NEW SPONSORS FOR REMAINDER OF THE SEASON

Fine Cut Announce Sponsorship Deal 

Jeremy Gumbley – SEAT Cupra Championship 

Lancing based Industrial Label & Marking specialist Fine Cut Graphic Imaging, are pleased to be supporting Jeremy in 

his quest for glory in the 2008 Cupra Championship. 

MD Peter Tyler said, “Our tie up with Jeremy in the SEAT Cupra Championship, links perfectly with our recent investment 

in superfast Digital printing equipment for plastics” 

Peter Tyler continued, "We are absolutely delighted to announce the start of what we hope will prove to be a long-term 

partnership with one of the most talented race drivers in the UK.” 

“This exciting deal will help us to engage with our customers in a way we haven't done before - and give the Fine Cut  

brand exposure on a national level. We're looking forward to realising the potential of this partnership in many ways.” 

The Fine Cut Team are excited to offer High Quality Digital printing onto plastics, labels, overlays and nameplates. 

Find out more. 

www.finecut.co.uk 

www.jeremygumbley.com 

www.seatsportuk.co.uk 

OFFICIAL TEST, THRUXTON

Although Round 3 of the championship is not for a couple of weeks at Donnington Park, the next outing for me and the Welch Motorsport team was at Thruxton and the official test day for round 4 due to be held in the middle of May.

Its been a number of years since I last drove a race car around the circuit, labeled the fastest track in the UK. I was lucky enough to be working there late last year on a drive event and managed to complete a handful of laps in a road car. All be it way before the decision to race this year. I was hoping that this might give me the edge over some of the other drivers as testing at Thruxton is very limited.

As per usual the day was scheduled to have two test sessions, one mid morning and the other just after lunch. We were able to use brand new tyres as the compound of the rubber has to be harder to cope with the huge amount of degradation to the tyres. Some circuits are much harder on the tyres than others.

The first few laps of the session were ideal to just check the car over, do a couple of slow laps to make sure that everything was in order and the car felt stable. The setup of the car is different for nearly every circuit, however Thruxton is even more unusual due to the high speeds reached at certain parts of the lap. As the session went on the, grip increased more and more as the tyre rubber started to embed itself into the track. It only takes a few cars just to clean the track and lay new rubber, the temperature of the track was also increasing, so the times were going to improve.

By the end of the first session I was fourth quickest and a look at the data between the two sessions revealed that I could carry more speed through to fast part of the track, and als brake a bit later at the end of the straight.

I was suffering a little bit of instability under heavy braking and the car did seem to move about a lot throughout most of the lap.

The changes that were going to be made would give the car more grip where needed, but not too much as it is important to allow the car to move about a bit, otherwise it just isn't fast enough.

At some point it is necessary to leave your comfort zone and rely on what comes naturally. If that is going to happen then Thruxton is the place.

With all the changes made and a new set of front tyres on the car, it only took a few laps to get up to speed and record a faster time than in the first session. Just like a qualifying session at a race meeting, the best performance of the tyres is usually in the first couple of laps. Although it is nice to record the fastest time in a test day, it is important to establish a good setup for the race meeting, thus allowing the tyres to last and ultimately be fast during a race.

By the end of the session and, which was pleasing, I was third fastest and completed that lap time on the very last lap of practice. This was a perfect situation to be in as the setup was ready for the race meeting in four weeks.

ROCKINGHAM, RACE 2

The second race on the Sunday looked like it was going to be another dry one, until the very last minute. The weather had been threatening all day long, dark black clouds circling the track and about two minutes before the start of the race the heavens opened and the rain started to fall.

Some of the teams changed to wet tyres almost straight away. My initial thought was to stay on slicks as the track is prone to drying very quickly, the wind was also quite strong. As the rain continued to fall I could see the team making my wet tyres ready and then the car was plumbed into the airline and the air-jacks lifted the car ready for a change.

I still felt that the track was going to dry and, similar to the first race of the season if the track were to dry then slick tyres were going to be much faster by the end of the race.

Thankfully the team were never going to change the tyres as they also had the same plan.

Two minutes later the signal was given to make final decisions and head out onto the circuit for the formation lap. It just so happened that everyone made the same choice and the entire grid was on slicks.

