Want to race in Clio's at Rockingham?

[Mondeo2]

Apparently, one lucky person from anyone buying advance tickets for the Rockingham BTCC round will have the chance to race in the Clio support race(s) at Rockingham's expense.

[BTCCROCKS]

I've read that in Autosport and MN, and I think it's a cracking idea. I'm gonna enter that

[DanB66]

How is that going to work? Surely, they would need to have a National B race licence in order to do that.

[mattlovestbs]

How is that going to work? Surely, they would need to have a National B race licence in order to do that.

You do - ARDS test is included in it all.

[DanB66]

Wow! That is definately worth it, I don't expect I will be permitted to enter unfortunately.

[jiimmyy]

Wow! That is definately worth it, I don't expect I will be permitted to enter unfortunately.

sadly you cant enter dan as you are affiliated with the championship

[blacky1243]

any more details on this?

[Mondeo2]

any more details on this?

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockingham.co.uk%2Fdreamdrive %2F&ei=25hGTvCRJMKnhAfLscCaBg&usg=AFQjCNEC4xCJ5h8bl7LkFKOCFuq6jHfbAg

[daveylad1978]

I was wondering if this had fizzled out, but done some digging and found out Mark Gibbons was the lucky winner. Wasn't too far off the pace going by the times on TSL.

Edit: just done some further digging and he's raced in Clios in the early 90s. Not the sort of good news story I was hoping for.

[Wee Scamp]

That apart he smacked it into the wall !!

[redshoes]

Edit: just done some further digging and he's raced in Clios in the early 90s. Not the sort of good news story I was hoping for.
Agreed

I know the rules didn't exclude people who already had an ARDS licence but to me this doesn't seem right. I thought the point of the contest was to find a fan and get them behind the wheel. Clearly when it came to the final selection process someone with prior race experience was always going to be at an advantage. In his interview on ITV he made a point of saying that he had only done 2 or 3 Clio races back in the 90s as it was all he could afford but neglected to say he'd also did the MG Trophy in 2005.

[daveylad1978]

And his website (which I saw on the rear of his overalls), says he is a "top international racing driver and future BTCC and WTCC race winner"

http://www.markgibbons.com/

[psq43]

And his website (which I saw on the rear of his overalls), says he is a "top international racing driver and future BTCC and WTCC race winner"

http://www.markgibbons.com/

I dont see it mentioning future lottery numbers, winner of next years grand national, possible earthquake sites or any other form of mystic prediction. Possibly some artistic licence adopted there!

[revlimit]

For info:
I attended the Rockingham circuit on behalf of the Racing School and Rockingham early last week as the Host of the final selection programme.
My instructors for the day were Stefan Hodgetts and Darren Burke,with Danny Buxton and myself being the final selection judges.
I had 10 x attendees plus 2 x journalists from which we had to select an outright winner.
All drivers were assessed,firstly in Mini Cooper S cars,each driving for approx 5 laps on the National circuit.
it became immediately obvious that there were 3 potential candidates.

Part 2:
I decided at this point to then do an immediate 'in at the deep end' by placing ALL drivers in Holden V8 Supercars(approx 420bhp,and LHD as per Clios),in the damp conditions......within a 1:35 lap,I had some candidates lapping over 20 seconds off any real pace,and still we had only 3 drivers with whom I could at least feel comfortable with to take further.

Part 3:
Simulators= as above.

Part 4:
Announcement of final 3 drivers,others took no further part,however all remained 'on site' to support the 3 'finalists' and appreciated the opportunity to drive some very special cars on Rockingham circuit.

Part 5:
Stefan drove a Clio 200 Cup road car for ONE lap(having never driven it at the circuit before)and set a 'bogey' time,but now on the full BTCC circuit to be used by the winner.
Each driver had approx. 20 mins in the car at full racing speed(well done to Stefan and Darren!!),any 'mishap' resulted in exclusion.
End result = 2 drivers.
From these 2 x drivers we selected the winner by pace only on the stopwatch.

I have to say that the winner was the ONLY driver that I felt comfortable enough with to even consider placing him onto a full blown TOCA package series who may be able to perform in the following manner:

1)To not be a hindrance to present competitors.
2)To be considered relatively safe and not a mobile chicane
3)To be able to pass an ARDS course
4)To represent Rockingham and the Racing School correctly.


As instructors with responsibilities to our drivers and other competitors,we have to be harsh and selective,and consider every aspect of any possible outcome.
May I add that the winner was not allowed any testing in the actual race car(Championship regulations),and sat in the car for the first time on friday testing.
A massive learning curve,and,considering how difficult it must be for someone to learn slicks,a 200bhp FWD PROPER racecar,a flat-shift sequential gearbox,established and accomplished Clio drivers buzzing all around you,a difficult circuit,pace cars,starts,etc etc,i honestly believe we made the correct and ONLY selection.
As you may have seen from the second race,it is not easy!!

