*******NEWS*******

 

 

- November 2002 -

On the 29th of November Rafael took part in the Johnny Herbert Search for a star scholarship final. Just like for the semi-final, the weather greated everyone with thick fog. As a consequence the activities were delayed because track visibility was poor.
Out of 300 driver entrants to the scholarship, UK-wide, only 48 drivers were invited for the final shoot out. The drivers were split into four groups, to be assesed in five different activities:
-interview;
-single seater sprint;
-Single seater on track;
-Skid pad;
-Saloon;

Rafael's group started off in the sprint; due to the very greasy track and the prospect of being penalised 10 seconds for hitting any cone which outline the course, it was a very challenging activity. Rafael finished fourth in his group: "I am frustrated because in my last two laps (out of 5)I realised I didn't even need to lift off for one of the corners!"; "I think I was probably too cautious"; however this was probably the way to do it because another driver who seemed to be going faster hit a cone and was penalised by 10 seconds and finished behind Rafael.

Then Rafael was invited in for the interview. Here Rafael showed his confidence, determination, and public relation skills, since he knew this would be the area the judges would be closely looking at. Rafael came out with the confident feeling that he had impressed.
Then it was off to single seaters. After the semi finals Rafael was confident to go even faster. The track was still very greasy and therefore it was easy to spin off. But Rafael kept it on the track lapping consistent fast times.

Then the drivers were directed to the skid cars where Rafael was apparently the best in his semi final. Unfortunately Rafael had a half spin, trying just a little too hard.

The final activity was Rafael's favorite: Seat Leon saloon car. Raf was very confident in doing well and he did! Smooth, acurate, fast, and consistent. Blowing away all opposition in the scholarship. He was 1st out of 300!!

It took the judges 1h30 to discuss the top 5 in which Rafael was positioned 4th out of 300 overall, due to his lack of experience in single seaters. However after that day, Rafael was contacted by Nick Atkins who is part of Gilford motorsport (Rafael's sponsors and P.R.) to give him support and more information about his perfomance.
The letter said:
-"All the judges agreed that you (Rafael) have great potential!
-"You were 4th out of 300, which of itself is quite an achievement, and in car, the part where you drive the judge in a touring car, you were first overall."

After phoning Ross Bygrave, an instructor/racer for Gilford Motorsport, it turned out that Raf was 3rd fastest in the single seater. Raf is determined to succeed and will do his best in future to do even better.

Rafael takes this opportunity to thank Paul Pickett for his moral and financial support throughout this great experience, all his friends who came down do encourage him, Gilford motorsport for all their help, Ross for his advice and support, Jean-Luc for his support and web-site updating, and all the Rockingham staff for what was a truely awsome experience.

* * *

On Tuesday 19 November Rafael took part in the Semi-finals of the Johnny Herbert search for a star at Rockingham motor speedway on a very foggy day. He arrived confident in his abilities but was cautious not to get over confidant.

Due to the poor track visibility, the day started on skid cars and lasted all morning. Rafael was assessed in two skid cars. One which simulated oversteer and another understeer. The oversteer car was as challenging but Rafael posted a good time around the cone delimited track. The understeer car was as chalenging but Rafael did well again and posted a good time, trying to be as smooth as possible.

Then it was off to the Saloon car assessment; probably the most important part of the selection process. Here, Rafael excelled in the Seat Leon. He attained another step in his motor racing competences. Fast, smooth, accurate and consistent lap after lap. The instructor was very pleased with this performance and didn't really have any more advice to give other than to stay cool headed out of the car. Rafael's goal was achieved. He blew away the opposition!

Then, the drivers were driven to the single seater activity. Knowing that he had done well in the Leons, Rafael took it easy in the single seaters, keeping to the racing line, carrying good speed and smoothness on approach, through and out of corners.

At the end of the day, about 10 drivers were invited to come back for the final on the 29th November. Ex-Formula 1 star Johnny Herbert will be there to lead the panel of judges. Rafael is very close to unleashing his dream of breaking into the world of motorsport. He will do his upper utmost to succeed so close to his goal

[back to top]

* * *

The 9th November, thanks to Mr. Paul Pickett, Rafael took part in the first round of the Top Gear Search for a Star Competition organised by Johnny Herbert Experience at Rockingham speedway and did extremely well on a track he was discovering and driving a Seat Leon (see pictures on the side).

