After first qualifying the weather wasn’t quite so promising with a sudden downpour 15 minutes before the session was to start. I was very confident about the session ahead as the car had been improving throughout the weekend and showing pace in difficult conditions.
The qualifying session went to plan and after a couple laps of getting used to a wet circuit again I set a decent time that I kept on improving on until the session had finished. Overall a great performance putting in a lap time nearly a second faster than 2nd place national qualifier Gabriel and qualifying 12th overall.
After the first race I wanted a double win and fastest lap at Spa which would make a great impact on the overall championship. The weather was very unpredictable and after the green flag lap the race was delayed as a sudden downpour made everybody on the grid change to wet tyres, after a couple minutes of waiting and no more rain the majority decided to change back to slick tyres including myself.
There was another green flag lap around a very greasy but dry in places circuit and after a fairly tentative but very fast get away I managed to get up to 8th place overall putting some great distance between myself and second place national. After battling with a few international cars I slipped down the order but remained a decent distance in front of Gabriel.
To everybody’s delight the weather turned yet again and rained upon the circuit making tasks even more difficult. After driving round an almost un-drivable circuit I made call with my team to come in for wet tyres as the circuit was not getting any better and the rain did look like it would continue.
Immediately after going out on wet tyres and going down to second place national the weather turned to sunshine making the 40 second deficit to Gabriel seem almost impossible. It turned out it was indeed impossible and only catching up 10 seconds a lap regardless of a very greasy but drying circuit. I did not realise that the race distance was cut short due to the delayed race start and lost out on a very crucial 3-4 laps which would have helped my cause.
After finishing 2nd place I reduced my lead from 69 to 65 points as I still managed to get fastest lap. I managed to come away from the weekend with more of a lead than I came with which is all I needed to help my championship.
Only 3 rounds to go with 6 races, Silverstone next and I have a vengeance to beat Gabriel since last time at Silverstone he managed to win both races.
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Donington Park has always been known for its slippery surface, mainly because of the airport nearby and the planes flying over leaving fuel spray on the track surface. Going into practice I underestimated the limited grip levels and struggled to get a decent time out of the car all day, leaving me on the back foot for qualifying.
After many hours spent with my engineer discussing how we were going to find some pace from the car we came to some conclusions making more changes than ever before going into a qualifying session. First qualifying session was a dry circuit after rain earlier that morning which made the grip levels even worse – just as well some drastic changes were made.
After waiting the first 5 minutes out I led out onto the circuit and pushed hard to get tyre temperature. An early grass-bound moment set me back on getting a decent time. After many laps of pushing I didn’t manage to get pole position for the national class this time settling for 2nd place and 15th overall. Disappointing but all was to play for in the race.
The ground was damp for the race and getting tyre temperature was crucial as the low grip circuit was made one step worse. After really pushing hard to get tyre temperature I lined up on the grid ready to make up my eight grid place deficit over pole man Gabriel Dias, the lights came on and then went off and putting in a sub 3 second start really helped me out in getting to that first corner and managing getting past Gabriel by the first corner.
From the well-timed start I had to push to try and create a gap to 2nd place national car Gabriel but ended up battling with some of the slower international cars which only pushed me onto the front of Gabriel’s car. After a move I made came short Gabriel managed to get a good slipstream and got past me by the following corner. I pushed hard to keep up and to my luck it looked like Gabriel pushed that little too hard and made a mistake, I immediately took my chance to get past and succeeded.
Pushing hard again to get a gap worked and to my surprise after 2 laps of leading the national class Gabriel disappeared in which I found out later that he had some fuel pump difficulties in which secured my lead to the finish line. I didn’t manage to get fastest lap but pulled out my lead from 49 points to 56 points. A great victory maybe a little bit unexpected.
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Second Qualifying was more successful in getting a much better time out of the car even though the track was slower due to hotter temperatures. Like most Qualifying sessions this year it has been very close and Donington Park was no exception, after 25 laps of pushing hard and getting more core tyre temperature I managed to put a time in that was only 0.05 of a second off. I ended up 2nd on the national grid and 12th overall but this time only one grid position behind which gave me the best possible chance of winning the race.
Going into the second race the weather was a lot more unpredictable due to rain clouds moving in and out within minutes. The track had almost dried from the downpour in between races but still was a bit greasy. Getting tyre temperature the whole weekend proved to be extremely crucial and continued so into the second race.
I lined up on the grid and did a dummy start in my mind to prepare myself, selected first gear held the revs slightly lower than normal and as soon as the red light went off I lifted the clutch up and shot down towards the first corner, only issue this time was that more people had better starts which didn’t help me out much.
I didn’t get past leader Gabriel Dias but did closely follow him for a few laps until a safety car came out forcing me back off and weave to keep tyre temperature. The safety car came in and I anticipated this better than others allowing myself a decent slingshot down to the first corner in an attempt to get past but unfortunately I did not succeed round the outside.
