2011 was a challenging year of engine development for the Seat and too much contact in the Caterham R300.
In spite of that we managed front runner pace in Britcar and ran in the top 10 in the Caterham in the only meeting where Marcus finished without being hit.
Above: Bernard in the Seat at Spa Francorchamps
Photo: PJ Cherry
Above: Marcus (46) dropping down Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch
For 2012 the Caterham has gone and in addition to running the Seat Leon Super Copa in britcar we have made the massive leap on to the TOCA package – supporting the British Touring Car championship with a Ginetta G55.
This is the car, as yet un-liveried, though Ginetta have liveried it for some press shots:
The championship is watched by 11m people on TV and nearly 400,000 people live at the circuits. Each of the 10 rounds is televised live on ITV4 and repeated on Saturday morning on Channel 4. It is simply the best supported and watched domestic motorsport package in Britain and Europe.
For the year ahead we look forward to welcoming our sponsors back to the track starting with hotlaps at Donington in March and following that the 1st race at Brands Hatch March 31/April 1.
Thankyou to everyone who has supported the team through 2011 – it is really appreciated. We hope that for 2012 with the change of profile and spectacle our sponsors will see a new level of benefit from their association with the team. Everyone at Hogarth Racing hopes you’ve had a fantastic Christmas and that you enjoy a successful and prosperous 2012
BH & MH
6th August 2011
Race Reports From Spa Francorchamps
BRITCAR
June took the team to the greatest circuit in the world – Belgium’s F1 track Spa Francorchamps
The timings didn’t allow much time to learn the 7k track but we managed to put the car 3rd in class on the grid finishing a tenth behind the other Supercopa in P2
Bernard took the wheel for the start of the endurance race and made a cracking start gaining places into the first corner and mixing it with the GT runners into La Source (as shown below!)
An early change of driver put Marcus out for the last hour of the race and was on the leaders pace and on track for a podium finish until a detached turbo hose removed the boost from the engine and the car had to be nursed 3ks back to the pits for running repairs which ultimately cost 3 laps and compromised the entire race.
Positives were that the Leon is now as fast as anything running in the production class and can even compete with some of the cars in GTs.
Roll on Snetterton 300 August 14………
Photo: PJ Cherry Cresting Eau Rouge
Photo: PJ Cherry Up On The Inside Of A Fast M3
Photo: Jeruk Biegus
Scrabbling for grip going up the most famous corner in the workd - EAU ROUGE - Keep It Planted!!!
Photo: Jeruk Biegus
5th April 2011
Race Reports From Silverstone and Oulton Park
BRITCAR
And so to silverstone for the first round of britcar 2011.
With engine mods in the closed season we went to silverstone in late march with enthusiasm for another progressive season.
Qualifying 6th in the production class we started the 120 min race on the GP circuit with a real chance of a podium finish if not a race win.
Bernard started the race and gained places from the start then held our station for the remaining 50 mins.
Refuel and Driver changeover went smoothly and Marcus began to make some progress.
After 25 mins, in P5 and closing on the next car at +8 seconds per lap, an off track excursion caused by dropped oil at the end of the 140mph hangar straight unfortunately broke a driveshaft and the race was over in spite of the best endeavours of the team.
The car is most certainly competitive and we hope to update on success soon!
Bernard on the edge, before a driveshaft failure
CATERHAM R300
Back in the top class of caterham racing in the country and there is some phenomenal talent to contend with!
1 second separates the 1st 20 cars on the grid in qually!
Race 1 was running mid pack when an off at knickerbrook under braking cost 5 places so finished P21
Starting R2 in 21st got an awesome start and made up 4 places off the grid and made further progress up the field into old hall and cascades.
Coming round to start lap 2 I pulled out of a slipstream on the main straight approaching 100mph to be greeted by a spinning car, sideways on my line which I could do nothing to avoid hitting - flat out.
The outcome, safety car, 2 VERY badly damaged cars and Marcus in the medical centre - again.
So a very expensive weekend and 1 DNF.
