty out of the slower corners and, had he not spun, could well have won the second race.
Pembrey
Pembrey was slightly different, Olly was struggling a bit more and the competition not as fierce at a circuit that I know well and at which I have typically been quick. Qualifying was fully wet, but the circuit was remarkably grippy. For race 1, the circuit was drying, but it was greasy and there seemed to be less grip. I got a reasonable start, but was being hounded my Rich in the Sheppard until the safety car was deployed. I was able to see the boards faster than the battling pack behind and backed off, only to have half the field race by, not having seen the yellow flag. It all got sorted out and I got a good restart to race off for the win. It wasn’t easy though, the bumpy nature of the track and my car’s rather stiff setup meant that I was struggling to breathe and I spluttered and coughed my way through the post race interview. Race 2 delivered a fabulous battle with Mark which only really got settled when his gearbox let hm down on the last laps. Again, I was coughing and spluttering at the end of the event. Two wins was good, albeit, I felt guilty at taking Mr Simpson’s lap record.
Snetterton 300
On to Snetterton and a resurgent Olly was only a whisker behind in qualifying for our first of two double headers. I got a good start and opened up a gap, lost it again when I made a mistake, opened it up again only to select the wrong gear coming out of Murrays. Olly was alongside and we touched through Richies. I speared off to the inside and then across the track and off on the other side. I managed to regain the circuit but down in 5th which was where I finished. Race two was damp and I struggled to get my race head on. I dropped back to third behind Olly and Mark and, rather than settle for a safe podium decided to push to try and catch Mark. The result was understeering off at Murrays and then breaking my front wing support trying to regain the track. I eventually managed to get back on and, trailing the front wing on the circuit, had a good battle with Richard which he won for the final podium position and Olly won the race by a country mile which was good to see after the previous day. Again, I was struggling to breathe in the closing laps and that evening I noticed a few specs of blood when I was coughing….. not ideal!
I was P4 on the grid for race 3, my first race start not from pole in 2022. I got a good start, up to 3rd place and then was able to catch first Olly and then Mark to take the win with a bodged up front wing and support, the latter which was held together with a jubilee clip. I was in a worse state, I climbed out of the car and sat on the end of the trailer for 30 minutes, trying to recover enough energy to change and load the car. I went to the doctor on Monday morning and was diagnosed with a fever and probably chest infection. I was prescribed antibiotics which seemed to fix the problem.
Silverstone International
On to Silverstone International with a fully repaired front wing and in qualifying I was driving a completely different car. It was suffering from turn in oversteer and was a bit scary to drive. I nursed it round for as long as I could before deciding that I would be better ending the session early than off the road. I made some aero changes to the front and rear wings and headed out to race 1. The car felt better, but still not right and I managed to salvage a 4th place, largely due to the misfortune of others. I made some more changes for race 2 and it was getting a bit better and I was able to battle with Olly, Mark and Richard and close on the front two by the end of the race – but the highlight was no breathing problems!
Cadwell Park
Cadwell brough its own challenges for the second triple header of the year. I was way off My Cowley’s qually time and the car just felt slow. Race 1 was red flagged and the result was a four lap sprint which Bill led before dropping out and Olly won. Race 2 started with Bill disappearing and Olly and I battling until his gearchange let him down. I had a bit of a battle with Richard, but managed to hold on for what turned out to be a win when I discovered that Bill had retired. The third race was a battle with reality as Bill came from the back of the grid and overtook me on lap 2. Olly also went well to take third, however, my Cadwell results were sufficient to take my 7thchampionship.
Mallory Park
Last year I swerved the last round to make sure of the championship victory and came in for a certain amount of abuse. This year I decided to go to Mallory and ended up with two good races, albeit, not great results. The engine that seemed to have extra sparkle at the start of the year had definitely lost it by the end of the season and, when it was inspected, one cylinder was very oily, so another year, another rebuild.
It was good to see the grids getting bigger, Richard’s confidence growing with every race, Olly’s first and second wins, a titanic battle for Class B and probably the most harmonious paddock for some time. We have an interesting year next year with the tyre change, but I’m looking forward to more great battles!
Peter
Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Elsey Motorsport Photography
Matthew Unwin 2022 - Against the Odds!
2021 was my first year car racing and after narrowly missing out on the class B championship by a point I was intent on improving in every area for this year, as I knew the competition would be even greater. 2021 was great because the learning curve was steep but I was proud to have built my first racing car and pleased that I hadn’t lost the knack for racing (despite my only experience being some karting 20yrs ago!) Further to this, I was honoured to receive the Jem Marsh trophy for the best prepared 750F car, an accolade which left me speechless as I read the names back to 1959!