We were given an extra lap to find out what the conditions were like and to get extra heat into the brakes and the tyres. As the track was wet it was unlikely to give the tyres enough friction to warm them sufficiently, heating the brakes up more then usual helped put some heat through the wheel and therefore into the tyre.

Just like the first race I started from the right hand side of the grid, on the racing line, so I had planned for a good start. All of the races so far in the day had been dry and that meant the racing line in the corners was likely to be very slippery due to plenty of rubber being put down onto the track from the other formulas, especially the touring cars. 

As the lights changed, similar to the first race I got a great start and planned to go around the outside of the turn 1, off the racing line. I felt that there would be more grip there. Thankfully it was a good decision as the car on the inside of me spun and almost hit the safety wall. Being off the line allowed me to carry more speed towards the second corner and therefore make a further overtaking manouvre moving me into 5th place.

As I kept a tight line through the second corner I made an extra place. Everyone seemed to be taking it very carefully, but the car had so much grip and allowed for me to brake later and accelerate earlier. The rest of the lap was fraught with contact between a few of the cars and more overtaking. I managed to get into second place briefly before getting pushed onto the grass and dropping back to sixth by the end of the first lap.

On the second lap I got a good run onto the straight and through turn one to make it upto 5th again, and then completed exactly the same move to take fourth on the next lap.

Throughout the next few laps positions changed and I dropped back to 6th. I continued to make the places back at the end of the main straight in the braking area, being careful not to lock the brakes and spin.

On the 5th lap the I began to hear a noise coming from the rear of the car, it did sound a little like the suspension knocking as I cornered. What I didn't know was that the fire extinguisher had worked its way loose and was bumping the mount that held it in place.

As I made a move to go back into fifth the mount broke and the extinguisher flew to the front of the car and smashed into the bulkhead next to me, some what catching me by surprise. As this happened it distracted me enough to miss my breaking point and slide wide  dropping dowen the field to 9th. for the rest of the race the extinguisher proceeded to smash itself around the car as I cornered, accelerated and braked. It was lucky that it didn't break the valve. as it broke most of the plastic electric switches in the car.

The race seemed to last for ever form that point onward and it ended up with me finishing in 9th position.

It wasn't exactly how I had planned the race to go, as I was fast enough in those conditions to be racing for a podium position. But at least the damage was only inside the car and easy to fix for the next outing. 

ROCKINGHAM , RACE 1

So far the weekend had been a bit mixed as far as the weather was concerned. Very cloudy, but every now and again the sun would break through raising the temperature of the track and air considerably, then for the clouds to return and the temps to drop again.

The first race was scheduled for the Saturday afternoon, and so far the rain had stayed away, so it was a dry race, and slick tyres.

Starting 8th on the grid meant I started on the outside of the track near to the safety wall. This is the normal racing line, therefore it is the cleanest part of the track and has the most amount of grip. This was perfect as I needed to make up a few places as soon as possible while the tyres were cool and everyone else was being a little cautious.

As the lights changed, I got a great start and made up a place almost straight away and then another place on the way around the first lap.

On the second lap there was a bit of contact between the cars in front and I was able to make up another place, so by lap 2 I was into fifth.

All seemed pretty good, I was closing in on the group of cars in front and was planning on making a move as soon as I could so as to not loose the momentum.

On lap 4 I got caught under breaking as I locked a wheel and ran wide loosing a place, but I had the pace to run at the speed of the leaders providing I didn't have any more trouble from the small flat spot on the front tyre.

As the race went on there was a few changes of position up front and  I managed to capitalise making it back into 5th place. It wasn't going to last for too long as the flat spot had got worse over the past few laps, and it meant that every time I braked heavily the wheel locked up when the flat spot met the tarmac.

Eventually this was to end up in contact with another car in an overtaking attempt, that bent the steering and the suspension making the last couple of laps very difficult indeed, and dropping down the field to 8th, where I ended up finishing. 

ROUND TWO, ROCKINGHAM QUALIFYING.

I was going to use both of the qualifying sessions on the Saturday as a further opportunity to increase the knowledge I had of the track, also build up more confidence in the car and learn  more about the fine art of driving a front wheel drive saloon car.

As with the first round of the season at Brands Hatch, there is a structure to qualifying and therefore the process is crucial to the outcome of where you end up and, what happens to the tyres that are supposed to last for the whole weekends racing.

