Team P42’s Dan Livingstone fast out the blocks…

New Team P42 member Dan Livingstone tells us all about his first race of the 2014 season in the new 750 Motor Club race series the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship. Having started in Caterhams after winning a fully paid drive (see P42 interview with DL) Dan decided it was time to tackle the tin tops………over to you Dan.

“Round One at Silverstone is the 5th ever race that I have competed in, and racing on the National Circuit with 20 other entrants lining up on the grid many of whom are experienced racers it was going to be an interesting weekend.

Friday testing went well and I managed to get up to what I thought was a good pace. In the final session I managed to set my fastest lap of the day but the following lap carried too much speed into Turn 1 (Copse), the car got away from me and I ended in the gravel. Not the most ideal ending to a good days testing! Unfortunately the Alternator Belt was ripped in half by the gravel stones. A couple guys in the paddock came together and helped me repair the car so it was all ready for Qualifying.

Saturday arrived and it was time to Qualify. 10 minutes before Qualifying I noticed a whirring noise coming from the car. A couple guys who work for Bucks Automotive investigated the issue. The alternator belt was adjusted and they also came to the conclusion there could be a stone trapped in the caliper still, following the off on Friday. I made my way to the assembly area in a dash to make sure I didn’t lose any track time. Luckily just as I got there the green flag was waved and the session had begun. I decided to build my pace slowly to get three banker laps in and then push hard for some fast times.

http://youtu.be/F1aY4TTs-GM

Luckily I managed to match my pace from testing and set some good laps. My two fastest laps were in the late 1:09’s. I came into the pit lane and was told I had qualified P2! This was awesome! I knew there were some quick guys in this series (ex champions and race winners) so I had previously set myself a target to be in the top 10 to start race one. The only guy that out qualified me was a guy called Mark who is a Race Instructor at Silverstone. To be on the pace of someone like him and faster than the others was a great feeling.

Race One I was really cautious at the beginning which cost me heavily. Coming from Caterham racing it took me a few laps to adjust to the type of racing which goes on. Eventually I managed to pick off a couple guys to finish the race in P4. Only missing out on the podium by a tenth or two.

Race Two I aimed to put into practice everything which I had learnt from the first race. This unfortunately got as far as Turn 1 as I was punted off the track after being hit from behind. I got out of the gravel and managed to make my way up to P13.
All in all it was a great weekend. I didn’t imagine I would be this competitive on my first tintop race after only having 2 hours seat time coming into this weekend. I have learnt a lot and will aim to put this into practice at the next round.

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