By means of a 2022 summary:
Silverstone National
After wonderful memories starting out in my 750 Formula quest in 2021, I was thoroughly looking forward to getting the 2022 season underway. With a clean and fresh car with only a few little mods (as I wanted to concentrate on improving myself with a stable platform) and for the first time, a fresh set of tyres I was hoping for a strong start. It became evident quite quickly that Simon was going to provide some tough season long competition after doing a perfect job on correcting the issues he suffered with his car in 2021. We raced hard in race one of the season but an oil pressure t-piece failed 2/3 down the Wellington straight, it wasn’t until Luffield that I could feel something wasn’t right and a glance at the gauge (showing minus 16psi) and a further glance in the mirror (a huge plume of smoke), I know it was over. Pulling off on the national pit straight as close to a marshals post as possible in a smokey oily mess was not the start to the season I wanted. Later I found it was me hanging two senders off a T-Piece on the engine that caused it to break - Ironically I chose to change this in the off season as I fitted a logger and wanted to keep both oil pressure inputs. With the engine munched (12s at max revs with zero pressure) - I chose to stay for race two on Sunday and watch for the first time from the Grandstand (a frustrating experience).
Pembrey
Getting a new engine sorted in time for Pembrey was always going to be a challenge, but I somehow managed it and despite the new unit being markedly down on power - for reasons that are difficult to fathom, I headed off to Pembrey looking to make amends for the failed season opener. Following a long and hot journey I set up camp right next to my car on quite a bleak airfield in section. Qualifying was wet and tricky and for the first time out at Pembrey was difficult to find the type of consistency I wanted. The first race was wrecked by a race long safety car, so third in class just had to do. The car seemed to perform well enough and I found better rhythm on Sunday morning for a 2nd in class and all in all a decent salvage given the circumstances.
Snetterton
After Pembrey I decided I had had enough with ‘Find your Feet’ Saturday qualifying, so decided from now on to Friday test at any circuits I hadn’t been before, starting with Snetterton. Being the first triple header I was in to minds whether this was a wise thing to do, and even ‘warned against it’ by others who had obviously been there, damaged the car on Friday and gone home rather than enjoy a packed weekend of racing! So, low and behold, 15min into what should have been four 30min sessions and I knew something wasn’t right, it started to become sluggish and temperatures went through the roof. Sounding really rough, I had just passed the pit entry as I decided to come in - and 3 miles to get back around didn’t do much good to what turned out to be a badly blown head gasket. Two others experienced the same thing the following day, so there must of been ‘something in the air’ that weekend, and it wasn’t particularly hot? I was frustrated with wasting the Friday and compromising my weekend, with no spares and little motivation to set about fixing it, it was only the encouragement (and help) of others Simon, Chris, Steve, Martin, Olly that I spent Friday stripping it down and repairing everything, and I’m glad I did. Race one didn’t feel good and I soon learned that it doesn’t take much to break your rhythm at Snetterton 300 where time leaks away fast. However on Sunday morning on wet tyres (one of only 3!) was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the low grip mixed conditions holding position 7th overall and a first class win of the season! To finish off the weekend with a 2nd in class was a good enough result to keep the points wagon rolling … given the circumstances.
Between Snetterton and Silverstone I found water in the gearbox oil, most likely due to the catastrophic failure of the head gasket blowing, pushing the coolant rail off and filling / pushing water into the shared catch tank - down the gearbox breather! I removed this with a large syringe, filled up with fresh and thought no more of it.
Silverstone International
I was looking forward to making amends at Silverstone the second time around and was particularly excited about trying the ‘other half’ of Silverstone, the Wellington straight is all well and good, but for me and the countless times I have been to Silverstone in the past (late 90’s -> early 00’s) to watch F1, I was ready for the Hanger Straight and Stowe, and it didn’t disappoint, the Falcon was well planted into Stowe. However, the Silverstone curse struck again late in qualifying when the car kept jumping out of 3rd, it got progressively worse until it wouldn’t stay in 3rd, which compromised the entire pit straight and first corner (as I lazily gathered pace in 4th out of the last corner) and I got gobbled up in both races to finish a poor 4th in class. Thinking my season had derailed as Simon had consistently taken points and stretched his lead, I diligently took the gearbox out, cracked it open and low and shock-surprise, I found the nozzle to the syringe mangled and trapped behind the selector fork! A lot of time and effort (and lost points) due to a sloppy mistake … one NOT to be repeated.
