ROUND

1

Cadwell Park

24/25 April

Race 1

After a good qualifying session yesterday, Ruben qualified 4th, but after the pole sitter had mechanical issues, Ruben started 3rd for the opening race of the 2021 JSCC campaign. Getting off the line, Ruben held his ground on those ahead, however an excellent start from a car behind dropped Ruben down to P4. After 6 more laps of racing, Ruben was trying to find a way to get back onto the final podium spot, however the red flags brought and end to that battle. After a short wait, we were ready to get back racing. With the lights out for the second time that race, starting P4 (current position before red flag), Ruben made a good start off the line but had a poor gear change into 2nd gear, dropping him down to P7. With less than 3 laps left to gain back those lost positions, Ruben found a way past the car ahead and moved up into P6 despite receiving some persistent contact. Just before crossing the start finish line to start the last lap, the red flag was yet again brought and lead to the end of the race. Due to the red flag, all positions return back to the previous lap, hence dropping Ruben back down to 7th position.

Race 2

With the 2nd fastest lap determining your position for race 2, Ruben was starting P2, his first time on the front row. With a poor getaway, Ruben dropped back to P5, not the best start but with 15 minutes of racing ahead, it was all to play for. Unfortunately around 10 minutes into the race, the red flags were once again waved and the race was momentarily stopped. With just over 4 minutes left on the clock, the race was restarted, from the position in which you were before the stoppage. This time P5, Ruben got a decent start but again dropped a position coming into turn one. Now in 6th, Ruben pushed to get back to the front pack. On the penultimate lap, Ruben managed to regain a position on the back straight, putting him back into the top 5. Now with the leaders in sight, Ruben knew he had the pace to be at the front, but with just one lap remaining, it wasn’t possible to get there. This time crossing the line in P5, it wasn’t the result we were hoping for but with a good amount of championship points in the bag, we look forward to Rounds 3&4 at Snetterton on the 8th/9th May.

ROUND

2

Snetterton

8/9 May

Race 1

After an abandoned qualifying on the Saturday due to torrential rain, the grid was determined by championship position, putting Ruben 4th. As the lights went out to start the race, Ruben held onto 4th position around turn 1 whilst getting a good run on the car ahead coming into the first hairpin where he made a great move into 3 rd place Ruben was instantly in the hunt for 2nd which he managed to achieve just 2 laps later, even after receiving some contact from behind coming into the hairpin. Now holding off the 25 car stampede behind and the leader far in the distance, Ruben’s focus was to hold 2nd position for the remainder of the race. On the penultimate lap, the red flags were brought out to end the race, meaning Ruben finished in a personal best of 2nd, the first podium since November 2019!

Race 2

This time starting P2 (based of previous race position), Ruben made an excellent start off the line and tried to find a way into the lead, but didn’t have the line coming into turn 1 and hence tucked back into 2nd. At the hairpin, the car in 3rd made a good move to get past Ruben and an exciting tussle for 2nd position continued throughout the opening lap. On lap 2, Ruben was right up behind the car ahead, but unfortunately made contact coming into the hairpin when Ruben was caught off guard braking from 92mph and despite his best efforts to avoid an incident, sadly contact was inevitable with the car in front. With some minor front end damage, the car seemed slower on the straights, before unexpectedly the engine cut out. After pulling onto the grass and doing a system restart, he managed to get the car fired back up, losing 24 seconds and 22 places in the process. Now down in 24th and with just over 5 minutes left on the clock, Ruben posted his 3 fastest laps of the race and regained 8 positions to pull it back to 16th place crossing the line. Despite the mishaps in Race 2, (with the stoppage a result of a severed battery cable caused by the accident), the fantastic result in Race 1 more than made up for it and we come away from Snetterton looking forward to the next round at the fantastic Knockhill circuit in sunny Scotland!

