Rockingham was host for Round 2 of the British GT championship. The format for the weekend was a single 2 hour race meaning there would be a pitstop for fuel, tyres and a driver change. Same format as last year when I took victory with Steve Tandy in our Trackspeed Porsche. Our tails were up coming into the weekend after a successful test in the week at Snetterton, where we really started to understand our BMW Z4 GT3 with some serious gains found in our pace.

We had a two practice sessions both of which I had a handful of laps to simulate Qualifying runs and it saw us finish P4 in the first session and P2 in the second session, both times behind varying amount of Trackspeed Porsches. The 2nd session saw Nick Tandy in 1st and myself 2nd, both of us hail from the same school; Sharnbrook Upper School in Bedfordshire (hope our names get read out in assembly). Another trivial fact, Oliver Gavin also went to Sharnbrook Upper School, hopefully I can follow my elders and become a factory backed driver. Anyway we headed into Quali quietly confident we could be the best Non-Porsche car. The Porsche was the clear favourite despite inheriting a “massive” 5kg (0.4% of total weight) weight penalty from the 1st Round. With the format of Qualifying for the longer races the “Pros” get 2 sets of new tyres so get a couple bites of the cherry. The rough surface of Rockingham meant that you only got 1 flying lap in before the new tyres started to drop off in pace. I headed out on my first go with the mentality of getting a banker lap in early so I could use my second set of tyres in a Banzai style. I got a slow car in my way on my lap which hurt my time which was only good enough for P8. Bolt on another set of “boots” and my balls firmly ready to hang out I headed out for the last crack of the whip. The BMW has a live delta time which keeps you up to date on how you are doing on your previous best lap time. After a few moments on my lap I was 7 tenths up. Into the last fiddling chicane, deciding not to get greedy I held my time gain through the last few corners and crossed the line with a 1.23.2. I kept pushing to see if I could squeeze another lap of my tyres after turn 4 I was 2 tenths up again, I noticed the lap previous a bollard had been knocked down so I could shortcut the corner across the grass. More Bonsai than Banzai as I took to taking all 4 wheels across the grass, it felt super fast. I looked down at my delta time expecting to see fireworks instead I lost half a second in doing that. I pitted that lap and was told my time was good enough for P5. It was 1,2,3 to the Trackspeed Porsches and 4th to the rapid Mclaren factory driver Alvaro Parente, I was happy with that. 4 tenths of a second up from my nearest BMW Z4 GT3 rival.
The 2 hour race would see the Amateurs start from the position the Pro had put them. Always interesting as it’s not generally where they might be, Lee had shown good pace so I was happy putting him on the 3rd row next to drivers that are vastly more experienced. I was confident that if he stayed out of trouble on the first lap he would stick on the tails of the cars in front leaving me the easy job to pick them off as our BMW cares for it tyres well compared to our rivals. As the lights went to green Mark Patterson got an awesome start and demoted us to P6, no problem as Mark is one, if not the fastest Amateur so a good target for Lee to follow. As Lee headed into Turn 3, Zak Brown who had run wide at the previous corner went for an optimistic lunge on Lee which possibly would have worked if Rembert Berg hadn’t done the exact same thing to him. It meant we were 3 wide and we were the widest getting 2.5 tonnes and £700,000 of GT3 forced into our side. Our little BMW is a tough girl the only damage was a puncture, Lee pitted and got a new tyre on and headed out.

This was still an extra pitstop and 2 minutes lost. Game over for a decent result it was damage limitation now. Lee handed the car over to me in 22nd and in my 70 minute stint I halved the deficit to the front, P11 the first non-scoring place. Another non-point scoring factor was I got the fastest lap of the race always good to see. So on reflection, no points but we now have a pace that week clearly lacked at Oulton Park at the first race. Silverstone next 3 hours, bring it on, I love that place.

The first round is always crucial, that is what we are told anyway, not sure why as it has the same potential amount of points as every other round. It turned out to be a weekend of wicked luck and unfortunate small mistakes costing us a decent result. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, the main reason was the lack of dry testing that the U.K has allowed us in the off-season. However we were upbeat that the laps we had done in the dry were positive and that our setup was in the correct ball park. This was until a wrecking size curveball was thrown at us with BMW Motorsport taking our assault on the British GT Championship so seriously they sent a truck out from Munich and flew in 4 of their finest engineers to help out our already highly capable 888Optimum staff.

