Silverstone, Round 1, 26th March

A tight build schedule for the Jota Mazda team turned Silverstone into an eventful extended testing session for the two drivers. Oil on the track saw Mark on the grass during the qualifying, leaving them 34th on the grid for the race. After pushing up to third after the first hour, a smack on the rear from a Ferrari resulted in a trip to the pits, a new differential and the loss of many places. However, seventh in class was a not a bad result after all of this.


 


Britcar Dunlop Production GTN Championship Race Diary

Silverstone Arena GP Circuit
Round 1, 26th March 2011
by Mark Ticehurst

It was with no hesitation that I accepted the offer of joining the Mazda Motors UK Britcar Production campaign for 2011. It was an incredibly attractive prospect to represent Mazda in a GT specification MX-5 which was to be designed and built from scratch by the much respected Jota Sport team based in Frant, East Sussex.

The car is built to Class one specifications which allows for many modifications over the base production car. Whilst these modifications add power and performance, it is the MX-5’s core agility, dynamic handling and perfect weight distribution that makes it a perfect base for competition within this modified class. You only need to look at the Mazda MX-5 Owners Club burgeoning series - which is over subscribed every year - which demonstrates the fun and performance of the MX-5 whilst in a relatively standard production form.

The car is built to Class one specifications which allows for many modifications over the base production car. Whilst these modifications add power and performance, it is the MX-5’s core agility, dynamic handling and perfect weight distribution that makes it a perfect base for competition within this modified class. You only need to look at the Mazda MX-5 Owners Club burgeoning series - which is over subscribed every year - which demonstrates the fun and performance of the MX-5 whilst in a relatively standard production form.

Qualifying
It was hard to control our expectations for the first race meeting of the year, but the reality was that the Mazda MX-5 GT had only undertaken its first shake down test some five days before. In motor racing there is no substitute for time to prepare, test and develop. Considering much of our competition had several seasons experience of developing their cars, we had to be realistic and concede that the first event would be used as an extended test session.

To add further complications to the weekend, I went off in qualifying due to the demise of a rival’s engine which resulted in a significant oil slick on the entry to Beckets. This also caused a Ginetta to go off in the same place and red flags stopped the session whilst the marshals placed cement dust over the oil trail which lay around most of the circuit. The Jota Sport team did a fantastic job in getting us back on track during the session but it resulted in Owen and myself only completing a handful of laps and qualifying 34th overall out of the 41 starters.

Race - 2 hour endurance
As stated before, this first race meeting for the Mazda MX-5 GT was to be used as an extended test session, and we therefore changed a number of settings on the car before the race.

I took the start of the race with the plan that Owen would take over at around half distance. The first hour was very eventful and with the changes we had made to the car we made good progress and were third in class, 23rd overall at the end of the first hour. Unfortunately, towards the end of my stint, whilst lapping a back marker, I was lightly tagged by a Ferrari coming out of the Club chicane and this resulted in damage to the differential and its mounting plates. This would normally result in a retirement but the determination of the Jota Sport crew - ably and enthusiastically assisted by Mazda UK Engineers – ensured that the differential was changed and Owen was able to take to the track. We had lost a lot of places whilst in the pits and at the end of the 2nd hour we were seventh in class and 34th overall.

The weekend proved the Mazda MX-5 GT has lots of potential and that it is already a great racing car.


 


 


Silverstone (GP Circuit)




Copse: Commitment is needed to carry maximum speed through this very fast but blind corner. Small dab of brake, then turn in before seeing the apex and hard back on the throttle through the corner.




Maggots/Beckets/Chapel: A disciplined approach is required to ensure a smooth accurate transition through the right/left/right/left series of fast corners. Miss one apex and you will miss the rest.




Hanger Straight: Take time to relax and check all instruments. Best opportunity to radio back to pits if needed.




Copse: Great opportunity for overtaking on the entry or getting an overlap on the exit to overtake on the run to Club. Difficult corner at night due to the rise and fall over the mid corner crest.




Abbey: Dab of brake and turn in smoothly into this fast right hander. Don’t run too wide on the exit or you will compromise the line through Farm




The Loop/Aintree: Pick your line well at The Loop to get maximum exit speed and a smooth line through Aintree as this will give you maximum speed on Wellington Straight.




Luffield: Probably my most hated corner in the UK as it is slow, non-technical and goes on for an eternity. Be careful not to be too eager on the throttle as it will result in going sideways rather than forwards, thus losing speed onto the pit straight and also unnecessary tyre wear.



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