ROUND

3

Knockhill

19/20 June

Race 1

After a successful qualifying session, Ruben started P3 for Race 1 on the Anti Clockwise direction of Knockhill Circuit. Getting a good start off the line, Ruben held 3 rd through turn 1, swiftly moving up to P2 when another competitor spun on the exit of the first corner. Before completing the first lap however, the red flags were brought out which paused the race temporarily. After another good start from the grid, Ruben defended the 30 car train behind him into turn 1. Heading down into turn 2, Ruben was 3 wide for the lead but had to compromise his exit and slotted back into P3. Still on the back of the front 2, Ruben was looking to find a way to get onto the top step of the podium, however when coming into the chicane the 2 cars ahead collided, resulting in Ruben moving up to 2 nd Unfortunately, multiple cars were off in the gravel traps, therefore the safety car was brought out for the first time this year. After 10 minutes behind the safety car, we were finally back racing with just a 2 lap sprint to the finish. Ruben got a strong getaway from the rolling restart, but fell back to 3 rd on the penultimate lap. Bringing the car home in P3 was a great achievement and an excellent way to start the weekend!

Race 2

With another qualifying session to determine the order for Race 2, Ruben qualified P7 in a very tough session. As all the cars lined up on the grid for the final race of the weekend, rain began to fall, making conditions difficult to judge heading into the first few laps. As all five red lights went out, Ruben got an excellent run off the line and by the bottom of Duffus Dip, had moved up from 7 th to 4 th , just as the safety car was deployed. Now with just 9 minutes left on the clock, it was time to get back racing. Ruben chased the front runners into the hairpin, but had to defend from the car behind who had an overlap before the race had fully resumed. This resulted in Ruben dropping back to 5 th , as he was forced to give up the position coming into the chicane, where 2 cars wide doesn’t work. With the rest of the pack now on Ruben’s bumper, it was a battle to hold onto 5 th . Unfortunately 2 cars slipped by in the final few laps, demoting Ruben to 7 th across the line. With 2 good results on the board, it was another excellent points haul to come away with from a not so sunny Scotland!

ROUND

4

Snetterton

3/4 July

Race 1

Starting 5th for Race 1, Ruben knew he had a tough battle on his hands to achieve another podium at Snetterton. When the lights went out for the first time this weekend, Ruben got an excellent start, moving up to 4 th exiting Turn 2. Now side by side around Turn 3, Ruben knew this was a prime opportunity to get onto the podium and start his attack on the leaders ahead. Still 2 abreast heading into Turn 4, the battle was on! Great respect between the two drivers as they held it 2 wide for over 4 corners, but with the inside line for Turn 6, Ruben managed to slip through into P3. Now with some clean air, it was hammer time to try and catch the 2 nd place car which was now over 3 seconds up the road. With just a few minutes left on the clock Ruben was giving everything to find a way past the car ahead, but with some close calls and bumper to bumper racing, Ruben managed to slip by on the penultimate lap due to a mechanical failure on the car ahead. Now on the last lap and in an equalling career best position of 2 nd , Ruben managed to keep his cool and bring the car across the line in 2 nd , to make it another 1 2 finish for Westbourne Motorsport!

Race 2

Looking to continue this run of excellent results, Ruben was lining up in P3 for Race 2. As all 5 lights went out, Ruben made another good start, but got boxed in heading into Turn 2 and subsequently dropped back to 7 th , with some light contact in the process. However, coming down the Bentley Straight, reaching speeds of over 100mph, Ruben made it 3 wide coming into the tricky braking zone and managed to slide through back into P5. Now with the 2 cars behind darting to find a way past, one came alongside heading around the penultimate corner. Now on a compromised defensive line, Ruben knew it would be tough to hold his ground heading into Murray’s, but exiting the corner Ruben came out in front despite some light contact at the apex. With the leading pack over 5 seconds ahead, it was an up hill battle to get back in contention for another podium. However, with just 3 minutes left on the clock, the safety car was brought out and swiftly after the race was abandoned, due a big collision involving multiple cars at Turn 2. This resulted in Ruben finishing P5. Not the podium we were hoping for, but after a tough race and some more excellent points, we look forward to Brands Hatch at the end of the month!

