ROUND

1+2

Cadwell Park

4/5 July 2020

Race 1

Starting from PS on the grid, Ruben made a good start and held his ground on the first lap, at the sharp end of the field. However, on lap 2, he ran wide onto the grass and went into a slide but managed to stop himself from spinning and re­joined the track in 7th, dropping 2 places. Within the next 2 laps, Ruben had moved his way back into 5th and sat there comfortably, gapping on the cars behind and gaining on the leaders. Towards the end of the race, another driver’s misfortune saw Ruben cross the line in P4. An excellent start to the 2020 season!

Race 2

This time starting from P4 on the grid, Ruben got a good initial getaway but when changing to 2nd gear, the car bogged down, dropping 3 places down to P7. After moving back up to 6th shortly after, Ruben was gaining on the driver ahead, pushing to get another top 5 finish, however, after many long laps of trying every trick in the book and some close but clean battling, he couldn’t find a way past the very wide Saxo of Ben Greenhill, crossing the finish line in a solid 6th position. After a very good weekend at Cadwell Park, we look forward to the next round of the JSCC at Croft!

ROUND

3+4

Croft

11/12 July 2020

Race 1

Unlike the majority of the grid, Ruben had never raced visited Croft before, so he was looking forward to learning a new circuit and gaining some experience for the future.

Starting P7 and after an abundance of green flag laps, race 1 was finally underway. A grreat start off the line Ruben gained a place coming out of the first corner bu after taking avoiding action, he dro ped 2 place;; down to 8th. Many hard laps followed with of close racing throughowt, Ruben ruanaged to re-gain 7th osition but ould not quite get past the duel between Greenhill and Caton for 5th pl ce, so he rossed the line in a solid P7.

Race 2

Once again, starting P7 and after a confusing lign :-.sequen ollowinJ a race restart, Ruben got a poor start after not expecting the lights to go out after the delay, dropp”Rg 1 place dol rto PS. However, after a good run out of turn 3, Ruben clawed back 2 places, moving up to 6th. On lap 2, R111ben droppedy places after getting a bad run out of turn 4 due to being boxed in by the cars battling in front, dropping anoth r 3 places, utting him in a disappointing 11th place. With his ‘never give up’ mentality, Ruben continued to p h for ard until the chequered flag and after some clean moves, managed to bring the car home in a respectable 8th place. Af er another good points haul at Croft, we look forward to Brands Hatch in just over 2 weeks time!

ROUND

5+6

BRANDS
HATCH

1/2 August 2020

Race 1

 Race 1 saw Ruben start 4th on the grid after an impressive qualifying session on the Saturday, just 0.63 seconds off pole. With only 2.9 seconds separating the 24 car grid, he knew the slightest of errors would be costly. After a good start off the line, he held his ground around turn 1 but after saving the car from spinning on turn 2, Ruben lost 3 places, dropping to P7. Later that lap he dropped a wheel on the gravel on the exit of Clearways after being squeezed in the tight pack and lost a lot of momentum and a further 4 places, down to 11th. After some mature and clean manoeuvres, Ruben recovered well and brought the car home in a solid 7th place, just 0.04 of a second ahead of Cripps.

Race 2

 This time starting P5, Ruben made a good start and held 5thplace for the first couple of laps. After a good move from Fairclough at Druids, Ruben dropped down to 6th position, but after some consistent fast laps he managed to find a way past the car ahead at Clearways and moved back into 5th place. Now on the hunt of the driver ahead, Ruben was giving it everything he had to close the gap, which he did. Now bumper to bumper with the car ahead his laps times were being compromised and now being caught from behind, he knew it was going to be a close dash across the line for 4th, 5th and 6th place. After coming out of the last corner 3 abreast, it was one last push to the line. Another very competitive race, Ruben finished in 5thplace, just 0.028 seconds ahead of Fairclough and 0.015 seconds behind Weston!

Another solid points haul retains his 4th place in the championship as we look forward to the next round of the JSCC at Knockhill in Scotland on 22nd/23rd August.

ROUND

7+8

KNockHill

22/23 August 2020

Race 1

After an immense qualifying session where for a few laps he held pole position, Ruben started P3 for Race 1 on the Anti­Clockwise direction of Knockhill. Ruben got a great initial getaway, however the car felt slow on the run down to Turn 1. With the engine problems becoming more apparent, it was a struggle to keep the pack behind him. On lap 2 though disaster struck as whilst in P4 the rear right brake calliper got stuck on, sending the car instantly into the gravel. Quick natural reactions perhaps prevented the car from digging in and a high speed role? Now at the back of the pack, Ruben tried to get back in the mix, but with engine problems becoming increasingly evident, we had to settle with a very disappointing P18.

Race 2

Engine woes sadly plagued Ruben throughout Sunday, despite every conceivable sensor and part being changed within the time available. Qualifying for the Clockwise direction, Ruben started P24 for Race 2 (a stark contracts to P3 for Race 1). After trying everything possible to solve the power problems, there was little hope for Race 2. Ruben was pushing to get past the cars ahead through the corners, but whenever any overtakes were made, they instantly overtook him back down the straights due to the lack of power. Choosing to mature option of simply bringing the car home for a finish, Ruben kept his nose clean in the damp conditions and moved up to P18 due to retirements from cars ahead. A very disappointing weekend at Knockhill and with just a week until our next outing at Mallory Park, it’s going to be a real push to get the unknown gremlins out of the car before then.