After a lengthy debrief with the BMW engineers after our practice sessions it transpired we could make a significant setup change which ultimately we knew would help immensely. The negatives were that it would change the feel of the car so much it would be hard to eke out the maximum performance in qualifying as the tyres only have 3 good laps before their performance drops off. We went with the change, it was the right call, but as I feared I couldn’t get the most out of the newly improved car. P11 was all I could muster. The only saving grace was the top BMW was only P9, Oulton Park was not favourable to the BMW Z4 GT3.

Race day, our newly dubbed “Bat mobile” headed out for the 10minute warm up with my teammate  Robin Lee Mowle doing something I’ve never seen before. He went quicker in warm up then he did in qualifying. On older tyres, colder track and more fuel. He was clearly starting to get his head around the car looking positive for the races.

Lee started Race 1 and by the end of his impressive first ever GT3 stint he handed the car over to me in 12^th. I knew I could challenge for the top 10 and get us registered on the points table. A slick pitstop saw me head out for the last half of the race. Halfway round the first lap, I was facing the wrong way. I fired the car back up and re-joined, looking down at the dash it became apparent the Traction Control was turned off (Video link). I got my head down but I had lost too much time to challenge for a decent result and could only recover to 14^th. It seems during the driver change when we take the wheel off the Traction Control switch got hit and turned off. What are the chances? I don’t know but it ruined a potentially good result.

Race 2 saw me start the car I had a fairly good start and managed to get up to 10^th on the opening lap and on the back of a 5 car battle. The first 5 laps were positive and I could keep with the cars ahead but after that the cars handling started to deteriorate. It felt like we were working the tyres too much so I decided to back the pace off and try and look after the tyres so Lee had a half decent car. I pitted in 10^th place and handed the car over.Lee did a great job in squeezing out of the tight Oulton Park pitlane which was full to capacity with 32 big GT cars.

I headed over to watch the timing screens to watch our progress, only to see something wasn’t right. We were losing a fist full of time, Lee was on the radio saying he could not change down the gearbox. Game over. We pitted the car and pushed into the garage to retire from the race. Gutting, especially when the BMW of Bryant and Attard who was behind me went on to finish on the podium.The issue? In the pit-stop the steering wheel fell of its hook and hit the “Emergency Gear Shift” button which causing the gearbox to require the clutch to change gear. I find myself saying what are the chances again? Sometimes you just have to think it wasn’t meant to be.

So on paper, no points, a retirement and a huge amount of annoyance. However on refection we left the weekend a huge amount stronger as a team. Lee’s progression is mightily impressive; he has a steep learning curve to get on par with his “Gentleman” adversaries. The car improved leaps and bounds. The next round is Rockingham on the 5^th and 6^th of May.

Prize is an A1 poster. It is unsociably large and hard to get a frame for. (See below)

1. My decision is final (probably wrong and illogical).

2. Postage will be free (I’ll send it when I can be bothered).

3. Cash equivalent is 1p (I’d take that option).

4. I accept no responsibility (For anything).

5. Complaints will be dealt with a slap around the face.

6. Winner to be announced after a few days.

7. Tiebreaks will be decided by whoever has a cooler name.

It’s that simple. I wish people who I prefer better luck.

Thanks

Joe

Starting off with the Dubai 24hrs. An event that we had dominated our class in last year which had motivated Lee Mowle and Optimum Motorsport to return to defend our crown.  The race started well and after 8 hours; Lee Mowle, Ryan Ratcliff and Flick Haigh had all driven perfectly in their first stints. I entered the pits after my 2^nd stint leading our class by 3 laps. Just as I pulled into the pits the driveshaft let go. It ended up costing us 90minutes stuck in the pits and our push for the win was ended. We ended up 5^th in class, it was still a great trip and we had lots of post-race fun! There is motivation to return next year, even stronger.

