It was the 9th and final round of the ACU Team Green Cup this weekend at Brands Hatch. The indy circuit was in use for this meeting, guaranteeing some fast and close racing!
The meeting started with a practice day on Friday. Nathan was struggling to get the right gearing and suspension settings. That wasn’t helped by the chain coming loose in 3rd practice resulting in no laps for that session.
Qualifying
It rained overnight, so Saturday qualifying took place on a drying track. Wet tyres it was! The session started well, but losing the chain once again, meant that 7th was the best result that could be achieved.
Race 1
A good start for race 1 saw Nathan move up to 4th until the race was red-flagged. Unfortunately, the start wasn’t as good the second time around. The racing was close for the remaining laps, and Nathan briefly held the fastest lap at one point. He fought hard to the end and bought home a 7th place finish.
Race 2
The second race got underway a little later on. Nathan started from 6th this time and the racing was as close as before with the still drying track helping to make it an even more tricky race.
Nathan said, ‘I had an ok start, but made a couple of mistakes. I put the power on too early in the first corner and hit the rumble strip. Then, on the last lap, I caught up with the back markers and one ended up putting me in the grass, but I managed to stay on.‘
The race ended with Nathan putting in another 7th place, beating 8th by 3 hundredths of a second and missing 6th by just over two tenths.
Race 3
The final two races of the season were held on Sunday. Although the day started drier than Saturday there was a bit of rain during the third race.
Nathan started in 8th place for this one. It was a hard fight to keep that position though, and there were changes almost every lap. A strong finish saw Nathan cross the line in 6th place.
Race 4
In the last race of the season, Nathan started in 11th, giving him an extra challenge. After a good start Nathan managed to make his way up to 5th place. But then a small mistake, running a bit wide on Paddock Hill bend, lost three places. Nathan dug in and started picking his way back up the order to 7th before just losing out again on the run to the line and finishing 10th.
2022 Season
Nathan has put in a great effort this year across all rounds of the championship. He has placed in the top 10 in the majority of the races, with two podiums (one second and one third place) as well. And all that with only one DNF.
Nathan would like to thank everybody who has helped and supported his efforts this year. We can’t wait to see what successes next season will bring!
