MINI Challenge JCW Post Brands Hatch GP Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Brands Hatch GP Race Report

So, yeah, that's it, the season's out, and I literally don't understand how quickly this year has raced by! I mean, and I know I've said this many times in the past, but Donington, round one of the championship back in April, felt like last week. But that aside, let's talk about Brands Hatch, the final round of the BTCC, which of course, is not only the championship-deciding weekend for the Touring Cars, but is also the grand finale for the MINI Challenge JCW Series, held on the world-famous GP circuit layout. For many reasons, the Brands Hatch GP race...

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Brands Hatch GP Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Brands Hatch GP Report

So Brands Hatch GP, the final round of the year is here, and well, I say this every season, but I just can't believe how quickly this year's flown by; I mean, it literally feels like last week we were gearing up for round one at Donington, and now it's almost all over, crazy! So as you know, Silverstone, last time out, wasn't our best of performances, I mean EXCELR8 Motorsport gave me an unbelievably fantastic car to drive from a chassis perspective, the best I've ever experienced in fact, but by the end of that weekend, I'd identified that...

MINI Challenge JCW Post Silverstone Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Silverstone Race Report

So Silverstone happened, and wow, what an experience that was! Okay, I've got to get this off my chest first; no, we didn't quite have the weekend of results we'd expected or anticipated to have, which wasn't ideal, and I'll get into that later, but just wow, to how EXCELR8 Motorsport run their team, in four words; "Nothing even comes close!" Yep, the results, hmm, yes, they were not at all what we'd expected to get. But, ultimately, I was hindered by minor mechanical teething issues that collectively added up, which in any 'normal' season would have been ironed out...

MINI Challenge JCW Post Silverstone Test and Pre Silverstone Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Silverstone Test and Pre Silverstone Report

Being back at the home of British Formula 1, Silverstone is always such a great pleasure whether I am driving it or not; I always love visiting the track. Unlike any other circuit on the BTCC calendar, Silverstone has something other tracks simply don't offer, it's just different and has this unique feel of being cleaner, newer, bigger, and better than the rest, no offence other tracks, I like you all too, but for different reasons! I think it's most likely the vast amount of money being ploughed into the venue each year so the track can support the high...

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Round 6 Silverstone Test Day 2022

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Round 6 Silverstone Test Day 2022

So yeah, here we are, race week of the championship's penultimate round, and to be honest, and I know I've said this kind of thing many times before, but wow, has this season really flown past. In light of our new EXCELR8 Motorsport team switch, these past weeks have been a little different to how race week build-up would usually be, and, spoiler alert, EXCELR8 have worked incredibly hard to prepare my race car ready for Silverstone this weekend. Upon receiving my race car from our old team, EXCELR8 wasted no time in tearing it apart, and when I say...

MINI Challenge JCW Post Snetterton Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Snetterton Race Report

So Snetterton, round 5 of the QUAIFE MINI Challenge JCW series just happened, and as you know from my pre-race weekend report, was a weekend of anticipated podium finishes. However, this anticipation quickly faded as the weekend unfolded and was replaced with disappointment and dissatisfaction caused by a plethora of mechanical complications the team encountered with my race car, ultimately hindering my ability to perform. Without getting into too much detail on the negatives of my weekend, to summarise Snetterton; we had very little running in Friday practice due to a fueling issue in FP1 and a tyre-related problem in...

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Snetterton Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Snetterton Report

So yeah, I blinked, and just like that, I realised it's race week again, and wow, what a feeling that is! So as far as MINI Challenge JCW racing goes this year, I believe the Knockhill to Snetterton turnaround is one of the shortest of all season, or at least it's the shortest we've had so far. With just a ten-ish day turnaround window between the last time out at Knockhill and this weekend at Snetterton, many teams in the paddock feel the pinch regarding race car prep time. I know that with the seven-car strong team we're in, it's...

MINI Challenge JCW Post Knockhill Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Knockhill Race Report

So Knockhill, round 4 of the 2022 Quaife MINI Challenge UK JCW Championship is now complete, and over the weekend, I think I clocked just shy of 1100 miles, which is the most I've ever driven in a single weekend, and that's not including the racing miles too, but, the fortunate thing is, I like driving, so we're all good! :) Being an eight-ish hour drive, with a couple of planned pit stops on the way, we decided to make our way up to Scotland early Thursday morning, so we could arrive at our hotel, check in and still have...

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Knockhill Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Knockhill Report

So, that's the BTCC summer break over, and by the time we get to our Knockhill race weekend this coming weekend, that'll have been a total of 7 weeks away from the track; it's flown by! Albeit my third full season of car racing, this is the first summer break I've ever had because my last two racing seasons have been during the pandemic, thus causing a very compacted calendar, leaving no time for any big breaks. Having a little time away from the track has been great; it's not only allowed me the opportunity to catch up on a...

MINI Challenge JCW Post Oulton Park Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Oulton Park Race Report

So Oulton Park, as you know, it just happened, and wow, did we have another blinding weekend of MINI Challenge racing. Having now fully recovered from the frustrations of our DNF in the final race of the weekend at Brands Hatch a couple of weeks back, I went into Oulton Park with precisely the same positivity as I did at the start of the previous two rounds and boy, did it pay dividends. As Oulton Park is around 180 miles away, we decided early last week that it would be best to get ourselves up and into the Oulton Park,...

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Oulton Park Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Pre Oulton Park Report

So it's race week for round three of the MINI Challenge, and this time we'll be heading on up north to the Cheshire based circuit, Oulton Park, which, as you may already know, is my favourite track on the British Touring Car calendar. Oulton Park is absolutely stunning and by far one of the best-kept circuits I've ever visited. Of course, you only really fully appreciate all its glory when on a track walk and not doing 100mph, but I'd describe the track as top-end golf course beauty, with perfectly cut grass, hundreds of stunningly mature trees and actual flowing...

MINI Challenge JCW Post Brands Hatch Indy Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge JCW Post Brands Hatch Indy Race Report

So round 2 at Brands Hatch Indy of the Quaife MINI Challenge UK JCW series is complete, and what a rollercoaster of highs, lows and everything in between it was, not just for me but for everyone. Unlike Donington last month, Brands Hatch works to a regular timetable, and by this, I mean Friday testing is actually on Friday and not on Thursday like it was at Donington. It's far nicer to have the race weekend actually as a weekend without a day's break in the middle, although, to be fair, the Friday break last time out at Donington gave...

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