Next up was a trip to Atlanta, Georgia. It wasn’t for racing but something similar and is getting more important in motorsport every year. Racing Simulation used to be just for fun at home but now it has evolved into a much more important part of racing development. With testing in Formula 1 so restricted all the teams now have simulators at their workshops to help develop the drivers and cars. This has filtered down the ladder of motorsport now to where Lee and I will be using a simulator for circuit familiarisation ahead of our British GT races.  I was visiting SimCraft (see video below) who have developed a simulator which has an added dimension over the majority in the market, 3 degrees of movement which adds to the feeling of realism. I hope to have more news on this project soon.

At the end of the month saw the successful “shakedown” of the BMW Z4 GT3 that Lee Mowle and I will be competing in this year. It was the first chance I had had to get behind the wheel of the BMW and I really start to get a feeling of what the car has to offer. The first impression was an extremely stiff chassis which gives the driver feedback of what the car is doing, which is a massive plus but also unusual for a GT car. We have a comprehensive testing regime ahead of us to make sure we are ready for the year ahead.

The rest of the off season will see my work getting busier and busier with my driver coaching diary getting fuller by the day. I have my Grade A ARDS instructing licence renewed once again so I can sit next to my “students” on trackdays and now test days. If you are looking to get your laptimes down get in contact with me directly, joe@joeosborne.com or 07932185533

Even before 2013 has come round I’m very proud to announce a new sponsor, SERS LTD. SERS are key players in providing energy saving solutions for solid wall insulation.

Sponsorship is very hard to come by this is how the SERS deal came about;

I had a feeling it was going to be a good story when the characters involved were an Englishman, Welshman and a Scotsman. I met Lyndon Jones (Welsh) and Alan Robb (Scottish) on a trackday at Oulton Park a few months ago while instructing them. They had an obvious passion for motorsport which always makes a day “work” a lot easier. Along with that they were a good laugh which made the day fly by as we were pushing their cars to the limit. At the end of a great day Lyndon and Alan were both interested in more instruction so I gave them my business cards which is the norm, what has happened since has been anything but!

I had a few flat out weeks with work and racing after that day so it took me a while to fully catch up on my emails to which I was surprised that they hadn’t got in contact. Knowing that Lyndon and Alan were hard workers it got me thinking if they were trying to see how hard I’d work to get their business. Without their contact details I turned into a stalker and google’d  them. No trace of a way to communicate with them.  So like a rubbish secret agent I rang up SERS and asked for their MD’s email addresses. After a few interesting emails back and forward it was looking like this might turn into something more than a few days work. They were interested in my racing and what I could provide them with. After drafting up a few proposals, which made use of my access to the BRDC Clubhouse, Optimum Academy Trackdays and my racing career. Within 2 weeks they had decided on what they wanted, we shook hands and the deal was done. Pleasure doing business with such likeminded people.

From Alan & Lyndon, SERS Ltd.

“When we first met Joe, we could tell there was something a little special about this guy. Not only a complete passion and obvious ability for his sport, but a drive and entrepreneurialism that just was so infectious.

We didn’t initially get in touch with Joe, simply due to pressures of work. It would have happened but would have taken a little longer for us to get back in contact. However he wasn’t going to just wait, and were glad he didn’t. We struck up a deal very quickly and are really excited to be associated with Joe going into 2013.”

We have plenty of plans in the pipeline to make this partnership a fruitful one so keep an eye on our plans over the coming months.

