A dramatic weekend in Jarama, Madrid with only 1 point in it. John and the NWT team took 3rd place overall in the European Championships Promoters Cup. The team and supporters were ecstatic with this result after huge battles in their first season. Although this was a close result with Luis Recuenco, John is confident that next year’s competition will see many more points. The technical issues mid-season meant the team received 3 DNFs, which meant they did not finish and lost many points, this tightened the gap and added pressure.
The battle for 3rd place started on the very sunny Saturday morning when everyone was asking who was going to take 3rd place as John, Mark Taylor, and Luis Recuenco were all in the running, the points were so close together. John qualified 13th place which he was disappointed with and struggled with traction as the track reached over 30 degrees. However, he managed to overtake and gain 2 places in race 1 finishing in P11. John had made his way up to 5th before the race was red-flagged and restarted.
The second race was smooth with little opportunity to battle and overtake. Drivers seemed more cautious after 2 separate crashes involving Sascha Lenz and Steffi Helm. John finished the day in 12th place and even closer in points to Luis Recuenco. Unfortunately, Mark Taylor had major technical issues which meant this gap was widening, but for NWT, they had it all to play for.
Sunday’s qualifying was fantastic. John sat comfortably in 10th place and stayed in 10th during Superpole. This was right where NWT needed to be to gather Promoters Cup points, which is exactly what they did, finishing 12th and 11th in the last 2 races.
The year has been a huge learning curve for John in technical driving ability. The European Championship allows much more valuable seat time; all weekends include 2 free practices and 30-minute races compared to 15-minute races and 1 practice session in the British Championship. The quality of the scrutineering and the driving in the ETRC makes it much safer than in the British competition, and the drivers share this knowledge and experience. The team has much less damage to repair, and when teams do have big accidents, many of the teams come to help, share parts, team members, and tools.
The end-of-season award ceremony saw all the drivers and teams come together. Many teams attended in standard teamwear; however, NWT chose to attend in matching branded shirts, looking very smart and professional. The attire was positively commented on by many at the Golf Club venue.
Overall, an exciting and rewarding debut to the championship, which the team looks forward to continuing next season. Until then, NWT will be planning, practicing, and developing skills and knowledge further to take 1st place in the Promoters Cup next year. Thank you as always for your support, and please do travel out to see the team, the crowds, and advertise your brand.
Photo Credits: Joada Allen and Andre Boucher
