The MINI Challenge Season Ends with a Bang at Brands Hatch GP (13th - 14th Sept)

The last weekend of the 2014 season had arrived. Taking place at the Brands Hatch GP circuit, Swanflight.com Team Scalextric were keen to finish on a high. While Adrian's engine was still struggling, he wanted a strong finish to a season where he had improved massively.

Testing

A rare Grand Prix circuit track day was made good use of on the Wednesday (10th Sept), with the official Test day, on the Indy circuit, on the Friday. Both testing sessions took place in warm and dry conditions, with the cars from the Dutch Supercar Cup Series joining in.

Qualifying

Adrian qualified in a lowly 11th position with a time of 1:50.814. Despite the low position, this time was three seconds quicker than his own time on the same track last year, which is a huge improvement. Pole went to William Phillips with a time of 1:48.698, with teammate Simon Walton posting a time of 1:50.334, giving him 8th position.

Round 18

The first race of the weekend was largely uneventful, with Adrian taking 11th position. However, he did improve on his qualifying lap time, achieving a best time of 1:50.670. Simon did a little better finishing in 5th with a faster lap time of 1:49.754.

Round 19

The penultimate race of the 2014 season was a rolling start. Adrian had struggled with the last couple of rolling starts and was keen to improve. Remembering Rob's (Rob Sims Racing) advice 'Don't let off as you come round for the rolling start!' Adrian was keen to keep close to the car in front. As it turned out, Adrian was perhaps too close as he folded his front bumper in, as well as Matt Hammond's rear bumper! Despite the damage, Adrian kept his foot in and stayed with Matt up to the first corner.

From 11th on the grid, Adrian found himself in 9th. After a good battle with the mid-field runners, with bits of front bumper and trim hanging off the car, Adrian dropped down to 13th. Before the end of the race, Adrian was able to climb back to 11th position, where he finished. His fastest lap time was 1:50.338, about two seconds behind the leading pack. Meanwhile, Simon achieved a fantastic 7th.

Round 20

The last race was scheduled for 5:45pm on Sunday afternoon, the last race of the circuit's day. With plenty of time to prepare the cars, Adrian and his team looked forward to a good final race. Mechanic Darren did a great job patching up the car and the team was even able to check and adjust the toe in-out settings on the wheels, giving Adrian much better handling.

From 11th on the grid, Adrian made his customary fantastic start and made good headway as soon as the lights went out. However, as the Cooper class reached Druids Hairpin the yellow flags came out. In the JCW Class Patrick Mortimer, Team Scalextric member and Adrian's Cooper Class partner of 2012, had become involved in an incident with two other cars. A JCW MINI had spun off the track and had taken Patrick and another driver out the race, all at high speed. The three cars ended up in the tyre wall and had to be collected.

While the rest of the pack continued, another incident occurred as Simon, Adrian's Swanflight.com Team Scalextric racing partner, pirouetted across the track with Gideon Cresswell. While Adrian was able to get past, the Safety Car was deployed as two serious accidents had occurred and the drivers needed to be checked by the medics. All the cars were marshalled back to the grid where they parked and waited to hear the news.

It took half an hour for the medical crew to retrieve a driver from the JCW incident but all the drivers were fine, albeit a little shaken up! A real testament to the safety features required by all cars taking part in the MINI Challenge.

Unfortunately, time had gone on and it was approaching 6:30pm. This meant that the Brands Hatch officials couldn't allow the race to continue due to local noise restrictions. The race had to be abandoned.

While not the perfect end for the 2014 season, the race capped off an action-packed season that had it all. While Adrian finished with some disappointing results, especially towards the end of the season, he had learned a huge amount about his driving technique, as well as communication, race craft and the mechanical side of his car. As always, the MINI Challenge had been a hugely rewarding adventure, one that Adrian hopes to capitalise on for the 2015 season!

Thoughts and Thanks

Adrian finished the season in 10th place overall (for the Cooper Class) and he deserves congratulations for his continued improvement over the season. Unlucky on a number of occasions when driving strongly, Adrian was able to finish mid-table -  a great accomplishment!

Another huge congratulations must be given to Adrian's teammate Simon Walton who finished a strong 7th in the Cooper Class, giving him 1st in the Director's Category.

Adrian would also like to personally thank Simon at Swanflight.com, Mark and Julie at Scale Models, Roger at RUSC, Thera and Michel at SLN Slotracing, Sean at Pendle Slot Racing, Mark Pinnigar at MPID and Steve at Works Creative.

Rob Sims Racing did a great job keeping all the Team Scalextric cars on the track this year and Adrian would like to offer a special thanks to Rob and his team: Paul, Bob, Darren, Chris and Adam.

Lastly, Adrian would like to express his thanks for all the fantastic support he's received from friends and family. A shoutout to Anita, Liz, Oliver as well as Simon's and Patrick's families for all their encouragement and to everyone who visited a race track to cheer the team on. Thank you!