Trophies, Champagne & Points - DW Racing's weekend at Brands Hatch

We’re immensly proud of Bens outright win. This was a great moment for the team and we’re looking to collect many more with him.

Qualifying

He was third quickest in qualifying, behind defending Champion James Lay and SR1 Champion Daryl De Leon.

I had pace but traffic too. I managed a couple of quick laps, but was baulked again on my best

Race 1

From lights out in race one, he joined a three-car break at the head of the field, but it all came to nought when the safety car was called out straightaway.

It proved to be the pattern for the whole race, with only two laps of racing before it was under caution again.

Caisley continued to hang on to the lead pair as they began to break again, but there were only two laps to go before the flag was out and all three held station.

Race 2

With Lay spinning at Druids Hairpin on the opening lap of race two and De Leon delayed, Caisley was first into Graham Hill Bend and held off his rival for the first six laps.

I could tell he was coming back at me, then I saw him coming. He had a good run on me out of Hawthorn and got by in Westfield

Caisley was unable to rechallenge, but retained a solid second, well clear of the fight for third.

Race 3

In the final race of the weekend, Caisley had shadowed Lay and De Leon in third again, but opted to make his compulsory stop at the first opportunity.

He quickly worked his way back up to third and on lap 14, he emerged as the new leader, having demoted Jason Rishover, while Chris Preen pulled off.

The advantage was soon consolidated and victory assured.

When I first came out of the pits I wondered why I was so far down, but had forgotten the success penalty at first. Then the tyres were back up to temperature and I built a lead

he said after receiving his victory spoils.

Oscar is very quickly asserting himself as one of the faster drivers amongst this years SR1 challengers. We’re yet to celebrate an outright first (which would promote him out of the rookie class) but we all know it’s coming!

Qualifying

Oscar was finding pace through qualifying and during the middle period he banked a number of low 1min 32sec before pitting to adjust tyre pressures.

Once released, he had 3 full laps and punched in his 1:32:286 which qualified him 3rd for the 1st race.

Race 1

A hindered start found Oscar dropped into 5th during the opening laps. Time to recover was stolen by an early safety car which bunched everyone ready for a restart.

From the restart, Oscar dropped once again before yet another safety car was deployed.

Oscars final race position was supplemented with 2 of the higher cars being penalised. This allowed Oscar to finish just off the podium in 4th and 2nd in class.

Race 2

Oscar started in P6, which was based on the fastest lap from his pervious race. He was quickly into p5 within 2 corners and then in a three-way fight for third.

He moved up into 4th place but was unable to jump into 3rd ahead of a safety car period.

In the closing moments of the race, a late slip exiting Graham Hill Bend saw Oscar drop a place to finish the second race in 5th position and P2 in class.

Race 3

For race 3 Oscar started in P3 with some position swaps throughout the race, Oscar was able to establish himself on the podium with a well deserved 3rd place and a class win.

Peters new SR3-XXR was wrapped in his signature fluro yellow for this weekend. The looks and the handling of the car were much more to his liking and it showed in his results.

The weekend saw Peter on the podium multiple times, taking home multiple class trophies and an outright 3rd – A fantastic result.

Qualifying

Many of the top 10 cars were finding their best qualifying lap late into the session. Peter was one of these and banked a 1:26:701 on his 15th and final lap.

He qualified just behind teammate Ben and the pair would start side by side with Peter on the left.

Race 1

He lost out to Preen at the start of race one and had to sit patiently in fifth for the whole race.

I can’t complain as I had a good start, but Preen still got down the inside. But I should have shut the door

he reckoned.

Race 2

In race two he had settled in a comfortable sixth and was putting pressure on Alex Khateeb. Two more safety car interventions followed, but Tyler had just managed to slip ahead of Khateeb for fifth before the second.

The dual for third had allowed him to close too, but time ran out and at the flag, he was just 0.237 secs off challenging for fourth.

Race 3

There was a safety car interrupted first half in the final race too, with Tyler taking Headlam, Lowe and Williams to make his mandatory stop from seventh.

On rejoining his progress was rapid and after four more laps he was in third place. He managed to take Rishover for second, but was being caught himself by De Leon.

I was given the blue flag but thought Daryl was lapping me, so I made it a bit too easy for him,

he admitted.

He was still a magnificent third and was the victor in the Fangio Class, having already taken two second places.

John had a tough start to the weekend as he had a big off in qualifying. He has a great spirit and we were glad to get him back out on track to participate in all the races.

Qualifying

John banked 9 laps in qualifying before his off. The best lap came on his 8th which qualified him in 19th position in the SR3s

Race 1

Due to his off in qualifying, John needed to start from the pitlane after registering to race with an alternative SR3. Due to the split grid, he was not released into the race until both the SR3s and the SR1s had started.

This put him in an impossible position to mix in with the SR3s

Race 2

Starting with the pack, and being promoted 2 spaces due to other cars having problems, John was in the fight.

There were 2 safety cars throughout this session which kept bunching the SR3 and SR1 pack together. With straight line speeds comparable to the SR3’s, some SR1s found their way through and the orders were mixed.

Johns final position was 21st.

Race 3

For the final race of the weekend John started in P16.

A safety car was deployed within the first section of the race but once under green flag conditions the only thing left was to negotiate a scheduled pit stop and endure the 40 minutes.

John found a rhythm during the second half of the race and was putting in a number of consistent times.

John passed the chequered flag in P20.

We are glad to have Andy join us again for the weekend at Brands. We hope to have him join us through the rest of the season.

Qualifying

Andy was having a consistent qualifying with laps 5, 6 & 7 all within a 5tenths. On lap 9 however he found clear air and punched in a 1:28:661 which qualified him P11 overall and sandwiched between two other Fangio class drivers.

Race 1

Andy was hit with bad luck before he reached the first corner with a throttle problem hindering his race. Diving into the pits he forfeited his P11 start.

it just wouldn’t go at the lights, some sort of electrical problem

This issue didn’t take long to resolve but an early safety car allowed him to catch up but not overtake the pack of SR1s. The safety car period lasted 4 of his 7 lap race.

Fortunately, with some time at the end, Andy was able to put in a pace quick enough to put him in P13 for race 2.

Race 2

In race two he was up to 12 by the second turn of druids, and ninth before his race ended in the Paddock Hill gravel.

Race 3

Andy Lowe’s 3rd race would start from P14 based on the fastest lap of the previous race. Andy made his way swiftly to 11th before a safety car period froze his progress. Once the green flag was shown, Andy was underway once again.

Following the pit stop period, Andy was running in 10th position with just 10 minutes to go.

Within 4 minutes he was up into 9th position and closing in on 8th.

Finally, the race was brought to a slightly premature stop under a red flag. The incident was ahead and so Andy was promoted into 8th position.

A great result after a troubled race weekend.