Cadwell Park
My first visit to Cadwell in 2021 was enjoyable, although restricted because of a long safety car period, the circuit is a pure challenge and delight and I was looking forward to a triple header. It was difficult to match Jakes pace but Simon and I (and Huw) were very evenly matched throughout the weekend. 2nd in class on Saturday was great, but it was once again the Sunday morning race which stands out as being a cracker. It was fast a furious, a race from start to finish hanging on to Simon, no real feisty wheel to wheel action but a true test as we pushed each other on and finally broke into the 1:41s. To miss two 5th gear changes on the pit straight and have to hold off the racy Huw was also an added dimension as we barrelled around the undulations of the classic circuit. With Jake slowing on the last lap down the hill (with a fuel feed issue) I was so close to Simon we finished one tenth of second apart and 6th overall was my best finish yet. To top that off later in the day with a full house of 2nd places felt like strong momentum and capped off a thoroughly exhilarating weekend of racing.
Mallory Park
As the season drew to a close I knew that it would take some extraordinary feat to beat Simon, as ALL he had to do was technically finish (be classified) - my attitude to the weekend was mixed as I knew I couldn’t drop it in fear of losing out to Jake and Huw, but remembering that I needed to keep the pressure on Simon for any chance (however remote) of a class B championship win. With this in mind and with the underwhelming performance I put in the year before, I decided qualifying was time to really push. It paid off, it was a perfect session as the car felt completely on rails through Gerrards and the Esses. Every lap I could nibble away at the limit as there was so much stability in the high speed corners. The result being two 5th places (near identical 52.3s laps) - the strongest result in the Formula for me so far. Race one was a lesson of patience as I harried Chris Gough for many laps being unable to find a way by (he’s a sly old fox), when Mark got by and promptly shed a rear wheel, as I lifted Simon popped by. Given I had been stuck behind Chris for so long and had a fantastic speed advantage through the esses I managed the best move of the season on Simon into the hairpin, with only inches of space to thread the needle. So a class B win and my best 5th place overall. The championship still looked to be Simon’s as he still ONLY had to finish, but the dreaded technical gremlins crept in and he had developed his own gearbox issue. Still, all he had to do was nurse it around in any gear right? Given the pace I had, I was now intent on finishing off the season on my own high, but in race two on the second lap I witnessed Bill Rutter run out onto the marbles and lose his car in Gerrards, taking avoiding action (into the setting sun) I took to the grass on the outside at speed damaging the nose, underside body work and ripped off the diffuser, but I was luckier than Chris Johnson who collected Bill with a glancing blow, damaging their cars but lucky it wasn’t worse. Gerrards has always been a tricky corner, but with the sun setting late in the day/year, there is a treacherous momentary blind spot which has seen incidents over the last two seasons. I recovered and despite the grinding and scraping for several laps managed to find a rhythm even with an absent diffuser (which I didn’t know about) - it turned out to be another strong race winning class B and 5th overall again, with lap times I was delighted with. Despite lapping Simon 4-5 times I still was under the impression that he had been classified and thus I was once again 2022 class B runner up. But to my astonishment and his to, he was unfortunately not classified, he had not covered the required race distance, which by some crazy twist of fate handed the class B title to me! Considering I never led the championship at any stage and that Simon was more consistent owing to my technical problems, it was a shocking surprise, but one that I accept graciously. For some reason I decided last year on the nickname ‘The Bandit’ -> mainly because I felt like I was stealing points from guys more deserved than me, but this really was a royal championship steal. The icing however on the cake was that Simon finished 6th in the Class A standings and therefore he is also promoted with me to Class A next season, so all in all a great season for us both, and indeed all of the class B runners who I enjoyed season long battles with.
2022 was fantastic, not just because of the outcome, but the journey. I have developed as a driver and surprised myself by overcoming technical problems that I wouldn’t have normally tackled at the racetrack. In 2021 I had no technical issues whatsoever, other than some fuel filter problems. Certainly no breakdowns or issues that required rebuilds etc. This, together with the ongoing support and growing friendships that continue to flourish, has meant that this season will always be one to remember. On and off the track I find the hobby (engineering & racing) as exciting and exhilarating as I always hoped it would be, and I am delighted to see progress in my lap times, my setup, my race craft and attitude to racing in general. These items have not just been selfishly developed by me but fostered by all the great guys that share the track with me, take time to discuss and support me and for that pleasure and future opportunity I am forever grateful. Long may the journey continue.
Here’s to another tour in 2023.
Matt (The Bandit)
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Photographs Courtesy of Jonathan Elsey