The best of the tyre's performance are in the opening laps when they are at the correct temperature, soft, and therefore producing the most amount of grip. If the tyre temperatures get too hot then the grip is lost and the tyre surface quite literally melts, making the car hard to drive and consequently slow.

During the day there were two qualifying sessions and the first race of the weekend. So a busy day lay ahead. The first session gave me more time to learn the track without overdoing the use of the tyres, which made every lap very important. 

By the end of the session I had completed 8 laps, made a couple of visits into the pit lane, to swap the tyres around on the car to equalize the wear rate.

The end result was 8th on the grid. Not too bad considering 24 hours earlier I had only seen a picture of the track.

The second Qualifying was much the same. Try to learn as much as I could form the car, the track and from the processes of the qualifying period. Although I have raced before, due to the length of time I have been out of competitive motor racing it is always advisable to use these early race meetings in the championship to maximize track time.

This session I, again, completed 8 laps and qualified 8th for the second race. This meant that in both races I was due to start from the outside of the grid, which in fact, at Rockingham, is the cleanest part of the track as it is the racing line into turn 1. So I was looking forward to a good start and maybe making up a couple of places before the first couple of corners.

ROUND TWO, ROCKINGHAM, OFFICIAL TEST

The second round of the championship was always going to be the hardest for me, as I am still learning the best way to drive the car, and also this is a track that I haven't driven on before.

The first few laps of practice proved to be just for sighting and installation, as some new parts had been fitted to the car after the opening race weekend at Brands Hatch. The track itself is part speedway, just like in the USA and part normal race track. This means that the car does have to be setup slightly differently than usual to cope with the high speed format of the banked corners.

For me, the track was a little hard to get used to, but with the track dry it helped to get used to the higher speeds the car is capable of, as later in the season the championship moves to much faster circuits like Thruxton and Croft.

The second session of practice was much harder however, as the weather had changed and the rain had begun to fall. so it was time to find out just how much down force the aerodynamic package on the car had to offer.

The banked bend at turn 1 should be full throttle wet or dry, but of course it does depend on how brave you are. I have to be honest it did take a few laps to build up the confidence to achieve that.

By the end of the day, I was able to lap the circuit not too far off the pace of the championship leaders and those that are far more used to the cars, so I felt good about the day and was looking forward to the qualifying sessions the next day.

ROUND ONE, RACE TWO

The second race today was a different story. It was scheduled to be at the end of the day, and the track was completely dry. Slick tyres all round, and the last of the new tyres kept over from qualifying used on the front left, as at Brands Hatch most the corners are right handers and the front left does most of the work. 

I was determined to get a better start this time around , so I left it until the last minute to activate the launch control to prevent the clutches from overheating. Doing this means that when the gear is selected the clutch doesn't slip and better drive is given by the gearbox.

I managed to make up two places on the way to the first corner, and during the next lap I gained another place. 20 more laps, so plenty of time to make a few more places.

Unfortunately lack of experience in a front wheel drive car and a little too much exuberance meant that by half way through the race the front tyres had overheated thereby reducing the grip level enough to generate under steer. Due to this, for the rest of the race I had to defend my position from the cars behind.

The net result at the end of the race was 11th position and a valuable lesson learned about how to get the most out of the car without causing too much tyre degradation.

Roll on the next race meeting and a new track

ROUND ONE, RACE ONE BRANDS HATCH

The first race of the year was to be a bit mixed, well as far as tyre choice and weather conditions were concerned. I was started form seventh on the grid after a difficult qualifying session in dry conditions yesterday. I had practiced the start procedure over and over again in testing, but when you are sat on the grid staring up at the red lights waiting for them to go out it all seems rather different.

The gearbox on the cars allow for a launch control system to be incorporated in the software, as there is no manual clutch that the driver can operate. By selecting first gear with your foot on the brake it keeps the clutch disengaged until you release the brake. Then it selects first gear and way you go. It does keep a limit on the revs of the engine though.

I started on the right hand side of he grid, nearest the pit lane, this was also the wettest side of the grid. I had taken the gamble to run on slick tyres, hoping that the weather wasn't going to get any worse and the track was only going to get dryer.