Hope this clarifies a few things for you all,
kind regards

Chris Hodgetts

[CharlieJ]

Thanks for that Chris. It's really good to have some background.

[redshoes]

Chris, just out of interest do you know if any of the other finalists had previous racing experience?

I understand the need to have someone who wouldn't be out of his depth. Maybe expecting to take someone off the street with zero experience and drop them into a race car at this level with only a few days training was too much to ask, but as I said before clearly if you are looking for someone comfortable enough to pass an ARDS test then someone who has already done that is at an immediate advantage.

[Reidy_fan]

come on Chris, to pass an ARDS means nothing it just proves you arent a total danger to everyone else on track, I see the amount of novices in club racing and some drive as fast as we do to post, what you were looking for was someone that was on the pace or thereabouts and wouldnt have got lapped by big proccy

[daveylad1978]

come on Chris, to pass an ARDS means nothing it just proves you arent a total danger to everyone else on track, I see the amount of novices in club racing and some drive as fast as we do to post, what you were looking for was someone that was on the pace or thereabouts and wouldnt have got lapped by big proccy

Kinda what he meant by "represent Rockingham and the Racing School correctly".

[m_gibbons]

I was looking to see if anyone had written anything positive about me over the weekend and I discovered this post..

I did mention that I raced 4 meetings in the MG Trophy in 2005, and that i raced Karts for 2 seasons (Club100), and the TV company cut this from the interview. I didn't try and hide me experience at any stage. ..and one of the first questions on the assessment day was does anyone have any previous experience? Which i answered honestly and openly.

I do have previous experience:

I went to the Jim Russell racing school for a week long course in 1993. ..I saved for this for 2 years, and I was the ONLY person on the course who had paid for it himself. I won the course race at the end of the course.
in 1994 I raced in the Clio cup in a second hand car and I couldn't even afford brake pads to run it, and quickly had a dead car after 3 meetings.
I did 4 rounds in the MG trophy before MG's own issues meant i couldn't continue financially (they tripled the prices) to even do a full season there.

Whenever I can, I do club pro-kart races or club 100 races to stay race ready / prepared, but the last 2-3 years I’ve not even been able to afford this.

Since 2005 I have kept my ARDS national-B license up to date, just in case I ever have the possibility to race.

I do mention that I am a future WTCC and BTCC winner on my website as this is because this is what I aspire to be / do. If you do not have focus or goals you will never achieve them, these are mine.

I do fitness training every single day, so that I am race ready should I ever get an opportunity.
I built a simple PC simulator at home so that I can practice / train my brain, I use this as often as my week permits.
I've read all the books on race driving techniques and genuinely love touring car racing (WTCC / BTCC / V8 / DTM etc..).
(I had no issue with fitness or concentration throughout the weekend, and I would say at 38 in better shape than nearly all of my competitors.)

Does this make me a ringer? ..or does this make me someone who really deserved this opportunity ?

I was delighted (and still am) and very proud to have been selected to represent Rockingham in this way at this level.
I am totally gutted that I made my only 'real mistake' of the whole weekend (I did a half spin on cold tyres in first practice 1) on the last corner of the last lap. My mistake was from my refusing to give up, I had no idea it was the last lap, and refused to lift the throttle to lose speed onto the banking despite the tyres giving up on me. This was completely my mistake that I won’t make again.

However, I am very happy with my performance up until this point.

I was quicker in every session throughout the weekend and the "significant amount" of time i was getting each session, shows I hadn't reached my limit and I was pretty consistent, I know where another 0.3-4 of the lap time is, but i wasn't able to implement it (It didn't work in race 2 for me, so i had to revert to my "slower" technique through 1 section (chapman + pif paf + steel). The rest of the laptime is refining, refining and refining which comes with more laps and experience.

..and this didn't come by winging it or my previous experience, this came from my strong desire and my extensive hard work over the weekend (with Paul Rivett’s and the Team's assistance) and my preparation in the week up to the event.
The lap time improvements weren't from simply driving faster through corner 2 or 3 etc.. it was from the 2-3 hours that i spend with Paul Rivett after each session reviewing my technique / lines / telemetry / discussing in detail all the aspects of the driving and car to work on my performance and technique enabling me to get more laptime.
..and the hours I then spent each evening reviewing the in-car video footage of myself and Paul.
..and the hours in the mornings I lay in bed from 05:00 thinking about where I could find refine / perform better.

I believe with some testing I would have arrived at the race meeting where I finished off (1 second off the pace), and not ended it this way, but in life you have to maximise your opportunities not waste them. (..and I heard on the TV commentary that one of the other 'new' drivers got a test day all day at Mallory park. Hmmmm.) and I did that!

I would like to personally thank Chris Hodgetts for selecting me and giving me this platform. I did my best in the time available.

..and I absolutely loved and appreciated every single second of it.

Mark Gibbons