2016 Season In Pictures
2016 was another fantastic year. I made a personal gain in how I drive, thanks to the coaching and support of my fantastic race friends, and I had some superb results.
In the SE46 sprint races (ICSCC Season & SCCA Rose Cup) I had a wonderful time. I finished on the podium of every race I entered. I secured 3 pole positions, 2 race wins and two 2 track fastest laps in an SE46 (Oregon Raceway Park and Portland International Raceway) from 8 races.
In the endurance season it was a different story. Car troubles dashed hopes of a win in all 3 races entered (6 Hours of The Ridge, ChumpCar VIR 24 and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill) but racing with fantastic drivers, crew and friends made them both fun experiences and in some cases better than expected results with dogged persistence.
This is a story of the season in photographs thanks to the excellent work of Doug Berger who shot for me all year long. Enjoy!
April 2016 - IRDC 6 Hours on The Ridge (1st race of the year)
A failing transfer pump resulted in 2 laps in the pits and 4th place in the 6hour race.
Massive thanks to my co-driver James Clay for making the journey west for this race.
May 2016 - Rose City Opener (Finished P3 in SE46)
Former PRO3 Champion Dan Gavrila's SE46 debut and he was up to speed quickly.
After a long battle I got the better of Dan to finish 3rd after with fortuitous use of slower traffic!
June 2016 - Back to Portland for the 2016 Chicane Challenge
In 100f heat, SE46 Champion Chuck Hurley and I battled it out for 2nd. I managed to take 2nd place only giving it back due to a failing fuel pump in the latter stages of the race. I limped home to finish P3 in the race.
July 2016 - Tribute To The Volunteers race at Pacific Raceways
Another 3rd place. A lonely sprint race really. Not fast enough to catch Jason Fraser and Chuck!
The highlight of the weekend came from a battle against Mark Sundberg in the 'no points' race.
July 2016 - Rose Cup Races at Portland International Raceway
Managed pole position at Rose Cup only to lose in the first corner due to braking too late!
Amazing racing throughout the Rose Cup weekend. This was my favourite race of 2016.
Started 3rd in the final race dropping to 4th behind the 166 of Andrew Newell.
Fought my way up to 3rd then Chuck had a mechanical failure gifting me 2nd place.
Podium finish (me left, Jason Fraser middle and Mark Sundberg right) at the Rose Cup was a great way to end what was a fantastic weekend!
August 2016 - ChumpCar 24 Hours at Virginia International Raceway
First (and only) ChumpCar race of 2016 ended in early retirement due to a faulty wiring harness.
August 2016 - Back to PIR (for the last time) for the Dash For Kids
My second pole of the year at Portland International Raceway...
Turned into disaster when a failing component (due to driver error) resulted in early retirement for SE46 #7 in the qualifying session.
Thanks to my great friend Dan Rogers, I was able to use his #82 SE46 for the Sunday race. I set the lap record at PIR in an SE46 in this race fighting from the back. A 1:26.658 lap time.
After losing my pole position (due to car change) I fought my way back to finish P2 behind Chuck Hurley. We both saw our primary SE46s fail that weekend so we both ended up racing other cars!
September 2016 - Oregon Raceway Park (Double Race Weekend)
This is the best pole position lap I've had to date. 2 seconds faster than P2 and ahead of most of the faster class.
A brilliant weekend in the end for me with two pole positions, two race wins and a win in the mini enduro from the back of the field.
September 2016 - Olympic Grand Prix at The Ridge (last sprint race)
Saturday was a wet day all day and I went back and forth with Jason Fraser on fastest lap times!
In the race I took the lead but ended up losing it to Jason by going to deep into T8. Finished 2nd.
December 2016 - The 25 Hours of Thunderhill
We went down 50 laps in the first 4 hours of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill giving us an uphill challenge for the rest of the race.
In the end we finished 3rd in E0. I drove the last 4 hours or so managing oil and coolant temperatures and lap times. It was a great team effort in the face of adversity and a real test of managing the car to the end.
It was another year of amazing experiences and I couldn't have done it without the fantastic support of my friends, race partners and teams. A massive thank you to Hank, Sam and team from Advanced Auto Fabrication, to Cameron Evans at Red Line Oil, James Clay at BimmerWorld and the fantastic folks at AiM.
Roll on 2017 and all that it will bring.