Check out their website for more information www.sersltd.co.uk

Top drive in British GT 2013 confirmed

Christmas has come early for me. I am pleased to announce I will be gunning for the British GT Championship in 2013 with a dream team line-up. My team mate will be Lee Mowle, who I have coached since he started racing so I know his traits rather well. I think he is more than ready for GT3 racing and will be very competitive against his more experienced rivals. The car will be the BMW Z4 GT3, this was after reviewing every GT3 car available and deciding the BMW was the best one money could buy. The team is 888Optimum. A new name to motorsport but with a very experienced backbone. Triple 8 are no strangers to top level motorsport or more importantly winning! The Optimum Motorsport part is a well-known to me having raced for them on and off since 2006. So it will have a familiar feel with the added bonus of huge amount of expertise to call upon. I really couldn’t have wished for a more perfect package, there will be no excuses allowed for poor performances. 888Optimum will run the two brand new BMW Z4 GT3’s, the sister car being driven by two well-known faces to me. My team mate from last year Steve Tandy, he will obviously hope to continue to build on our two wins in 2012. Steve will be joined by Dan Brown, I have known Dan for 4 years, he has great GT3 experience and will compliment Steve impeccably. We will have a strong inter-team competition that’s for sure! British GT is going strength from strength with nearly 20 top GT3 entries, all I hope is that all the driving pairing are Pro/Am so it is a fair fight.

I also look forward to confirming a new sponsorship deal in the next few days.

                                                                                         Photo Credit Gary Parrvani / Xynamic

Winners return to Dubai.

Way back at the start of the year I helped Optimum Motorsport take victory in our class in the Dubai 24hr.  It was a slight baptism of fire for us as a team as our only previous 24hr race ended in retirement after only 4 hours. We certainly had Lady and Lord Luck on our side as our little Ginetta G50 defeated much higher Camel powered cars.

2013 sees us return to defend our dishdash’s . Our driver line up has had a shake- up, Lee Mowle and I stay and we are joined by Welsh Wizard Ryan Ratcliffe and Rapid Lady Racer Flick Haigh. I have raced with young Ryan and he is a great talent and I’m sure he will be a great addition. I’ve never raced with Flick but I have heard only positives about her driving.

It’s a great time of year to get out of the bitter cold and escape to the Middle East to grab some winter sun and blast the icicles out. The circuit itself is slightly characterless, but It still ranks however as one of my favorite circuits based in a desert location though. Going to be a hot and hard race for all the team.

www.24hdubai.com

Click on link below to open up the article.

Motorsport News – Joe Osborne feature

Last week I headed over to the Nurburgring, Germany to test 2 GT3 cars back to back with the purpose of deciding on which would be the best option to purchase. The man making the purchase is one of my top students that I driver coach, Lee Mowle. Lee only started racing 2 years ago and already become one of the best gentleman drivers out there. He has also become co-owner of Optimum Motorsport a team I have worked with for the last 5 years.  I had the easy task, I had to drive and give feedback to Lee to help him make the tough decision on which car will be the one to would help alleviate him of ¼ million £’s.

We had narrowed our choices down to the Audi R8 GT3 Ultra and the BMW Z4 GT3. We arrived at the infamous circuit welcomed by driving rain and Baltic temperatures. The Audi was up first, a car I knew from racing it last year with United Autosports, although like me it’s been on a diet since then. 50kgs lighter and more aero grip (the car not me) it certainly is a marked improvement. We had Germany’s version of Tim Harvey, Frank Biela helping oversee the test. It was cool to work with such a motorsport legend, his advice was simple as he smoked away “It’s wet and you can crash”. Off I went into the gloomy spray, the car felt 10x better with its new weight saving. A lot stiffer and generally more racy with more grip at high speed.  8 laps later I handed over to Lee for his first non Ginetta go in race car. Both of us were impressed with the car and Audi Motorsport’s customer service approach to looking after us.

Next up the Z4. Firstly I have to say how much I dislike the Z4 road car it firmly sits on the uncool wall. The GT3 version is at the other end of the spectrum its “sub zero” with its aggressive looks. With the important aesthetics out of the way I took to the still sodden and near frozen track. This was the first time I’d driven the BMW and after 2 corners I had made my decision. It was amazing, a thoroughbred racing car. It was balanced under braking, cornering and traction, gearbox was mega, and all the driver aids were brilliant. This is all down to the main differences between the cars. The Audi comes from the road car factory then gets turned into a GT3 version. The BMW is never a road car it’s born a racing car. This is telling, although the new Audi is brilliant it still has the underpinnings of a “heavier” road car. Now this sounds like it was an easy decision, it’s not the Audi has a seriously good V10 engine which compensates for its road car traits. The positive with Audi using road car parts is the cost. Everything is less stressed and therefore its life is longer than the costly out and out racing parts which the BMW utilises. The drive back to the white cliffs was a GT3 question time between Lee and I. We have decided and I’ll inform you on our final decision in the coming weeks.

