Steve Taylor 0:00

But James, good to uh be at Brands Hatch in the sunshine at this time of the year first of all, isn't it?

Matt James 0:05

Yeah, it looks wonderful, doesn't it? But then again, we had some extremely hot conditions at the media day here, too. I think we've been blessed at Brands Tatch this year, which clearly means there's going to be a thunderstorm for the final round in October.

Steve Taylor 0:14

Yes. Snow. We've had snow, I think, one year, haven't we? Without a shadow of a doubt. But anyway, let's uh talk about things more prescient. The um uh qualifying race, the sprint to pole, whatever we want to call it now, the the race to pole. Certainly don't call it sprint. No, don't call it sprint. No, the the race to poll. The race to pole um turned up uh another good session, didn't it? Uh, right from the outset. Some some great launches, and it all was sort of almost decided by the second corner.

Matt James 0:40

Well, yeah, I mean at Donington Park, when we had our first ever race, it took us a lap and two hundred yards for it to kick off. Here it took three corners, and uh yeah, you know, everyone thought initially, well, they weren't really sure about how this race to pole would would work. They thought maybe it would be a procession, you know, people just banking their grid starting slots. Absolutely not, you know, they're 21 Turing car drivers asking them to behave themselves is hard enough. Um so yeah, uh on the first lap here at Browns, we had a controversial collision between Tom Ingram, who was leading, and the Dow de Leon, who was second, which pushed Tom Ingram down to fifth in the end. Um an exciting moment, a flashpoint in the race. It was fairly strategic after that. Tom Ingram wasn't able to regain any ground because he says he had damage on his car. Um but yeah, I mean it was real excitement for the fans, and and even the battle at the bottom pile of the top ten between the Toyotas, so you know the three Toyotas were knocking lumps out of each other, which I'm sure won't do much for Team Harmony with with them. But uh interesting conversation. It will be an interesting conversation, yeah. Um so yeah, no, there was action all the way through, and yeah, everyone who turned up to watch it will have loved it.

Steve Taylor 1:40

We'll talk about uh the uh the pass that uh Darrell Delia made in a moment, but um Ash Sutton, another cracking drive, one second of boost, saw his opportunity, commanded the race after that, job done.

Matt James 1:52

Yeah, everyone before the race had started, you know, he was starting fifth, which is amazing, as you said, given the limitations he had. But everyone had virtually written him out of the conversation to win um because of you know what the what the difficulties that he had. But got his once he got in front, um he was never more than a second in front of De Leon until until the very final lap. He was never more than a second in front, but never looked flustered, and as he said, concentrating on the parts of the circuit where he knew he was strong, which was the opening sector of the lap. Um and yeah, really brought it home, and for him that's a it's it's a bit of a landmark triumph, and it should be a bit of a worry for the others, I would think.

Steve Taylor 2:26

Absolutely. That car certainly looks planted, well set up, and and Ash has got a title-winning confidence perhaps about him again.

Matt James 2:33

Well, yeah, Tom Ingram said um that he he hadn't realised that the first time he beat Ash how hungry Ash would be to get him back, and I think you've seen the evidence of that. Ash is hungry for his number one back, and he wants a record-breaking title, and and yeah, Tingram's gonna find it hard work this year. Absolutely.

Steve Taylor 2:48

So, Darrell DeLeeon, that pass, I've spoken to Darrell. Um, he said there was a car's width and it was a space to go for. He's he's very clear in his mind. I'm sure it will divide opinion of everybody watching uh on uh on the TV and at Track Side.

Matt James 3:03

Yeah, I mean I've got my opinions about it. There was a car width, but that was before the breaking zone. So you do wonder that I know the officials are actually looking at it as we speak, so uh we don't know the outcome of that yet. Uh they're much better qualified people than I to make a make a judgment of it. It it was a flash point. It's a shame because Daryl stood a really good chance at this ball stack, still has a very good chance of having a strong weekend. This is the track, of course, where he took his first ever career win last year. BMW's good round here. He had you know enough boost to allocation to to do well without an overtake like that. Um so yeah, we'll wait and see what the judgment call is. But it's a shame if if he's sort of docked places because of that, but I can ultimately I could see that happening.

Steve Taylor 3:45

Absolutely. I mean it it looks, I said to him, it looks like a new Daryl DeLeon, one that's prepared to get in the mix, elbows out, choose your your cliche or or whatever reference you want. But he's not the meek newcomer anymore, is he?