The coverage of the races (and probably the crash) will be on motors TV this saturday at 7:25 pm. It hurt.
Thankyou for your support and hope to update you on a more successful weekend next time.
Next up:
Britcar:
April 16 Rockingham
May 7/8 Donington
Caterham:
May 14/15 Snetterton 300 supporting british F3/GT championships
7th February 2011 2011 Caterham R300 is born!
On Thursday 2nd February 2011, Marcus became the proud owner of a beautiful new caterham R300.
Weighing in at 515kg and producing 339BHP per tonne we have big hopes for this one and hope she'll reach 0-60mph in around 4 Seconds (about the same as a ferrari 430 Scuderia!)
Owing more than a nod to the 2010 Fiat Yamaha race livery - the new cat looks stunning and takes its first steps for a shakedown on march 6th at Donington then testing again at Oulton International April 1st before racing the following 2 days.
4th January 2011
‘Racing at Donington in the Britcar Production Championship night race October 2010... Notice the front brake discs glowing as darkness falls - with an hour’s racing left’
We have recieved the provisional dates for the BRITCAR Dunlop Production GTN Championship and the Caterham R300 Motorsport Championship for 2011. Read about them here.
3rd November 2010 Into the Night
Back at the newly re-opened Donington Park for our last race of the year, we ran in the 90 minute Production class of the ‘Britcar into the night’ race.
In Friday testing we lost all gear selection at the start of the 1st session, but the guys from Taylors were able to identify the problem as a dry joint connection in the steering wheel mounted gear selector and rectify it, so we were back in the session for the afternoon testing having had to sit out half the day without a car (and BH having to drive to Burton On Trent in the Range Rover for an ecu – hoping he wasn’t stopped by the Police in his racing suit. You can imagine the comments “Oh yes, who do we think we are sir? Stirling Moss” !!)
With an hour’s night testing in pitch darkness from 19:00-20:00, we soon ascertained that this wasn’t much fun, the lights we’d fitted weren’t the boeing landing lights we needed so we did the minimum mandatory laps needed to qualify then headed home.
Saturday brought glorious weather and in qualifying Marcus recorded a 1.151 lap to put us 7th in class on the grid out of 15 in production. BH was lapping at 1.20 on Friday but got down to 1.18 on Saturday to the obvious enjoyment of ‘the boy’ !
Bernard opted to do the first stint of the race which meant he sensibly could get the laps out of the way during daylight hours. Making a great start BH soon put space between himself and the following pack and broke with the similarly powered production class cars including 3 other Seat supercopa’s. But then a disaster, a recurrence of the gear selection issue brought the car to a halt 20 mins into the race before restarting from the pit lane 3 laps down on the field. It turned out to be an issue with the DSG gearbox selection process and like a dodgy computer it had to be re-booted. i.e. Turned off and on again with a master switch shut down ... then we were off again.
Changing drivers after 40 minutes Marcus went back out and just about kept the car on the track as day turned to dusk and then absolute black out for the last 20 minutes of the race.
By the end of the session and with the intervention of a safety car to help us make up another place on the penultimate lap we managed to get back up to 4th in class and record another really satisfying result though gutted, as our pace would have had us on the podium if not for the DSG electronics problems early on.
Another great day’s racing and another leap forward in competitiveness. Bring on 2011 and our entry in the newly rebranded MSA British Endurance Championship which will be covered live on ESPN and shown on Motors TV too, at a later date.
Thanks so much to all our sponsors great support this year, especially STAFFLINE plc and CFS - Lifecycle Performance our principal sponsors !
We can’t wait for next year and an assault on the championship proper including trips to Spa Francochamps in Belgium.
Hopefully we will benefit from more experience, some additional horsepower and a few more torques…
See you then !
6th September 2010
Championship Class win
We are delighted to report that Marcus has taken the class win in the Magnificent 7s championship 2010
Competing in 6 races races at Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Anglesey Marcus took 2 pole positions and consistently finished in the overall top 3 to secure the win.
For 2011 the R400 has been retired to the continent and a brand new Caterham R300 awaits to take the grid in the 2011 Avon Tyres Caterham R300 championship.