ROUND

5

Brands
Hatch

31 July/1 August

Race 1

 Coming into race-day, the tragic events of Saturday in which a marshal sadly lost their life, was still difficulttocomprehend. A minutes silence was held in their memory. A really tough start to the weekend for the motorsport community far & wide. It was time to thank the marshals for their bravery by putting on a good safe show. 

Starting 3rd after the re-scheduled qualifying, Ruben was in an excellent position to start the only race of the meeting. As the 5 red lights went out, Ruben made a brilliant start and was immediately on the back of the leaders coming into Paddock Hill for the first time. Lap 1 was a scramble for position, up and down the grid, but Ruben managed to fend off the pack to retain 3rd position. Very quickly the front 3 pulled away from the battling armada behind, allowing Ruben, Harvey and Charlie to begin the battle for the top step on the podium! With many laps of side-by-side racing the fight was on, and Ruben soon found a way into P2. Unfortunately the safety car was deployed which momentarily paused the raging battle. Just 2 laps later, racing resumed with Ruben making a good restart and holding his P2, however had to settle with dropping back to 3rd after some close but clean attempts from Harvey. 

Heading onto the penultimate lap, it was now or never to make it count, and Ruben seized the opportunity when he made it 3 cars wide around Druids! 2 overtakes in 1 corner saw Ruben leading for the first time in his circuit racing career! The last lap board was now out as Ruben went 2 wide into Turn 1, however lost out and fell back to 2ndnow behind Harvey. With just 3 corners left and the rain pouring down, the track condition rapidly changed for the worse, causing all of the front runners to run wide onto the grass! As our trio re-joined the circuit, Harvey got sideways coming out of the last corner, allowing Ruben to slide past for an exciting 2 car drag race to the finish line. It was unclear on who was going to win it, but amazingly Ruben just pipped it to the line by just 0.17 secs ahead of Harvey in 2ndwithCharlietakinganotherfantasticpodium.Ruben’s first ever circuit win and first win in the JSCC! 

With such an amazing result following the tragic events of the previous day, it felt more than right to dedicate this win to the Orange Army, who’s dedication makes racing possible! 

Looking ahead onto the next round of the JSCC at Silverstone on the 21st/22nd August, where we will have 3 races of more wheel-to-wheel action! 

ROUND

6

Silverstone

21/22 August

ROUND

7

Pembrey

9/10 October

ROUND

8

Donington
Park

23/24 October

Race 1

After qualifying in P5, race day didn’t get off to a good start as leaving the assembly area Ruben took a big hit from a distracted driver behind. This mildly affected the handling of Ruben’s car but he still managed to start the race!

Ruben made a good start off the line and moved up into 4th, however he was boxed in at the Old Hairpin and dropped to 6th. Whilst still on the first lap, contact occurred ahead of Ruben, promoting him to 4th as the safety car was brought out. Ruben made a good restart and maintained 4th position and after a few laps of battling, the car ahead made a mistake and Ruben was promoted to 3rd. Heading onto the last lap, it was any of 3 cars for the podium but unfortunately Ruben lost out and crossed the line in P5.

Race 2

This time Ruben lined up on the front row in P2, from where he made a strong start and held P2. Once again there was an incident on lap 1 due to a collision involving multiple cars further back in the pack which brought out the safety car.

With 8 minutes left of racing, Ruben made a good restart and held 2nd place. A great battle between Ruben and 2 other drivers took it down to the last lap for the runner-up position. This time Ruben managed to come out ahead and bring the car home in an excellent P2, with just 0.2 seconds separating 2nd , 3rd & 4th place after 20 miles of racing!

A strong weekend at my home circuit and now we look forward to the Brands Hatch Finale where double points are up for grabs!

ROUND

9

BRands
Hatch

6/7 November