🏁 Snetterton – August 2nd Race Report 🏆
Living in North Essex, Snetterton is my local track — one I know well from many track days. This was also the first time I’d be bringing family and friends to watch me race, so I was both excited and a little nervous with the added pressure to perform in front of them.
No overnight stay required, I headed up on Saturday morning. After a quick trip to the pits to show my family around the race car, I took them to a great viewing spot up the hill overlooking Palmer. If your ever visiting Snetterton this is a great viewing spot, as if it’s not to busy you can view turn one. Then turn around and see half the track all the way to the start of the Bentley straight.
Back to the pits and get suited up ready for qualifying.
This race was also my first outing with the new AIM Solo2 lap timer (another credit card purchase!). If I’m going to keep racing, lap timing is a must — so it’s a worthwhile investment.
🏎️ Qualifying – 10:30 AM
We headed to assembly but were delayed slightly due to a red flag in the previous session. At 10:30 we were out.
With such big grids in Roadsports, finding a clear lap is tricky. Having had no prior practice here in this car, I used the first few laps to warm the tyres and figure out braking points and throttle application.
The AIM Solo2 quickly proved its worth — its LEDs flashing green when I was up on my best lap and red when I was down. On lap 4, I set a 2:16.046 in traffic, so I knew more was possible.
Backing off to find clear air, I stayed alert in the mirrors to avoid spoiling others’ laps. On lap 6, I finally got a near-perfect lap — just one Class D car to pass into Montreal. The lap was going great… until I accidentally grabbed 6th gear instead of 4th out of Palmer. Doh!
We then got caught out by a red flag. After coming into the pits to amend tyre pressures and let tyres cool, Whilst on a flyer the red flag came out for a car suffering a engine issue!
Even so, I managed a 2:15.630, putting me P4/13 in class and 27/45 overall. Reviewing the data later, without that gear error I would have been in the 2:14s. Still, I was buzzing — P4 in such a competitive grid was a fantastic result.
🏁 Race – 14:40 (45 minutes of action!)
After qualifying we rotated the tyres to different corners to help them last the season — it’s going to be a challenge.
At 14:00 I strapped in and headed to assembly. On the formation lap, coming out of Nelson, I noticed a Class A car in the grass at the Bomb Hole entrance. No in-car radio meant I had no idea what had happened, initially thinking contact must of happened whilst warming tyres. (later found out it was mechanical). This led to three laps behind the safety car, and a rolling start was abandoned — safety car restart now no overtaking until after the start/finish line.
When the lights went out, I immediately had to defend from a Civic Type R down the straight. I held the middle of the Senna straight, forcing them the long way round at Riches — position held. Ahead, a Class B Mini became my target. A strong run out of Palmer let me get a run up the inside and out-brake them into Agostini, holding the middle on exit to protect the line into Hamilton. Move done.
By the end of lap 1, I was up two places — one from the overtake and one from another car going off. With the Ginetta in my class carrying a big success penalty, and the Clio and RX-8 each with a 5-second penalty, I kept them within two seconds and managed my pace.
Then, on lap 8, running a curb on the exit of oggies produced a huge bang. Down Bentley Straight and into Nelson, the car fought me under braking and the rear felt unstable. Something must of broke!
Lap 9 saw me pit. The team turned the car around quickly and sent me back out in P2 — but I was now 2–3 seconds off the pace and the car was tough to control. Each time I hit a curb, the vibration and knocking worsened. I suspected something was broken, so I focused on bringing the car home. Coram a long right hand bend was interesting with the car fighting me the entire way round!
Unfortunately, this allowed P3 and the Class B Mini to catch me and both overtook me with a couple of laps remaining. With Anglesey still in mind, I wasn’t going to risk it — I settled into a defensive rhythm. Thankfully, we’d built enough of a gap to hold position and I crossed the line P3 — my first podium in my first season of racing!
Back in the pits, the team initially thought the pace drop was tyre-related. In reality, the nearside rear shock shaft had punched through the top mount. A failed split pin meant I’d spent the last 25 minutes with no rear shock absorbing — just the spring! Luckily, it’s a simple fix, so we’ll be good for Silverstone.
Taking to the podium was a absolutely fantastic experience and one I got to share with my friends and family. I also won driver of the day and a nice 100£ voucher from Tegiwa
🔥 Summary
- 🥉 P3 at a track we didn’t think would suit the car
- 🏆 First podium — in front of my family, friends, and my three children
- 🛞 A052 tyres still going strong!
- ⚠️ Rear damper failed with 25 minutes left
- 🎩 Thanks to Matt and Phil Addock for giving my kids their podium hats — made their day
- 🏅 Driver of the Day + £100 voucher from Tegiwa
Absolutely buzzing for the next round at Silverstone! 🚀
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