November saw the final round of the MSVT Trackday Trophy race series take place and Brands Hatch. Freestyle have been supporting staff member Alex with his return to car racing this season after an 8- year hiatus!
Alex and his brother Dan have taken part in various events over the season in their Freestyle sponsored Peugeot 206 GT with great success including two class wins, one in the Trackday Trophy race at Silverstone earlier in the year and another in the Tunbridge Wells Motor Club Goodwood Sprint in October. The Trackday Trophy race series suits drivers on a limited budget. Cars are grouped into classes based on power to weight outputs to keep things fair and the races are 45 minutes long with a mandatory pit stop for a driver change which allows two drivers to share the fun and the costs.
A sell out grid assembled for qualifying at Brands Hatch with everyone keen to make their mark in the final race of the season. Alex was out first and set the early pace on cold tyres going fastest out of everyone in the opening laps. As other drivers began to get heat into their tyres the more powerful machines began to put in times that the little Peugeot can’t match however the brothers times were still very competitive in class, with lots of jostling going on within the top five class D cars. It was an impressive late lap from Dan who managed to get in the slipstream of a rapid fiesta ST across the line to post a lap time good enough for 3rd in class and 17th overall.
Alex was to once again take the first stint in the race and he lined up directly behind their main competitors keen to take advantage of the early cold tyre advantage where the Peugeot excels. The red lights went out and the cars were away with Alex immediately jumping his class competitors and into the lead. Unfortunately, his work was immediately undone by a red flag as Paddock Hill bend saw several cars caught out on the first lap and ended up with a Porsche Boxter upside down. The drivers retook their original grid positions and waited patiently for the restart. When the lights went out a second time Alex was able to replicate his earlier good start and again took the lead of the class along with jumping several faster class cars and ending up in 8th overall up from 17th
!Then battle commenced! Alex came under massive pressure from class front runner James Burnham in his Fiesta ST and the pairing of Fleet/Hardman in their fast MK3 Mazda MX-5. Soaking up the pressure Alex lead for his entire 24 lap stint only briefly losing the lead once at Druids hairpin before taking it back immediately two corners later at Surtees.
The pit lane window opened and Alex was called in for their mandatory pit stop and driver change. Cars have to be in the pit lane for a minimum of two minutes to avoid a time penalty and a driver error on Alex’s part (not starting the stopwatch at the right time) lead to the brothers being unsure how long they had been stationary. Keen to avoid a penalty they played it safe and ended up being in the pit 8 seconds too long. A 3 second advantage turned into a 5 second deficit and Dan had it all to do in the second half of the race to retake the lead! Lap by lap he chipped away at the leading Fiestas advantage and three laps before the chequered flag he was in a position to attack. Wasting no time at all Dan used his momentum and instantly launched a storming move at Paddock Hill bend to once again take the lead of the race! Pressure was applied hard from behind on the final laps of the race but dan withstood it without mistakes to take an emotional win by less than a second across the line! 1st in class and 10th overall, a great result!
Both drivers were elated to end the season with a win at their home circuit and expressed huge gratitude to Freestyle for making it possible! Alex said “Freestyle stepped up this year to help us and I couldn’t be more grateful! We needed a new gear box after round 1 and Colin & Sue approached me to make it possible. Since then we have competed in three events and taken three wins! I’m ecstatic, thank you!”
We now wait to see what next season brings. Let’s hope for even more success!
