Darren had high expectations for the start of the season hoping to take the next step to consistent overall race finishes. Brands Hatch is the circuit the Nippon Challenge visited as the last event in 2010 so he was hoping that familiarity would be a positive performance enhancement.

The day was a brilliantly warm and sunny day and with sign on and scrutineering out of the way it was time to take to the track for qualifying after noise check. The new exhaust system passed with flying colours at 99db!

Qualifying

Qualifying was a very busy time for all with a large amount of traffic being encountered. Darren took time to warm the brakes and tyres, which were taking part in their last session as they were at the limit. The Swift of Andy McLennon was let past on lap three and Darren tagged on to the rear of him. Darren managed to keep pace with the Swift and on lap 8 set the 2nd fastest time overall but traffic ruined the next lap. With some clear air between himself and the Swift Darren set about a fast lap, only to suffer gearbox failure at Graham Hill bend, limping slowly to the recovery trucks at the entrance of the pits.

Darren was disappointed with the failure after over a season of reliability from his work horse and for the first time getting on the front row on Merit rather than others misfortunes.

The car is now in the hands of sposnors Arden Bridge Services to asses the damage and it is looking like the next round at Castle Coombe will have to be dropped.

The first race meeting of the 2011 Subaru Cup will take place at Brands Hatch (Indy Circuit) on the 1st May.

Darren has spent time this winter preparing the car to push for more honours this year.

Work completed in the close season has mainly focused on weight saving and tidying up certain areas of the car.

Paul at Arden Bridge Services has done sterling work with changing some components and providing some much needed general maintenance on the car.

Darren is pleased to announce Opie Oils are continuing sponsorship in 2011.

OPIE OILS specialises in the distribution of quality oils and lubricants. We sell one of the most comprehensive ranges of quality engine oils and automotive lubricants available anywhere in the UK from manufacturers including Fuchs, Silkolene, Castrol, Mobil, MOTUL, Redline and Amsoil.

Opie Oils sell oil for all makes of cars and motorcycles, from the most modern super cars to vintage and veteran cars and motorcycles. Our range covers mineral monogrades to super high tech race synthetics!

Opie Oils also sell Brembo Brake Parts, Denso performance Spark Plugs, UFI Filters and other performance upgrades.

Opie Oils offer excellent discounts to Members of Car/Motorcycle Clubs and Forums with whom we are associated and also have an extensive trade selection for businesses.

Darren is pleased to be supported by their Motorsport Sponsorship, which allows Darren to take advantage of heavily discounted prices, and their discount vouchers.

See more at Opie Oils

Darren look's forward to working with Opie Oils, in providing the necessary oils and fluids needed during the 2011 season.

Darren is please to annouce the continued support of Arden Bridge Services, recently renamed from Arden Bridge Subaru, in 2011

Arden Bridge was founded in 2005 by former staff of Andrew Burt Subaru, an established Subaru main dealer.

As an independent Subaru specialist and provider of service and repair on all makes and vehicles, they offer the service you would expect from a main dealer coupled with the levels of personal service customers have come to rely upon.

They offer a complete range of services and repairs on site:

Services and repairs undertaken for all makes of vehicle.
Service and re-gas air conditioning across all makes.
Wheel alignment, basic maintenance and routine servicing.
Engine diagnostics using the latest Subaru diagnostic equipment.
Fitting and servicing of performance parts.

Please visit their web site at Arden Bridge Subaru

This was the second visit to Mallory this season for the Nippon Challenge. Darren was hoping for an even better performance from himself and the car this visit as there have been some major improvements in handling and lightening that have taken place. This round saw four Subaru Cup cars including young talent Matthew Edwards and experienced Karen Phillips both entering their second meeting this season.

Qualifying

As normal the track was very busy for the qualifying session. There were few opportunities to get a fast lap in during the session with various slower cars making for difficult progress to be made as the fuel loads lightened. However, Darren managed four relitevely free laps in the middle of the session to claim 3rd in class and fifth on the grid for race one. The session was not without it's casualties as Ian Froggatt in the Scoobyclinic sponsored Impreza failed to complete one lap.

Qualifying Position

5th Overall
3rd In Class

Race 1

As race one's grid formed Darren felt a problem with the braking system on his car leading to a soft pedal and a certain amount of pull to the right. A poor start, with too much clutch slip meant that the normally fast starting Darren slipped to 6th place into the first corner closely behind fast starting Rob Jefferies, in his MR2. Jefferies had a big sideways moment on lap one into the Esses allowing Darren past into the hairpin. Darren's progress was not as he hoped with the braking problem and a small gap to Howells McLennan and Edwards developed by the end of the first lap. A close shave between Edwards and Howells took place on lap two when Edwards' gearbox failed leaving Howells to take avoiding action on the straight but he managed to control it. A growing gap to the cars behind him meant Darren could concentrate on the Howells and McLennan battle in front. Mechanical failure of the swift of McLennan on lap 12 and the back markers saw Darren gain slowly on the Subaru of Howells. However, on the last lap into the Hairpin Darren caught the smoking Impreza of Howells and, due to yellow flags, only managed to squeeze past the ailing Impreza on the line to claim second overall by three tenths.

