750MC Roadsports – Round 2 Silverstone Race Report (Class C – Mazda RX-8)
31st May 2025
Following on from Croft, Round 2 of the 750MC Roadsports series took me to Silverstone for the full GP track the Rocketdog Racing Class C Mazda RX-8. After running on Toyo R888s at Croft, this time I came equipped with a fresh set of Yokohama A052s—and I was eager to see how they’d perform. Massive thanks to Rarerims / Rotawheels UK for helping me sort the tyres. Highly recommended—knowledgeable, friendly, and genuinely supportive people who care about getting you what you need.
This weekend, like Croft, was impacted by budget constraints—so again, no Friday testing. That meant first time out on track would be Saturday morning for qualifying. Luckily, unlike Croft, I know Silverstone well, having recently completed a 24-hour race here in a C1.
09:25 – Qualifying
We rolled out for qualifying among 55 cars, so finding space for a clean lap was near impossible. I learned at Croft the value of clean air, but even trying to create a gap wasn’t enough in this busy session.
I set my fastest lap on my first flying lap, despite having to lift on both Hanger and Wellington straights due to traffic. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that second gear was unusable. If I could find it at all, upshifting to third was only possible at 5,000 RPM and with a noticeable pause, costing me roughly 1 to 1.5 seconds per lap.
Despite that, I managed to qualify P5 in class, and data suggests that without the gearbox issue, P3 was very achievable.
13:20 – Race
After lunch, we were straight into prep for the race. The team changed a gearbox rubber on the gear selector in hopes of resolving the gear selection issue—but sadly, no improvement. Most likely the synchro is damaged, possibly a legacy issue from the car’s previous competitive use.
The opening laps were intense. I had three laps of close, back-and-forth battles with P3 in class and two Class B Minis. The lack of second gear meant I was always vulnerable exiting slow corners like Club, often overtaken again after each move I made.
Still, I was able to push hard in Sector 1—Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Chapel—where our RX-8 is strongest. I made a bold move up the inside into Stowe, held it into Club, and then managed to defend aggressively down Hamilton Straight. That finally gave me some breathing room to build a gap.
I began chipping away at the gap to the front runners—P1 and P2 both had time penalties from their Croft podiums, so the podium was well within reach.
But then came a critical error: I missed the pit window. The pit board display layout had changed since Croft and I was checking the wrong area. A hard lesson learned—and not helped by the lack of in-car comms (again budget constraints)
Back out on track after the stop, I was lapping some Class D cars through Copse. I went off-line and lost the rear end. Rather than aggressively fight the car and risk a full spin in traffic, I let the car drift wide to had my spin of the track and in the run off area—but one of the Class D cars came out wide too and collected me on the driver’s side. No blame on him—it was a racing incident, and if I hadn’t made the mistake, it wouldn’t have happened.
Summary
A frustrating result. Pace was there, and a top-3 finish was possible, even with the gearbox issues. The A052s have been a game-changer—they’ve genuinely lifted the car’s performance and given me much more confidence through the high-speed corners.
Silverstone suited the car’s strengths—particularly cornering and Sector 1 speed. Looking at TSL data, I was second fastest in class in Sector 1 during qualifying, and the fastest during the race. That’s something to build on.
But our weaknesses—straight-line speed and slow speed corner exits—were magnified by the lack of second gear, especially in Sector 2 (Club, Village). Even so, pace was strong, and we were on for a great result.
Looking forward to Anglesea where I hope we can remain competitive.
Big thanks again to Rarerims / Rotawheels UK for the tyre support. I’ll share a proper review of the A052s soon—but in short: wow.
Frustrating weekend. Sorry to the team—we’ll regroup and come back stronger at the next round.
Luke Beardmore Racing at the 750 MC Mazda RX-8 Class Round 2 Silverstone
Saturday 31st May 2025. Images courtesy: Andrew Cooper Photography
Images courtesy and licenced from Ⓒ: 2025 Andrew Cooper Photography | Moral Rights Asserted | All Rights Reserved
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