Rafael said: "the car was nice to drive and the track is great, with some very fast corners, which makes it very enjoyable to race on!"
Round 1 took place on a damp track but with no rain. It dried out during the session and therefore grip increased after each lap. Rafael was much faster than any of the other competitirs on the track, even lapping a Ferrari! At the end of the day, the instructor rated his drive as a very good one, underlining his excellent car control, great natural ability and lots of bottle through the quick corners.

Rafael is therefore through to the semi-finals, which will either take place on the 19th November. He can't wait to get back onto the track!

[back to top]

 

- March 2002 -

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hello everyone!

Its been quite a while since you were last up-dated on my racing progress !

The simple reason for that is that I have been very busy studying and creating my own racing team.

Thanks to the University facilities we, the team "UCLAN Kart Racing", have been able to race prepare a competition KART that we are going to run in a championship. The Team is structured around  Paul Picket, the team manager, James Elliot, a mechanic (both of whom study motor sport engineering with me), and myself  as the driver/coordinator . We spent many hours rebuilding the two-stroke engine to racing standards, and setting up the chassis to fit within the regulations, with great success. I really enjoyed that time rebuilding the kart and now have a much better knowledge of how it works, which will help me when I race it. We first tested it on the 1st March at the Three Sisters track situated just outside Wigan (Lancashire). Weather conditions were very poor with high winds and rain. We transported the Kart in the UCLAN RACING truck, which is used to carry the University owned Formula Ford to the tracks throughout the UK. We were very unsure about how well we would perform amongst the other more experienced competitors and thus we were a bit anxious to get going. This first outing proved to be a bit of a learning process for us as we had difficulties getting the kart out of the pits. It turned out that my team was not giving me enough initial momentum (to get sufficient rotation within the engine, and thus enough power) when pushing me out of the pits.

However when we got going, the kart was flying!  We were amongst the quickest karts around the track on a damp surface.

At the end of the testing day the track was dry but we decided to stay on wets because we didn't have enough time to change to slicks. Now that we know we have the speed, we are going to buy new tyres, which fit within the regulations to enter a race at the end of April/beginning of May.


concentrating1.jpg (23354 bytes)         On the car side of my racing :

I re-tested a Formula Palmer Audi (250bhp spec: 50bhp less than in 2001 Euro version) at the Bedford Autodrome on the 1.7mile West track on the 1s of February. It was very tricky conditions with high winds and a very damp and greasy track. Several other friends came down to watch and give me support. I had access to the Stack Data logging system which gave me read-outs of many different parameters amongst which were: speed, steering angle, engine speed, boost (turbo), G-forces etc… This was compared to the best lap in similar conditions to give me an idea where I could improve my speed through the corners. Within an hour I had several spins (one at 130kph) and a near miss with a wall which I was approaching at 125MPH! But all went well and I got valuable experience of wet weather racing.

I was second fastest out of four (I didn't use my boost button like the others did!).


After visiting the Three Sisters track I was told about a scholarship in Formula ford that they run. Due to the fact that no sponsorship money has come in (like many other of my racing friends) I decided to give it a go, knowing that I might have a chance to get the ultimate prise. Finalists get to test a formula 3 car and even a Formula 1! The top three then win races in Formula Ford. I entered round one of the scholarship (Qualifying) on the 9th of March, held at the three sisters track in poor weather conditions (again!!). Thanks to my kart test I knew the track layout. We were assest in MG ZRs were I was awarded 90% for my driving skills. Only three drivers got that top mark out of 27 drivers. Then we were sent out in the formula fords for practice. Since I attended the Silverstone intensive race course in August 2000 I already had a sound knowledge of these cars; I spent a week in them and even got pole position in one for my first race. The track was wet and very greasy, so it was very hard not to spin. Many of the other drivers that day spun, and one even crashed, and was subsequently out of the scholarship. I was fastest in my group in the afternoon session; I was just taking it easy, keeping it on the track. The only girl on that day spun the car into the tyre wall on the last lap of the day; luckily she was not hurt (she went off at 60MPH). At the end of the day I was apparently (we had no access to lap times) fastest out of the 27 drivers and thus will get into the semi finals to be held at the same track on the 29th May.

I am confident I will do well, and will do my best to win the scholarship.

That's my aim. I'll keep you up-dated!

RAF /  UCLAN Kart RACING Team.

 

fpa2.jpg (13629 bytes)

fpa1.jpg (31951 bytes)

[ back to homepage ]