Marcus will be run again by TFMotorsport alongside team mates Ed Hayes and Peter Ratcliffe.
Watch this space for testing updates through the Winter – see you at the track next Year!
This weekend October 30 Bernard and Marcus are competing in the penultimate Britcar race in the Seat super Copa at the newly reopened Donington park – into the night!
18th October 2010
New Gallery Added
We have added some more images to Hogarth Racing Photo Gallery. These new images show the Seat Leon in all its glory sporting its new livery for all our sponsors. Click here to view the gallery.
6th September 2010
Singing In The Rain....
Rockingham 28th August
BRITCAR 2.5 Hour Race
This August Bank holiday we ran in the production class of the Britcar endurance series 150 minute race at Rockingham in a 3 man drive with Bernard and Marcus by joined by Taylors Foundry boss and former GT racer and Caterham championship winner, Gerry Taylor.
In the morning warm up on his first visit to the track and first race in the car Marcus opted to throw the car into the litter at Gracelands. Buried deep in the gravel this needed a recovery vehicle to get the car out and the team worked brilliantly to empty several barrow loads of gravel out of the car and fit a new power steering pump in time for qualifying. (see picture in the gallery section)
Marcus was later heard trying to justify his actions to one of the crew that if you never go over the edge, you never know where the edge is. Bernard was subsequently heard telling them both
that if he wants to find the edge he should do it in his own car. My Seat is not a flippin’ Caterham... (or words similar to that...)
On to qualification and we landed the car 21st on the grid out of a grid of 25, But 6th in the production class out of 12. Ferrari F430’s and such exotica lined up ahead, from the GT class.
Marcus took the wheel for the start and after taking 2 cars on the start began to work through the pack getting past a similar Seat Supercopa and subsequently past the Ginetta G50 of Rons Johnson.
40 laps into the stint the rain started and the last 5 laps were taken in the rain on slicks with everyone staying out expecting it to be a short burst. It was a prolonged burst though with several cars falling off. The safety car being deployed after ‘production’ championship leader Gino Ussi dropped his M3 into the wall. Sensing an opportunity Marcus followed the GT leading Ferrari F430 (which is only possible when you’re both on slicks in the wet!!) of Witt Gamski and tucked in behind the safety car leaving the others to slither round in an attempt to catch up the back of our forming crocodile.
After the pitstop refuel and driver change Gerry Taylor took to the wheel and rejoined the race in 6th place overall and second in class.
Gerry drove a peerless middle stint (even finding time to wave to the attending team on the pit wall), set the fastest lap of the day of the Hogarth clan and brought the car safely back in for Bernard to run the final stint.
A pit stop of some 6 minutes (hardly F1 times) saw wets fitted and refuelling with Bernard getting behind the wheel in torrential rain, the likes we had not seen this year.
The combination of a wet drivers body getting into a very hot car and pouring rain outside all the windows were steamed up, mirrors everything was a fog! I edged out onto the Rockingham circuit hoping for the mist to clear giving some acceptable vision. Half way around the banked walled track and tucked in behind the safety car, I was suddenly confronted by a breakdown truck in the middle of the track hoisting a damaged Porshce 911 up from against the wall - only 20 yards in front of me, quite scary...
Then after three laps of following a BMW’s rain light until he fell off and hoping the famous Rockingham walls were not too close, I was thinking, this is one of my less enjoyable periods in a racing car.
It really is necessary to see where you are going when motor racing and not to feel like you are in some Turkish Bath playing on a console ! The race was stopped 10 minutes early due to the conditions and the amount of incidents.
Never has a chequered flag been such a welcome sight... Motor racing during the Bri tish summer, great !
"A naughty-boy looking at how much kitty litter and (work for the team)
was brought back to the garage after Marcus ran out of talent and was beached in the gravel..."
22nd June 2010
Oulton Park - June 12
Qualified Pole 1.4838, Finished P3
Took 1.5 seconds off the R400 lap record in Qualifying and lead the early stages of the race - but as the pit stops came around the pack was shuffled and I couldn't keep at bay the higher powered cars so slipped to P3 overall but 1st in class by a good margin.