Results

2nd Overall
1st In class

Race 2

Starting in second place and still with brake issues, Darren had a clear run to the first corner along side the Impreza of Dale Gent. With far more power than a Subaru Sup car Darren was not expecting to bother Gent so decided to concentrate on getting the gap to the cars behind and nurse the car home. The race started and was soon red flagged after a start line incident which removed the Impreza of Edwards, which had had heroics performed by X-Spec to replace the gearbox, and several other cars. On the second restart the MR2 Turbo of Nick Reed came close to getting alongside Darren into Gerrards but closing the door Darren soon created a small gap to the field behind. Over the next few laps Gent pulled away, seemingly also taking it easy. With a shortened ten minute race meaning only a few back markers to pass meant Darren could sail to the line in second place and was never troubled from the field behind.

Results

2nd Overall
1st In Class

Summary

A successful trophy haul for Darren and the failure of Howells' Impreza in the first race means the fight for Subaru Cup honours goes to the wire at Brands Hatch on 24th October with Darren requiring two wins there.

Picture re-produced with kind permission of VF Racing

Qualifying

After the horrendous rain of Saturday, Sunday was dry and fine. Darren had taken the opportunity to sign on and scrutineer the day before so it left some time in the morning to make sure the car was ready for qualifying. With new tyres supplied by Service and Sport, Darren slowly warmed them up. However, it was to be a frustrating qualifying. Several fast laps were lost to yellow flags, mainly the Subaru’s of Dale Gent and Steve Froggatt spinning in front of Darren and then at the end of the session to Roger Sibley in his lovely Honda Civic ending up in the tyres at ??? corner. Roger was ok but the car was not fit to continue.

This was not helped by the lap timer giving up the ghost for several laps in the middle of the session and an MR2 being slow to give way.

Qualifying Result –

9th Overall
3rd In Class

Race 1

Starting 9th meant that Darren was on the outside of the circuit. As the lights went off, Darren launched around the outside and onto the grass to pass Adrian Howells who had been slowed by Andy McLennan in his swift, and the Integra of Paul Hughes and the Subaru of Matt Edwards. Up into 5th at this point Darren could not hold off the lighter more agile Subaru Cup car of Howells along the straight. The swift soon muscled his way past on the inside of the Goose Neck leaving Paul Hughes in his Integra not far behind.

For several laps the Integra loomed large in the mirrors under braking and on two occasions alongside Darren but was unable to get past initially. However on Lap 5, a nudge from the Integra of Hughes mid-corner of the hairpin put Darren on to the grass of the exit and dislodged the bumper to cause tyre rub.

This left Darren in front of the debutant Matt Edwards in his Subaru Cup car. Matt is an upcoming young driver with a lot of talent and this showed as he harried Darren to the chequered flag despite his tyres showing signs of overheating with more prevalent understeer.

Race 1 result

8th Overall
2nd In Class

Race 2

For this race, Darren was on the inside of the track, which means not a lot of room for manoeuvre at the start. An adjustment in tyre pressures would hopefully compensate for the high post race pressures and the poor end of race performance from them.

A slow starting Hughes in the Integra in front left Darren nowhere to go and he was passed by a fast starting Matt and Nick Jones in his MR2 Turbo.

Darren had to work hard to get past the MR2 of Jones, which had good straight-line speed and better braking in the lighter car, whilst also fending off the agile MX5 of Jonathan Blake. It was not until lap 6 that Darren made a move into Mansfield which left him the inside line into the Mountain after using his better traction from the corner to gain a slight advantage.

By this time, however, the damage was done and there was not enough laps to haul in the cars in front.

In the latter stages of the race some damage was also sustained from debris from the Integra of Hughes which had yet further incidents with the swift of Andy McLennan and a strange handling characteristic developing. Upon post race investigation it was discovered an upright bolt had come loose leading to camber constantly changing on the offside front wheel.

Race Result

8th Overall
3rd In Class

Picture re-produced with kind permission of VF Racing

After a summer break, missing the Lydden round, Darren is looking forward to Cadwell Park meeting on 22nd August 2010. Darren found the circuit to be one of his favourite last year and performed well having had no previous driving experience on it until qualifying.

The car has had some minor work performed on it with a few further weight saving initiatives and simple fluid changes taking place.