2024 - wrapped up?

Someone pointed out to me recently that I have not written anything on this blog for more than a year, and that I should hang my head in shame. While the first part is certainly true, I will hold my head up high, since this blog is very much a personal thing, and not something that I do to satisfy a ‘customer base’, or to supply a particular need.

When I started writing here (fifteen years ago), it was a record of my thoughts on motor racing, some analysis of performance in big or interesting races, and a bit of an autobiography of things (to do with racing) that I could remember from my past. Writing is a good way to record one’s moods, opinions and memories – and apart from anything else, I get a good deal of pleasure looking back at things I wrote years ago. Sometimes it is interesting how things change; often it is interesting how much they stay the same.

So, with all that in mind, how have I managed to get through twelve months without finding the need – or motivation – to put pen to paper? It is a lot to do with the action of doing, rather than reflecting. This year has been a busy one, not only in terms of motor-racing, but at home as well. I may no longer have a full-time job, but I find, like many pensioners, that there always seems to be something to occupy me.

On the health front, things have been relatively good. My multiple myeloma remains at bay. I continue to take medication, which my system seems able to tolerate adequately, and I have regular blood tests to monitor that it remains so. Although I am assured that the myeloma will return, there are apparently lots of new treatments available now that could ensure my survival for a good few years yet. I do easily get out of breath, and cannot undertake as many physical activities as many folk of my age are able to. But I try not to let that depress me, and rather celebrate the things that I am able to do.

In the Becketts box

Being involved in motorsport is a great motivation, of course. I have busied myself this year with a combination of work as a commentator, team strategist and occasional writer/analyst. I started doing public address commentary over forty years ago, and still enjoy the role enormously. Despite what one hears about the economic climate, club-level racing continues to be strong in this country, and I have been lucky enough to be able to talk about a lot of it this year. It is a genuine pleasure to witness the competitive but good-natured spirit in which most of takes place. It is a shame that the competitiveness occasionally spills over into argument and protest, but that is probably merely a reflection on the society in which we live these days. Happily, those who take it all too seriously are in the minority, and more often than not disputes can be resolved with a handshake and a beer.

Alongside my commentary work, I’ve also been able to attend all of the Creventic-organised 24H series races this year, working as team strategist for Red Camel Racing. Our year started well, with class victories in the six-hour race at Abu Dhabi and the 24 hours of Dubai, securing the ‘Middle East Trophy’ for the team with its Porsche 992 Cup car. The European season was less successful – a crash on the opening lap of the Mugello 12 hours, followed by a non-start at Spa-Francorchamps as the team tried and failed to find a throttle problem with our brand new car. Next was the 24-hour race at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, just outside Portimão in May, which rewarded the team with a third place in class as the new car behaved itself, but the throttle problem returned at Misano, stopping the car as it made its way to the grid.

The 992 Endurance Cup race at Spa-Francorchamps was a little different: running on Michelin tyres instead of Hankooks, refuelling in front of the pit instead of in a separate area, and using a safety car rather than Creventic’s traditional Code 60 neutralisation. Using a loan car from Porsche, delivered on Friday afternoon, just three hours before qualifying was due to start, the team performed magnificently, to score third place overall, It should really have been second, but for a couple of unfortunately-timed safety car periods.

In the winners’ circle

For the Barcelona 24 hours, the team was running an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in the GT3 class, which meant that, in theory at least, we could compete for overall honours. Returning to the scene of my leg-breaking incident of last year triggered some awkward memories, so I was extra careful on the steps up to Creventic’s Endurance Racing Lounge. It turned out to be a good ending to Red Camel’s season though, with our drivers acclimatising well to the new car, coming home in fourth place overall, third in the Pro-Am class, after a starter-motor problem delayed us by nearly five minutes.

Audi R8 GT3 on the grid at Barcelona

Undoubtedly the highlight of my year was being elected to become an Associate Member of the British Racing Drivers’ Club. In the first place, this was down to Martin Short, who contacted me last year, to suggest that he was going to propose me. After jumping through several metaphorical hoops, including a tantalising few weeks of ‘gazetting’ (during which time existing members had the opportunity to object to me), my application was accepted in April. For those who do not know, the British Racing Drivers’ Club is, in their own words, “arguably, the most exclusive club in motor racing”. The Club’s website asserts that, “with a membership that numbers only 850, it is home to the most successful racing drivers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth. Those who have met the exacting entry criteria have achieved at the highest levels of the sport, or made a significant contribution to enable others to do so. Membership of the BRDC is highly sought after and extremely difficult to achieve”.

Associate Membership is somewhat less exacting, but nevertheless, to achieve membership requires “an exceptional contribution to British Motor Sport over a considerable period of time”, it says. Fortunately for me, no-one objected to my application, and I can now consider myself in honoured company indeed.

Another highlight of my year was the Le Mans 24-hour race – which I attended this year for the 42nd time. After all these years, it is still a magical event, and the emergence of the Hypercar category has made the last two races very good indeed. I went out into the spectator enclosures on the Wednesday evening, and was once again impressed by the spectacle, amazed by the atmosphere and deafened by the LMP2 cars. I enjoyed being able to commentate for Radio Le Mans again, although losing so much of the race due to Safety Car interruptions was a pity. I regret that so much emphasis is placed these days on ‘spicing up the show’ for the TV viewer, but I suppose it is inevitable that the race is seen as a TV sport, rather than one to be experienced at trackside. I suppose (just like Formula 1) it is not dissimilar from the difference between cinema and live theatre; but I know which I prefer.

Such are the small margins these days, that it was only in the following week, while writing the analysis for Racecar Engineering, that the true picture of the race emerged. Call it luck if you will, but it was never clear – to me at least – that Ferrari had a winning car. They just happened to make better calls on tyres than Toyota.

As I’ve said, it has been a busy year, with my annual trip to the Race of Remembrance at Anglesey Circuit still to come. It will be the tenth running of the RoR, and the entry is as strong this year as it ever has been. It will be the seventh time that I’ve been, and although the format is familiar, it is still a fascinating event, and the Act of Remembrance is always moving.

Altogether, I’ve been at 22 race meetings this year, and I’ve witnessed over 230 races – some with over fifty entrants, a couple, I’m afraid to say, with less than five. But somehow it still doesn’t get boring. I suppose I shall have to do it all again next year?