Matt James 3:59

Well uh that's the point of being in the BTC, and a lot of drivers will say this, you kind of almost spend a year, I mean I know Daryl's been it a little bit longer than that now, but you spend a year getting to suss out your rivals and getting your rivals to suss out you as well, because they don't know how you race at the front, you know, they don't know if you're gonna be elbows out or not. So you spend 12 months or a season, sorry, 30 races, just getting used to the ebb and flow of who you can race with, who you can lean on, who you can't, and he's got that knowledge in the bank now, as well as his speed, which we know is there, that's clear. So once you bolt on the racecraft to the speed he's already got, then yeah, he's gonna be a different type of driver. Absolutely.

Steve Taylor 4:35

Nice drive by Ricky Collard as well. He's uh you know very pleased to be where he is, and I think he's he's finding his feet very quickly, considering he had so little seat time before the season started.

Matt James 4:45

Yeah, Ricky Collard, or scrappy-doo, as I call him, because he's uh he he never gives up very tenacious little little battler, isn't he? Um yeah, and I I've just spotted actually that he set the fastest lap in that race, which is great for Ricky. But of course, typical Ricky, he's got it in a race where it doesn't count for any points, you know. Typical, but uh but coming up in fourth place on the roads, yeah, fantastic for Ricky. And you know, I think he's a real asset to that team. Um you know, we're not sure how long he's gonna be in the in the seat for because it's not determined he'll be there all year, but I think with performances like he showed in that race. Uh sorry, can't call it that the race to pole. Um qualifying race. No qualifying race. I think he's he's gonna be, you know, he's gonna sort of attract back us as he goes along. So let's hope he's here for the whole year.

Steve Taylor 5:24

Absolutely. Uh and just rounding out the top six. Obviously, we know Tom Ingram uh finished in the top six, but a nice drive by Adam Morgan as well.

Matt James 5:31

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's uh, you know, it it's as much as the the uh Plato Racing Mercedes won on its debut at Donington Park in the in the qualifying race to poll, um, it's still pretty much an unknown quantity. They've had three test sessions and one race meeting. So it's a shot in the dark when they come to a track in terms of setup, and now with the way the practice day works or the Saturday works, so limited on mileage before you actually get to put it in a race condition. They're on softer tyres here. You know, how are they going to operate in the hotter temperatures that we've had? So many question marks, and I think Adam has sort of really got on top of that car today. I haven't spoken to Dan Robottom, I don't know what happened to him, but he finished way down the pack.

Steve Taylor 6:06

But um you sort of went through the ringer there, doesn't he? After that amazing start to the season at Donington Park, where you know the future was there to be grasped, and now look what's happened here.

Matt James 6:16

Yeah, I think he's at sort of bottom, bottom half of the flat 18th. I think he finished that race. So I'll I'd need to speak to him and find out what happened. But um but yeah, Adam Morgan flew the flag for the purple purple flag for Mercedes racing very well. Mercedes Placer Racing.

Steve Taylor 6:28

I think it's worth uh justify uh mentioning uh Jamie Dollin as well, who um made his way up to uh about 12th, the 11th, 12th. I think he was and a good solid drive for him.

Matt James 6:39

Yeah, absolutely. He had missed all the track time this morning because he had a head gasket failure, so that meant the team had to change the engine before. You know, now there's no second-free practice, of course. There's no FP2. So once it once it happens in FP1, you're up against it, and you've got to make sure it works because if you miss qualifying, you miss the opening race, which means you're gonna start at the back. The pressure's really ramped up on these. James Dorlin, as we know, is a brilliant driver. He did some amazing things last year in a part season in the Toyota Correra Speedworks car. Um I've got some real high hopes for him, and I think, yeah, that cutting through the pack was uh was good evidence of what he can do, and there's a lot more to come from him. I'm looking forward to seeing him at Thruxton, particularly. That's that's my prediction. And just finally, any other notables?

Steve Taylor 7:18

Well, I think um well Dan Camish, I think, actually looking at forgotten to mention Dan, of course, yeah, the P3.

Matt James 7:26

Because Dan was on uh as much as we sort of praise Ashra having uh a limited tokotoba booster calico, so did Dan. Um and he managed to bring the car home in third. He said he he got hung out to dry a little bit at the start with all the cars sort of jostling in front of him, which is a bit of a shame when he did. But I think he's got some super places here, Dan. And I there's there seems to be something more steely determination about him, I think. And he realizes, and he said after that race it wasn't my fight to have at the time, I just chose to bank points, you've got to keep banking points, you can't throw it away. That attitude's gonna really serve him well this year.

Steve Taylor 7:58

That's the mentality of a campaigner, seeing the the long game, isn't it?

Matt James 8:02

Absolutely right.

Steve Taylor 8:03

I think that's what we got from Dan this year. Absolutely. As always, pleasure to catch up with you. Let's see what the rest of the weekend holds. Thanks, Steve.