The clouds became more dangerous as it started to spit which eventually turned into a lot of rain. The race continued onwards and I knew staying on the circuit would pay big time so after following Gabriel he made a mistake in which I got past and secured my lead pretty quickly. After driving very slowly around the time was up and the flag came out and I managed to bring home another first place.
I must credit Victor Correa in the Lightspeed car for his pace during the greasy wet stage of the race, I don’t mention Victor as much as I should but that chassis showed some real pace in tricky conditions and made my job very hard.
Overall great weekend with two wins and extending my lead to 60 points. I didn’t manage to get fastest lap in either race but managed to win both which is the main thing.
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From the first practice session on Friday I knew I had a great car underneath me for the weekend. Over the last week or two myself and my engineer have worked at a set up for Snetterton and after showing decent pace throughout the day on Friday I was feeling very confident for a great qualifying the next day.
The first qualifying session went very well posting a time that put me 10th overall on the F3 grid and pole for the national class 3 places in front of 2nd championship place Gabriel Dias. There was more potential for a better lap time but due to traffic problems and the tyres overheating quicker than I expected this was not possible, still a great result.
The Sunday started off with a rather grey sky and rain running off the circuit which is always going to make the race more interesting. Because the circuit has been washed overnight it had removed rubber off the track and taking away a decent amount of grip which wasn’t ideal for the current set-up on the car. After walking around the pit lane finding information about how the track has changed some tweaks were made on the car going into the first race which would pay off or could hinder a decent result.
Going into the the race I felt pretty relaxed knowing I had a decent starting position and was confident of the car as all weekend. On the out lap I searched for where the circuit’s grip may have changed and found a couple of minor grip changes around the back half of the circuit that I kept in mind for the race. I made sure that my tyres were up to temperature on the green flag lap allowing for an all-important first lap.
The start of the race seemed to go pretty smoothly for me after getting a very clean getaway and moving up 2 places by the first corner which really helped me gain a large gap to 2nd place national man Gabriel.
The race proved to be very successful after many little battles with Jay Bridger in the international class and proving the pace that the national car can show at some circuits. The race was fairly uneventful with the odd moment where I ran out of road on the exit and just making sure that I kept out of trouble as I’m not directly competing with the international class.
Having a strong pace car paid off giving me a win at Snetterton and a fastest lap which increased my championship lead from 49 points to 55, the most encouraging thing to take away from that race was the fastest lap time I posted which made me the quickest Fortec car and 8th quickest car in the whole race.
Overall great result which I would hope to continue into the 2nd race.
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Second qualifying was a lot hotter so getting a time in quickly before the tyres would overheat would be essential.
Firstly I had a short run of about 5 laps on my previous set of tyres used in qualifying one in the idea to find any little flaws that there may be as the track had changed due to the heat. After the first run on old tyres a new set were put on the car for a hot lap that would hopefully put me on pole.
After many laps of finding space and pushing I could not beat Gabriel’s time until the last couple laps when I started to hook the whole lap up together and to everybody’s surprise I managed to put in a faster lap by 0.05 of a second in which I clinched pole. I qualified 12th overall and 1st in class.
For the second race I knew it would be more difficult with Gabriel right behind me on the grid so getting a decent gap from him would help greatly. After warming the tyres up and making sure I had plenty of heat in them I rolled up to my grid slot and before any time at all the race was underway, my start this time was nothing more than an average getaway in which Gabriel seized his chance and got past me (to later on I found out he had jumped the start slightly).
After trying to keep up with him and pass other cars in the way the race I had to try and get fastest lap to get a point back in the likely event that Gabriel would finish in front of me. After following Daisuke Nakajima for most of the race and struggling to pass him I managed to get within 0.05 of a second in lap time but could not get any more out of the already past-it tyres.
In the end I had to settle for second place which cost me 6 points in my championship lead. Overall the weekend went well with leaving the circuit with as many points as I came with, great pace was shown and will continue to Donington Park where I feel a great couple of races will happen.
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After two thirty-minute practice sessions the car was pretty much set up to how I would like, just making a few minor tweaks for the qualifying session upcoming later that day.
I qualified 2nd national for the first race which was only one row behind Gabriel Dias (my main competitor). Unfortunately I did not get the best out of the car and did not hook all of my best sectors up which would have put me on the same sort of pace as Gabriel or even faster but due to yellow flags at the last corner this was made more difficult.
Going into the first race I was optimistic about a decent result as I could show the pace on a longer run and knew I had a more consistent car than Gabriel. The conditions were pretty decent and reasonably warm, this meant warming the tyres up wasn’t much of an issue. Coming onto the grid I made sure I had a few practice starts in the plan to get into 1st place by the first corner with a good start.