ROUND

9+10

MAllory
Park

31August 2020

Race 1

A mistake in qualifying with a brief trip across the Mallory lawn jammed his gear selectors with grass. Returning with minutes to spare, he only had one true flying lap from the 4 completed resulting in Ruben starting down in P18 for Race 1. Compare that to finishing 2nd in that morning’s Free Practice, He knew he had the pace to climb up the grid but likewise knew it would be as straight forward considering the field of competitors round him.

After a good start, he made a couple of places on the first lap and continued this good form until he reached 10th place. At this point, the red flags came out and the results went back to the previous complete lap, resulting in Ruben dropping back a place to P11. A solid and measured performance nonetheless.

Race 2

Once again, starting from P18, Ruben was looking to repeat his Race 1 achievements in pursuit for a top 10 finish. After another perfect start he made a place on the opening lap, later overtaking a few more people as the race opened out. However, at the hairpin Ruben was collected whilst passing someone else’s preventable accident. Despite being sent into a spin and slammed into the wall, Ruben attempted to continue but his endeavours were soon halted as he realised the impact had broken his rear axle and steering. Due to the race being concluded on lap  3 by a red flag, the results were taken from the end of lap 2 where Ruben has already made up 6 places. A small consolation on 12th place but a finish nonetheless.

With the cancellation of Pembrey we now have a welcome break until the JSCC meet again in October at Silverstone, providing ample time to repair the car for the next chapter.

ROUND

11+12

Pembrey

12/13 Sept 2020
CANCELLED

CANCELLED

ROUND

13+14

Silverstone

10/11 October 2020

Race 1

After equalling his personal best with P3 in qualifying, Ruben got a poor start off the line and dropped down to 6th place. After some close battling in the mid pack, a move at the end of Hangar Straight for 5th place didn’t work out, resulting in Ruben running wide on the exit of Stowe and dropping to 9th Over the remaining 6 laps Ruben pushed hard in a close pack and retook another 2 places to cross the finish line in a credible 7th place from the 23 starters, earning some valuable points after the disappointment of Mallory the previous month.

Race 2

Starting P3 again, Ruben got a lot of wheel spin off the line due to oil being dumped on the start line from a previous race. Now in P7, Ruben knew he had a lot of work to do to catch up to the front pack. After many laps of hard battling, Ruben managed to catch up to the 3rd place battle and after some misfortune of the car in 3rd, Ruben moved up to 4th place. Now coming onto the second to last lap, Ruben was side by side for a podium position. After constantly swapping places with some close door to door battling on the final lap, Ruben just missed out on the last podium position by a car’s length. So close to getting the first podium of the season, but he was very happy with 4th.

An excellent amount of points over both races see’s Ruben return to the top 5 in the championship with just two rounds remaining.

ROUND

15+16

Oulton
Park

31 October 2020

Race 1

After a good qualifying session, Ruben was starting P5 (just 0.002 from P4) around a very slippy Oulton Park. As the lights w ent out for the first time, most of the grid managed a clean getaway, however some collisions behind brought out the red flag.

Ruben made a good restart, but with a lack of power in second gear dropped back to 7th. Whilst battling with the car in 8th, the front pack started to pull away until when Ruben got some clean air, he starting to reel them back in. With less than 2 minutes left on the clock, the car ahead went on the grass at the Nickerbrook chicane and which gifted Ruben 6th place, although it wasn’t plain sailing from th ere . On the last lap, Ruben was door to door for 6th position and constantly swapping places, but managed to keep hold of P6 across the line. An ex cel lent race in extremely tricky conditions on a very punishing track.

Race 2

This time starting P3 on the grid and with the track having mainly dried out, it was going to be another challenge having to ada pt to the new conditions while racing amongst such a competitive grid. As the lights went out for the final time that weekend, Ruben made a go on initial getaway but unfortunately the lack of power in 2nd gear, instantly dropped him to 6th. Similar to race 1, Ruben had to fight to maintain his position whilst the front pack began to pull away. Once he’d gained som e s pace himself, Ruben was gaining rapidly on the leading bunch. Now with just 5 minutes left, Ruben was really pushing to close the gap in fr ont and when the car ahead out braked himself into the Island hairpin, elevating Ruben up into 4 th place. Unfortunately on the following lap, the red flags were brought out, leading to the end of the session and all the positions going back to the previous lap, knocking Ruben back to P 5. An excellent weekend on one of the best tracks in the country and in very challenging conditions, Ruben was very happy to hav e b rought home a large amount of points. Ruben regains 4th in the overall standings, exceeding our expectations coming into the season. One round still remains with Brands Hatch scheduled for next weekend (7 th /8 th Nov) and with double points on offer it’s all still to play for. Naturally the government restrictions may change that, but if we can race we’ll race!

ROUND

17+18

Brands
Hatch

7/8 November 2020
CANCELLED

CANCELLED