messagehub would like to thank all
those who attended the Corporate Race Day for making it such a great
success.
  
The messagehub Corporate Race Day was held at
Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby on 30th September and provided a
great opportunity for guests to experience first hand the excitement of
the F3 GT Finale with garage, pit, paddock and grid walk access as well
as full hospitality all day. To add to the excitement of the day,
messagehub Managing Director Nigel Redwood was himself
driving a Dodge Viper with co-driver Nick Foster, for team RPM and to
everyone’s delight, completed the season on a high after finishing in
second place!
messagehub would like to thank everyone who came for
taking the time to join us on the day and for a complete race report
please take a look below. To see images from the day please
click here.
Rockingham Round – 30th September 2007 -
Race Report
Nigel Redwood and Nick Fosters progress since switching to the Viper
half way through the year has seen the duo start to fulfil the potential
of the driver pairing, and a dominant performance at the final round at
Rockingham finished the year off as they wish to start it next season!
Qualifying was the first time any driver had attacked the Rock circuit
in dry conditions, after testing was all undertaken in wet conditions.
Redwood and Foster were not phased by this, and went into qualifying
confident of the setup of the car and what they could achieve. Nick
Foster qualified for Saturday’s race 6th whilst Redwood put the Viper on
Row two for the all important Race two on Sunday.
Race One - Saturday
Nick started race one and moved from 6th to 5th in the opening laps
doing a very good job. Nick stayed close with the leading pack and
handed over to Redwood in 5th. Redwood then went on the attack and once
the pit window closed, the duo were in 3rd. Redwood was then embroiled
in a hard battle with the Lamborghini and Aston Martin of Cokcer.
Redwood held the Lamborghini off for 15 minutes but with 10 to go the
Lamborghini forced its way through, Redwood commented "In the final 10
minutes I had no rear end grip, and the Lamborghini just drove past me
coming out of the hairpin, there was nothing I could do". It looked like
Redwood had Cocker under control, but a missed gear in the closing
stages allowed Cocker past and demoted Redwood to 5th. The duo were
happy with the result, but Redwood was disappointed that the mistake had
allowed Cocker through.
Race Two - Sunday
Sunday race two was important; as Redwood had 48 guests from sponsors
attend the day. The Sponsors Guests had a tour of the garage, a pit
pass, grid walks, access to the press conference and full hospitality
all day. And thankfully a great race result by Redwood and Foster meant
that the Sponsors got the most out of the day and went home very happy.
The team made changes to the car on Sunday morning to try and counter
the rear end grip problem that the duo suffered after 50 minutes in race
one. And the changes worked! Redwood started and in the first corner
emerged in 5th. Tommy Erdos in the Ascari had forced his way into 4th
and Redwood was not happy. Redwood soon forced his way back to 4th and
set about chasing down Cocker, setting the second quickest time of the
weekend in the process. After 25 minutes, Redwood was in 4th just behind
the leading pack and Cocker. By this time, Bradley Ellis, Team RPM
Championship contender had made progress from a grid slot of 7th, to be
in 5th just behind Redwood.
Redwood let his team mate through to do battle with Cocker, for the
overall GT Championship, which would ultimately be decided in race two.
Redwood handed over to Foster after 30 minutes in 5th, knowing that a
podium was on the cards, Redwood commented "Myself and the team knew we
were in good shape. I had handed over to Nick and we were in the lead
group only 10 seconds off P1. I knew that the majority of cars ahead
would drop off the pace following the driver change, and I knew Nick had
great pace and was confident we had a setup that would work to the end
of the race. And I was right, Nick delivered in bucket loads, and
towards the end of the race was the quickest car on circuit and was able
to real in the leaders". Nick in fact drove from 5th to 2nd and could
have challenged for the lead, had it not had been the sister Viper of
Alex and Brad that held the lead.
The result saw the first podium for Redwood and Foster, the first one
too for Team RPM, and saw Bradley and Alex win the British GT crown. A
great weekend for all!
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