I made a fairly good start considering the conditions, but the other cars on wets did make a better get away. Its easy at this time of the race to lose it all in the first corner, cold tyres and brakes on a wet track can be a recipe for disaster.

It only took a couple of laps to start to come together, and before too long I had overtaken the cars on wets and set off after the leaders on slick tyres.

For someone who had not race a car for eleven years until this point, it all seemed to come flooding back. Trying to maintain the performance of the tyres whilst doing my best to catch up with the cars in front. 

I got up to fourth place and also had the fastest lap of the race for a while, before it was eclipsed in the dying laps.

So that's how it ended up. My first race under my belt. A fourth position and some well deserved championship points to boot. 

So far a great comeback.

QUALIFYING BRANDS HATCH INDY 29TH MARCH

Second Qualifying.

Again true to form it was a last minute switch with the weather, from a nice dry track to a slippery cold wet track. That also meant a last minute call on the tyres and some very slight changes to the setup of the car. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to go straight to the wet setup, which meant those that had would be faster.

The first few minutes when the track was still marginally dry, was the moment that the fastest laps were achieved. That is the exact time that the team mechanics were still applying setup changes. Its a valuable lesson to learn. 

Not only that , but the data logging computer fitted to the car also decided that it didn't want to work, which meant I was unable to see lap times and more importantly crucial information about the engine. It also meant that after qualifying there was no data for me to analyse to find where I need to be faster, or smoother. Typical.

The net result was 10th on the grid for the second race, which was a huge disappointment I have to say.

QUALIFYING BRANDS HATCH INDY 29TH MARCH

First Qualifying.

It turned out that all of the wet weather testing that had been done the day before was of no use, as the track was drying, and slick tyres were the order of the day. The rear wing had been changed but it was a bit of a rush to get the car back to a dry weather setup. Stiffening the front and rear rollbar and adjusting the tyre pressures to suit a damp and cold track.

In a 20 minute session there is just about enough time to complete two, maybe three runs on the new tyres. A couple of warm up laps to heat up tyres and brakes, then a couple of hot laps. A swap of the front tyres to the rear in between the runs  so that they are all worn evenly.

The result of the first session left me 7th on the grid for the first race. A little way off from  pole position, but the gap to the others in front was only a couple of tenths of a second.

OFFICIAL TEST BRANDS HATCH INDY 28TH MARCH

The first test was always going to be a tough day. So much to do including get the sponsors names onto the car in the correct places, and only a couple of 45 minute sessions to get the car suitably set up for qualifying on the Saturday and racing on the Sunday. I still needed to understand more about the car, and not only that there is a certain way to drive this type of car to obtain its optimum performance.

I arrived at the circuit early, as I had to sign in and receive safety briefings, along with the other drivers in the championship, from the championship coordinators, and clerks of the course. 

The weather was pretty terrible, torrential rain was forecast and for once, unfortunately, the Met Office had got it right. That meant that the testing was again going to be in full wet weather conditions, meaning a full wet weather setup on the car too.

Through both sessions the car performed very well, but did seem to have a distinct lack of rear grip. My team mates were experiencing different problems, in fact the complete opposite, with lack of front end grip, making turn-in at the corners less  precise.

It wasn't until further inspection of the setup of the car that revealed a difference in the angle of the rear wing. My car having considerably less than the other cars, thus allowing the car to oversteer through the faster corners.

MORE LAST MINUTE DEALS

One of the many things that has needed to be done before the first race is to acquire all of the correct equipment. What I basically mean is that the regulations for the safety clothing change from time to time, and that means new fireproof clothing, including race boots, gloves, balaclava, and underwear, not to mention a new fireproof race suit for testing.

Therefore in the best situation I would be able to do small deals to save a little money, as these items can be quite expensive.

The first Thing to get was a new crash helmet. The regulations also require me to wear a HANS device, which is designed to reduce the likely hood of head and neck injury in the event of a accident. On the recommendation of my team mate Carl Breeze, I decided to give STAND 21 a call to see if there was a possibility of them doing a deal on these items in return for some advertising on the millionpixeldriver website. They duly agreed, and so I went to have a fitting for a made to measure Double Duty F21 crash helmet and a Carbon fibre HANS Device.

The boots and gloves I decided on were a different make, but that is due to my own personal preference on comfort when in the car. I chose Alpinestars for these items and a quick phone call to Demon Tweeks and Grandprix Racewear soon had them in the post and on their way to me. 

