We’re enthusiastic about cars here at Keith Michaels. So when Damien Bradley told us about his victory at Cadwell Park last month, we had to share it with you guys. Here’s what Damien had to say about his win:
After an intense couple of weeks of late nights and early mornings preparing the Legacy for the first event of the year we set off for Cadwell Park. The car was sporting a green theme in memory of the late Simon Roe.
The main upgrades to the car since last year have been the new Aims MXS Dash and a reduction in height of the rear wing to comply with MSA regulations, hardly performance enhancing modifications!
Having read posts on Facebook and hearing people talking the general thoughts were that we would walk away with Club Challenge 4WD at Cadwell park as the likes of Dave Coe, Jason Bird and Eric Holmes would not be there to keep us on our toes. The competition, Simon Griffiths and Josef Calagia are great drivers with very quick cars. Simon was considerably faster than us last year at Cadwell Park so it wasn’t going to be as clear cut as people expected. The aim was to beat last years winning time of 1:37.016 set by Dave Coe in his awesome Subaru Impreza.
Arriving at the circuit at 7.30am on Friday for the track day we were greeted by Steven, Trevor and Brett of SD Motorsport shortly followed by Rob of Ten Tonne Motorsport. The Legacy was parked up next to the iconic car that is the Lateral Performance Bannana and we set about finishing some of the little jobs that needed doing.
The weather was amazing and other than a split CV boot the car performed very well all day. Tuition from Steven Darley and Gavin Renshaw totally changed our lines and the cars composure around the track. This tuition together with walking the track with Steven on the morning of the event were hugely significant in achieving the lap times we managed in the final.
After some final tweaks to the dash configuration and completing the wiring to the Cartek rain/cool down light we had an early night. Saturday morning brought with it glorious sunshine and the Legacy was really looking the part on the stand next to the Bannana. Disappointingly the Bannana sustained a split liner on the track day and wouldn’t be joining us on track for Time Attack.
Warmup and practice flew in and we managed a reasonable time of circa 1:42 but both Simon and Josef were putting in much better times. Getting a clean lap without traffic was a real challenge, some new entrants made overtaking a little difficult.
After doing our bit by taking a marshal out for a couple of laps over lunch we changed tyres and added the secret weapon, our commercially available Torco 118NOS supplied by Nimbus Motorsport was poured in, some tweaks on the map from Paul Blamire and we were all set. Boost was set at 1.7bar to gain a banker saving the “man sized” boost for the final. Making great space behind Logan Black it was all looking good until Umar Masood parked up on the grass for a little break , session red flagged and back to the pits. Umar was recovered and we were off again. Gaining some space we went for a banker and managed a 1:36 with traffic, even getting air over The Mountain with a near stationary Mini on the inside line, which was enough for 2nd place but time was ticking on. Into the pits and Steven says Simon Griffiths is 2 seconds ahead, ok we had a job to do. 2.1bar of boost set and out onto track again with only a few minutes of the session remaining.
Rounding the hairpin and into Barn it was time to open her up, 2.1bar on Torco race fuel is something else. The tyres struggling for grip onto the pit straight towards one of the most challenging yet rewarding corners on UK race tracks “Coppice”. Into 5th across the start finish line then a dab on the brakes into 4th, floor it and hold on for dear life. Using the all of the available tarmac on exit of coppice left me buzzing. Through Charlie’s and onto my “problem corner”, Park Corner is where I tend to do a bit of grass cutting, shaving off loads of speed I got it just right and back on the power. The rest of the circuit fell into place nicely and crossing the line on the chequered flag with the dash showing a 1:34 lap was incredible.
Back to the pits and it was confirmed that not only had we won qualifying by over 1.8s but we had the new Club 4WD lap record for Cadwell Park too.
Getting ready for the final and the heavens opened, the standing water was declared too dangerous and the session cancelled. Finishing positions from Qualifying were used to award the podium positions so we have our first win of 2015.
Huge thanks to all our support team and sponsors. Also a special mention to Simon Roe, you are sorely missed but your memory lives on in the Legacy. RIP Simon Roe AKA Jollygreenmonster.
A massive congratulations to Damien on his impressive run at Cadwell Park last month. We’re really happy for him and are always excited to see the Legacy on the track.
Are you also passionate about your car? You should show it off in the Keith Michaels Garage! Not only will it receive a dedicated page on our website, but it will be shared with our thousands of followers on social media. Simply email us below with some details (including mods) about your car and a few high resolution images.