                                                                                                                           Photo Credit: Jay Bennett – Sausage Photgraphy

Imola was the final round of the Group C championship. I had been invited back by Steve Tandy to share the Nissan which took us to victory two weeks previously at Paul Ricard.  We secured pole, fastest lap but the win was elusive. I had never been to Imola, it’s an infamous circuit in the motorsport world. Claiming two lives in Formula 1 during the 1994 race, Roland Ratzenberger and Ayton Senna. Those were the last fatalities in F1 and certainly acted as a catalyst for the improvement of car and circuit safety.  The circuit has subsequently been heavily changed to increase protection of drivers. Although the last chicane has been removed making the top speed in the Nissan just shy of 200mph into turn 1.  With not much run off to speak of there would be little margin for error out there.

The Mercedes C11 of Gareth Evans and Bob Berridge would not make the trip to Italy due to the amount of damage sustained to the gearbox at the last race. Subsequently the grid did lack fierce competition, however due to the twisty nature of the 4.9km circuit this would suit the more nimble cars.

First practice saw Steve take to the track, it was also his first time at the circuit so lots of learning to be done. This didn’t stop him setting the pace for all the other to play catch up. I took second practice and managed to eke out some more time out of the car. I absolutely fell in love with the circuit, even on my first lap I knew this place would knock Portimao off top spot of my favourite track list. It was fast, flowing, demanding and had some serious elevation change.

Qualifying saw us use a new tyre. Not just new in its life but new to us as it was a different tyre completely to our normal Dunlop. I took to the circuit bringing the tyres up to temperature slowly before attacking for the ultimate time. The car felt completely transformed on the new tyre. Not good transformed though, it was an animal. It was sliding around a lot more than it did previously on the old tyre, 850hp is hard work when it’s not happy. This was reflected in the lap times only going 5 tenths quicker than practice, not the normal 2 seconds found on new rubber.  It was still good enough for pole position but not by the dominating gap I wanted.  This was a very similar feeling when I drove the United Autosport Audi R8 on Dunlop’s. In testing we were fast and car felt great. Then first race that all changed when we were handed a different tyre by Dunlop. Our saving grace would be that the Nissan has so much room for setup change. This teamed up with CGA Race Engineering’s huge knowledge would see sweeping setup changes to adjust to this new tyre. Steve went out on the new setup and was blistering his times tumbling down to a 1.42.7 under 3 seconds off my time. This lap simply put was the best lap I’ve seen Steve do all season. This new pace from Steve would make victory possible.

Race start saw Steve start from pole position. He made a great start and easily disposed of Mike Donovan in the Spice which was suited extremely well to the Imola circuit. He then proceeded to pull away from the field and manage a good gap with great consistency until the pitstop. A slick refuel and driver change by the CGA squad saw us leave bang on time, although my getaway was hampered by Aaron Scott only doing 40kph instead of the allowed 60kph in the pits. Aaron told me later he didn’t have a speedo so had to judge the speed limit by looking how fast I was going! This ultimately cost me the lead as when Donovan finished his stop he was 5 seconds ahead. That gap vanished as I got my head down and easily disposed of him to take over the lead once more. Setting the lap record of 1.39.3, new setup certainly working well! Once I had grown the gap to over 20 seconds I was given the message from the team to go to the low power map and cruise home to victory. I obliged and backed my pace off by 3 seconds. The next lap disaster stuck. Out of turn 1 I got back to throttle and BANG. No drive and a horrible grinding noise. I was on the radio straight away to the team for advice but I knew it was game over. Crown and pinion had gone. I coasted to the side of the track and pulled behind the barrier. Devastated. The part had 6 more minutes to go before it was going to be replaced over the winter rebuild. A weekend we had dominated but the victory remained elusive.

This was a real downer to a near perfect weekend. It still doesn’t take away the great job done by team mate Steve Tandy and  the team CGA – Colin, Alistair, Jay, Trevor and Ash. Total domination will have to wait until 2013.

Here is the onboard of a lap of Imola