So in less than a day I had all my equipment sorted and fully prepared for the first race at Brands Hatch.

BRANDS HATCH FIRST TEST

It has been a crazy few days, and today was no different. Lots to do, not enough time to get things done, but today was the first outing in the new car at Brands Hatch. It's been about 5 years since I have even driven a road car around the circuit, and I must say that I was filled with apprehension as I was bound to a little rusty. I was banking on the fact that the knowledge I had built up over the years as an instructor at the race school would finally be of some use. 

The weather was due to dry but a little overcast, but as per usual the met office were slightly wrong again, possible not for the first time, nor the last. It was dry in the morning allowing for a couple of dry runs and wet in the afternoon. Usually this would be a bad thing, but as time is limited for me in the car it is important that I get a chance to experience all conditions  before the first race. 

The first two sessions were dry and it gave me a chance to become familiar with the feel of the car, the brakes, gear change etc. I was encouraged that it didn't take too long for the lap times to start looking quite respectable considering I've not raced a car for 11 years or so. When i say respectable that less than half a second off the pace for the day. 

In the afternoon the rain fell, and so time to get used to how much grip the car has and the limits to it. To my surprise the grip generated by the car was good and so it didn't take too long to become comfortable with how the car moved underneath me. Lap times were good too, setting a good pace that only cars on new tyres could eclipse. Now that was encouraging. 

At the end of the day it was interesting to have a good look at the information provided by the data logging hardware fitted to the car, which revealed that I need to be a little braver on the brakes, and try not to carry too much speed into the apex of the faster bends. Personally I think that with a little more time in the car these things will come to me.

COLLECTING THE NEW CAR FROM SEAT SPORT UK

Today has been very exciting, especially after a very fraught weekend trying to organise how and when the car is free for me to collect, not to mention where it's going to go to be made race ready.

So at roughly 10am today I had a call from Jeremy Doncaster, the championship coordinator, to let me know that funds have been cleared and the car was ready for collection. Prior to all of this I had been in talks with a team to prepare the car during the year and so I was due to meet them at the same time.

It just happened to be the windiest and wettest day of the year, which meant that photographs were kept to a minimum.

The Team due to take delivery of the car for preparation was WELCH MOTOR SPORT, and I am delighted to say that I will be running with them throughout the 2008 season 

LAST MINUTE DEAL

Wow what a day.

After numerous meetings and telephone conversations, I have completed what can only be described as every racing drivers nightmare. (The last minute deal.)

Up and coming interior design company, 'CORONET DESIGNS' have signed the deal to get things moving in the right direction for the season. It comes with very little time to spare to acquire a race car and get totally prepared together with a team, set to start the season at the end of the month.

INTRODUCTION

Hi there,

Well I should really introduce myself. I have been involved in Motor Sport since the age of eight. I raced in the lower formulas of karting up until the age of sixteen, when I graduated into single seaters. During that eight year period I achieved many club championships across the country and a seeded driver in all categories.

In 1995, whilst still at school studying for my A-levels, I entered and won a scholarship with SP MOTOR SPORT to compete in Formula Vauxhall Junior for one season, alongside the TOCA package. My first taste of the 'Raz-Mataz' of professional motor racing. With some memorable results including a podium on only my sixth race things started to move in the right direction and the following year I continued to race in the series, again, with many good results. Due to a lack of funds the season ended a little premature, but I had caught the attentions of some Formula 3 Teams.

In 1997 I made several outings in a class B Formula 3 car with a second place in class at the British Grand Prix support race meeting. That same year I continued to race in karts winning the British Open endurance championship.

In 1998 I returned to karting and won the British Endurance title with 'BARON RACING'.

In 1999 a new team and another British Championship, plus wins in Europe.

In 2003 I joined PASSION RACING to compete in both British and World Championship events, achieving many wins and a top five ranking in the UK.

I continued to race in the endurance events, which meant a perfect blend of sprint and stamina racing, and have done up until this moment.

This year I shall be taking part in the SEAT CUPRA CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 with WELCH MOTOR SPORT, and joining a very strong line up of drivers with a great deal of experience for me to tap into. It should be a good year, and worth doing as there are some very talented drivers taking part.