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A bump at Silverstone
Racing this time at the iconic Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, Matt and the Mazda MX-5 were all set for a sunny weekend. The BRSCC Mazda MX5 Championship has seen Matt take two podium places so far. One at Cadwell Park and one at Oulton Park and as Matt entered the Silverstone weekend with good test lap times, he was excited.
Rain at Silverstone
A new experience for Matt at Silverstone was to start the first Group B race in pole position. He qualified 15th of 30 and was ready with a dry racing setup to continue his success of late. Soon the rain started though and changed the track conditions, increasing the risk for Matt and the other Mazda MX-5 drivers. The rain was a challenge and Matt gradually slipped down to 3rd position. During the 4th lap Matt missed the braking point and knew that he wasn’t going to stop in the wet conditions. With two cars just ahead he took the decision to avoid the other drivers and moved to the right of the track. He didn’t make contact with anyone but dropped down to 21st place.
Above is an action shot of Matt battling the rain at Silverstone. He managed to finish in 7th. This was a bit frustrating having started in pole position but he did once again, get to test out his wet driving skills! Making progress from 21st to 7th in those conditions was something to be pleased about. You can see some in car video of Matt’s rainy driving via YouTube.
Silverstone Race 2 – Whoops
In the second race Matt was in 7th to start. They’d given the car the full setup for wet conditions, as the track was already suffering from the rain. In the early laps a couple of cars spun out due to the conditions, so he continued in 5th position. At this point he was following Adrian Burge #7, who was doing a great job of defending. There were a few laps with no changes and Matt was still right behind #7 coming into the first corner. The braking zone approached but he couldn’t brake hard enough. Matt was unable to stop in the wet. He bumped #7 into a corner which left Adrian in a spin. Matt was then in 4th place for the finish.
Feeling regret at how it had turned out, Matt left Parc Ferme to visit Adrian in his garage. He apologised to the frustrated driver, which was the sensible and right thing to do, but they both knew that the torrential conditions were mostly to blame. His finish had placed him to the back of the grid for the A race, which again took place in rainy conditions. Matt’s focus now was to think with his head and not his heart. He managed to bring the Mazda MX-5 home in one piece, which we were very pleased about here at Car Magic!
Read more about Matt and the Mazda Mx-5 on the Motorsport blog. Find out more about what we do on the Car Magic blog and on our Non Fault Accidents website.
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