My Pre-season testing performances left me praying for rain at oulton as the pace in the rain at all tests so far had led me to believe that if it rained I would almost certainly be picking up silverware at some point during the weekend,

sadly however this was not to be with the only rain affected sessions being qualifying which quickly dried leaving wet times irrelevant. However it is still nice to know that the pace is there. In the dry my current pace is just inside the top ten but with 2 tests coming up befor silverstonei would hope that I can improve to within the top 6 by the time we reach the next race meeting. This weekend at oulton showed me that even in the dry conditions I can be within the top six as race pace showed times that would put me where I need to be, if qualifying went better for me. The challenege now is producing that kind of performance earlier in the weekend, this is something which I think I can be on top of by the next meeting at silverstone.

In terms of results I was punted from behind in the first race leaving me a lowly 15th and with 2nd race grids generated by the first race finish I thought my weekend was doomed.  I was able to fight back however to p10 in the second race and then from p10 on the grid to p9 in the feature race turing the weekend a good recovery from a tough start as opposed to the disaster that it looked after the first outing.

I have 2 more tests before the championship moves on to Silverstone, where I will be hoping to take the solid performances of Oulton and turn them into good results.

Alex

I have signed for T sport in 2010, I am enthusiastic about working with the team and racing in the British F3 championship.

Formula 2 has been a great learning experience for me , luckily due to the low cost I was able to find out where I needed to go next to keep on improving without destroying the base of finance that is available to me. In this way formula 2 has been the right step because it has diagnosed the problems that I had so now I know what I need to to do in order to fix them.

Sadly that fix led me away from the formula 2 championship, which is a shame because the car looks fantastic for next year but I have to get a team around me. I have run with teams in testing and loved the environment that they bring to a race track. This is a very personal thing to me, and I think it will help me bring about more consistent good results if I have people around me who are watching me closely and know if I am dropping the ball somewhere. The merits of the Formula 3 championship speak for themselves and I am excited at the opportunity to race in it.

It is a big thing for me that those running the car win and lose with me. T Sport are a good team with a proven track record and a family atmosphere, so i think i have found what I was looking for, they are a good group of guys with a professional approach and with Volkswagen support I think we will be formidable in 2010.

but we will have to wait and see!

Alex

The winter ‘off season’ is always the tougher one for a driver, there is little to get your hands on in terms of driving and lots of training to do to keep yourself in shape for the year to come.

However the off season for racing is the high season for exams and I am preparing to take the first half of this years University Credit starting on the 11th of January, I have also been busy doing fitness tests such as the somewhat gruling VO2max test I did at Birmingham University in early December, and also media events to raise awareness and hopefully sponsorship for next year’s championship.

One of the most prominant of those media presentations was the NEC bike show where I raced against rising star Brad Smith on mini motos and karts, honors were even and both races were very hard  it must have been good entertainment for those watching live and it also went out on ITV News that evening which was great exposure for Brad and I.

Next years plans are shaping up over the next month and, dependant on what sponsorship comes my way, I have various plans for next years racing campaign. one things is for sure, I will be racing on an international level again next year and with a year’s expieriance under my belt I would hope that I can do well. All i can do for now is train, get my exams underway and look forward to another season of motorsport.

Alex

I was glad to have been able to show my raw pace in Qualifying in Germany but the results just weren’t there for the taking in the races. This was tough because I felt like after qualifying where I did, I was almost certain to take points away from the weekend but to no avail.

mechanical problems and curious handling issues we have yet to get to the bottom of, backed me down the field from point paying positions in both races which was heart breaking.

Having said this I am happy to have put the car on 2 top ten grid positions for both races in 2 tough qualifying sessions which were riddled with red flags and drying conditions.

What I am aiming to show at the moment is potential and from the feedback I am getting, I feel that I am doing this, it would be great to have been a bit more fortunate and taken some good results from the weekend.

sometimes however it’s just not to be and I will just have to keep putting the car up there in the hope that next time it will be my day!

I am back in imola in 2 weeks time when i will be fighting hard for a good result

Alex

I have had some really tough weekends in the British rounds of the formula 2 championship.

With midfield finishes and some shunts I have had a really hard time at my home venues however I am determined not to let the tougher races beat the racer out of me.

So I have decided to dust the gravel off my boots and look forward to the remaining rounds of the championship where I still have opportunities to gain good results. Learning in motorsport is not liniar. Sometimes you have to go back to go forwards and with a second covering the entire f2 field a small step back looks like an awefully long way when you have to peer over the field to see if the lights have gone out!

This tiny margin between qualifying times can work to your advantage however. As soon as you performance picks up your results take a massive turn for the better and I am really hoping to achieve some progress in the next 3 rounds!

Alex