After the lights went out I managed to get away very well and did end up getting into first place by the first corner and overtaking 3 cars by the 2nd corner. After a good exit I managed to get a good slipstream down the back straight and succeeded in getting up a few more places before the main hairpin down the straight. Under the braking zone I saw in my peripheral vision a load of smoke and three cars spinning, coming down the inside which I narrowly avoided and putting me back many places from this.
After chasing back down Gabriel for 1st place I gained position only to lose it again the next lap by a mistake on my behalf. While battling closely I saw a chance to regain track position into the stadium complex, Gabriel seemed to have missed a gear in which I went down the inside only to find Gabriel turning into me and having contact which spun me into the gravel. Unfortunately I could not get restarted and that was the end of the race for me.
While walking to the barrier I also saw Gabriel had stopped – I found out later that he had a differential problem and he was slowing down out of the previous corner due to that. Gabriel apologised for his lack of awareness, which I accepted and did realise he turned into me without seeing me there.
After that whole race I still managed to pull an extra point out on him from my fastest lap so some good came out of the race!
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After a night of rain and a morning of wind there was a drying circuit for qualifying two. After some set up ideas and changes I put the car on pole by over half a second, and put myself 3 cars in front on the grid.
After another rainy morning and similar situations to qualifying I was in for a hard race in hard conditions. My plan was to push and stay out of trouble and try and bring the car home in first without too many hitches. With a sprained wrist from the previous race warming the tyres was a hard task to do and was especially important being a wet drying circuit, fortunately for me I was on the dry side of the start finish line.
I managed to get a great start making many places up again by the first corner and staying out of trouble which was the most important thing. I got up to 7th place overall and stayed in 1st place national but the occasional international car came past in the first 5 laps before the race seemed to have settled down.
After battling with Henry Arundel I was pushing very hard to keep with him I started looking at the pit board to see what the gap to the 2nd national was and every lap it increased by about 2-4 seconds. After a fairly lonely race which was pretty hard going as was very difficult conditions the chequered flag came out in which I took first place national and 10th place overall and having nearly a 50 second lead to the second national (Gabriel Dias)
Great race scoring 21 points and 6 more than my closest rival Gabriel Dias, extending my lead to 49 points in total.
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After qualifying second in the national class I went into the first race 7 places on the grid behind Gabriel Dias, an immediate disadvantage.
It was a warm day at Rockingham so getting tyre temperature was not as hard to do, the problem was more making sure that the tyres did not get too hot and lose performance before the race had even begun!
I lined up on the grid and after visualising many practice starts in my mind I knew what the best way to get off the line would be, I got a great clean getaway in record time only to be squeezed nearly onto the grass down the straight leading to the first corner.
Amongst the mayhem going on into the first corner the main thing on my mind was to keep out of trouble and to finish the race. After the first lap on the main straight I saw Gabriel Dias (my closest competitor) behind me – to my surprise I had managed to get past him off the start and in the madness I didn’t see where his car was so had a surprise that worked in my favour.
Down into the first corner there were waved yellow flags to indicate that there was a accident (from the previous first lap carnage). Gabriel decided to make a move into the first corner where the waved yellow flags were which is not allowed, after following Gabriel around until the star finish line I saw a drive though penalty for him which certainly helped me in my way to the finish.
After leading the race and keeping out of trouble I came across the line to take my third win this year. Great result helped by the unfortunate drive though penalty to Gabriel.
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Like the first race I started in second place only 3 cars behind Gabriel Dias this time, I would have more of a chance to fight for the lead.
I had a decent start again but got hindered by two stalling cars in front of me on the grid which made it a bit harder to get a high top speed before the first corner due to braking and weaving around the stalled cars. After having a clean first corner I continued to chase down first place man Gabriel until a brave move by my team mate Victor Garcia came off for the worse, the limited space got the better of Victor and Gabriel and collided causing great damage to Gabriel’s car and I had to take evasive action by taking to the grass to avoid other spinning cars.
After this first lap mayhem again the safety car came out so the wreckage could be taking in and salvaged. I knew at this point if I kept my car out of trouble then I would have a very high chance of wining the race from Gabriel’s early retirement. I also found out that another of the national class cars had been in a collision which helped my cause even more.
After the safety car had come in I had a close battle with some of the international cars, while trying to overtake one of the remaining T-Sport cars I had a slight tap from Nick Tandy who also wanted a bit of the action. After having a battle with some of the international cars a gap emerged, from this point I had to drive the remaining laps to a comfortable pace to win the race. Before I knew it the chequered flag had come out to finish my pretty lonely race and to make my race weekend complete with two wins and one fastest lap.
From a not so great qualifying came a fantastic weekend to extend my current lead in the championship to 42 points!
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In-car footage showing Daniel in action at Silverstone.
