November News Update

Total Kit Car LIVE

We headed to Brands Hatch on the 15th of November to attend Total Kit Car LIVE along with Paint Perfect & Alloygator. The Clio ran nearly all day giving passenger rides around the Indy circuit in return for donations made to Kids Strut. Despite the weather over twenty people took their place in the passenger seat for a high speed lap around a very slippery Brands Hatch. The Clio ran faultlessly all day which is a credit to Mark from MWT Automotive. The car was far from being the lightest or most powerful vehicle on track but it was clearly one of, if not the, car putting in the quickest laps. John gained more experience in the poor weather conditions and it was pointed out to us that he was showing up some highly tuned machinery. 

2015 Sponsorship

We are pleased to announce that Alloygator & Lechler have confirmed they will be continuing their sponsorship in 2015. We still have some spaces available and we are offering a range of packages to suit different budgets. For more information please contact the office on 01522 568 247 or e-mail info@paintperfectlincoln.co.uk 

Spa Racing Festival

The team drove through the night to Belgium and arrived Friday morning ahead of testing. Reflecting on the first day John wrote "Today's test session at Spa circuit was a truly amazing experience. It's easy to see why the top drivers in the world hold it among their most favourite, from the long sweeping bends which demand total commitment to the more technical corners which require perfect lines and huge belief in the car and yourself" 

The Clio was entered into the invitational class of the Thunder Saloon Championship. The series has a diverse range of cars with the front runners boasting upwards of 600bhp. As tyre choice is free in this series the team elected to run slicks for the weekend. John qualified 6th (out of 9) in class and 22nd of 28 cars overall. A combination of an admin error and a language barrier with a marshal saw John demoted to the back of the grid to start race one. (His usual 33 race number was already been taken in the series, so a number was removed from the Clio to be number 3, however 333 was put on the marshal's paperwork!) 
During the race a determined drive saw John climb 10 places to finish 18th overall and 4rd in class. 

The weather had changed on Sunday and rain fell on the long alpine circuit making the challenge twice as difficult. Where the other drivers were reverting to their normal race wets the team only had their road tyres from the Clio Cup Series as a suitable wet tyre. John started 18th and finished 20th overall and 5th in class.
For the first race weekend outside of the UK the weekend was a huge success and certainly won't be the last race abroad for the team. 

Winter Testing

As well as running at Brands Hatch the team has been testing at Rockingham. The team missed the opening two rounds of the season at the Northamptonshire circuit as the donor car had only just arrived at the workshop. Like Brands, the rain fell on the session at Rockingham giving John some valuable time behind the wheel in wet conditions. Completing this test session now means, unless more venues are added to the calendar, the team now has experience of every circuit going into the 2015 season. 
John also visited iZone, a state of the art facility based at Silverstone, for a simulator session which analyses and improves driver performance. 
The car will now be overhauled and prepared for pre-season testing in the spring.