Scottish Motor Racing Club FF1600 Championship

Round 5 — Knockhill Oct 10

Laser Tools Racing’s Logan Hannah battles against recurring brake problems to be rewarded with a podium in Race 2!

Practice 1:

Great to be back at Knockhill, first time back out on track in a race car at this circuit since July. Rain throughout the night meant that the conditions that morning were incredibly greasy but started the day out strong with being one of the fastest in those tricky conditions. But then… an issue that we had at Oulton Park came back.

Practice 2:

With conditions drying up significantly throughout the second practice, about half way through the session I was beginning to have to deal with quite a lot of understeer into the slower corners. Then also the change that we had made to the front brakes after the first session hadn’t worked. Therefore we chose to miss out on the last practice session of the morning to try and give the team the best chance possible for getting the brakes fixed ahead of qualifying and the two races.

Qualifying:

Started out good! Put in a strong 5/6 laps on an almost fully dry track before the brake issues slowly began to creep in again. In those 5/6 laps my pace was just about there before choosing to come in. Up to this point what should have been a relatively simple braking system issue was proving to be more difficult than the team first expected.  However, still qualified 5^th overall.

Race 1:

Four front brake master cylinders later(!) and attempts to stop air from getting into the brake lines, I was ready to try and push further up the field in Race 1. Off the start I was able to make it into 4^th off the line and was very close to joining the battle for 2^nd and 3^rd before unfortunately having to face the brake issue again. Throughout the remainder of the race I was able to stay close to the front 3 but due to the lack of confidence under the brakes I was unable to get close enough to start fighting for positions. Brought the car home in 4^th and was looking forward to getting my head down and pushing in the second race.

Race 2:

With an entire new front end braking system and new rear brake master cylinder I was very confident going into this last race that I was going to be able to start battling for the podium positions, got a fantastic start and was in 2^nd by turn 2. What resulted was an action-packed race with incredibly close racing; I didn’t quite have the pace to drive away from the driver in 3^rd to try and keep 2^nd place but after fighting for 2^nd for most of the race the driver in 4^th caught up with us and it became a three-way battle for the last two positions on the podium. After not only a strong race from me but what the commentators called “some of the best racing they have seen all year”, I was not only delighted to have finished on the podium but also relieved that the issues that we had now been facing for the last two weekends might have finally been resolved.

Overall:

After what proved to able another difficult weekend, I’m over the moon that once the issues that I had been facing were fixed I was able to make the most of it and to not only come away with a podium but also put on a good show for those that came to Knockhill to enjoy the racing.

After the second race one of the commentators commended me on how positive I was able to stay throughout the day with the issues that I was facing. However more than anything over the last two weekends I have seen not only how important it is for myself and my mental approach for each race/qualifying/practice to be positive. And also how important it is for the team, and those there to support me, to keep the morale up instead of looking at everything negatively and letting it ruin the day/weekend.

Looking forward, I am excited to be taking the long drive down to Brands Hatch for the 50^th Anniversary of the Formula Ford Festival with the largest grid of drivers that this event has had since the pandemic. After my top 10 finish in the National FF1600 championship at Oulton Park and my overall top 20 finish at the Festival last year, I am focused on continuing my progression at this event and hopefully fighting it out at the sharp end!

• Photos of Logan at Knockhill by Alex Ireland