Thanks to Anthony from www.Iwannagofaster.com for his input in testing.
7th June 2010
A selection of the caterham in action.
12th May 2010
The season so far in the Magnificent Sevens Championship
SNETTERTON APRIL 2010
Qualified P 4
Finished P 3
The first race of the 2010 Season took us to Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit on a beautiful sunny but bloody cold weekend!!
Qualifying on Sunday morning started off badly with loads of oversteer which we fettled through adjustments to rear rake and then set a near Personal Best for the track of 1.16 dead qualifying me in 4th out of 28 entries and second in class.
5 second board, red lights on……….5k revs….red lights off……dump the clutch and got a brilliant start up to 2nd – firing off the big patches of rubber I’d laid down on the sighting lap. In the braking zone down to corner 1 Peter Ratcliffe cut back across to take the place back and I exited Riches in P 3 having made up 1 place and running just behind last year’s R400 championship runner up. Over the next 5 laps I diced for P3 and broke away from the pack with the front 4 until I outbraked myself into Russell’s and lost the tow from the front 3 – re-emphasing the importance of slipstream and aerodynamics in the caterham series.
Increasing the gap back to 5th we then ran unchallenged for position for 40 mins and 30 laps of Snetterton before taking the chequered flag in p4 – however a subsequent disqualification for the leading driver on the grounds of unsafe driving then elevated the finish to 3rd place on the podium and a 2nd in class result!
A solid start to the season, before moving on to Brands Hatch Indy May 9th
Next Races
Anglesey International
May 22
Oulton
June 12
Spa Francorchamps
July 3+4
Snetterton
July 25
Mallory
August 29
Silverstone
September 4
Snetterton
October 17
BRANDS HATCH MAY 2010
Qualified P 1
Finished P2
Like a lot of the tracks on the calendar this year – I had never raced at Brands Hatch before the race weekend so arrived with a bit of trepidation to say the least.
Saturday testing at the Kentish circuit was consistently wet and cold but a good opportunity to work out which direction the circuit went in.
In Sunday’s qualifying I was 0.9seconds off pole after the first session of qualifying and laying 6th, in the second session of another 5 laps we worked this down to 0.3 seconds and 3rd place; and in the final session of qualifying after 3 laps managed to beat the fastest lap by nearly 0.3 seconds – to take the first pole position of my “career!”
After a 3 hour wait until the main event – leaving the pits and leading the crocodile of 32 cars on to the grid felt pretty good! Lining up on pole pointing at the blind crest of paddock hill bend fills you with a bit of excitement and a lot of fear frankly!
Made a good start and managed to lead the first 2 laps but was unable to make a real break and along with the 2 front runners that came with me, we diced for 1st place for the first 20 laps of the race – leading 10 of these over the line.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt the best racing I have ever been involved in – credit to the other 2 drivers, very fast, very bold, very safe (ish)
In 20 laps I must have made at least 15 overtakes and been passed back as many times – fantastic racing.
From P2, after 25 laps I pitted for the mandatory stop at exactly the same time as the leader. We entered the pits together, we stopped together, we left the pits together; and after a lap I was back in the lead and pulling away.
Then disaster…..black flag, Stop Go Penalty, No 41 “speeding in the pitlane”
A rush of blood to the head during the stops meant I was back in the pits for a stop-go penalty which ultimately cost me about 40 seconds and handed a 25 second winning margin to the car I had only just overtaken.
You live and learn….
On the penultimate lap I got back in front of Carl Woodwiss’ CSR on the inside on the approach to Clearways and managed to get away to from him to reclaim and cement P2 in an absolutely exhausting but thrilling race.
So all in all, for my first visit to the track, Pole position and P2 was a really satisfying result – next time out Anglesey May 22.
So far this season Race 1 = P3, Race 2 = P2, Race 3 = hoping to go 1 better!!
4th December 2009
A New Car Has Arrived....
A brand new SEAT touring car has arrived for next year...
We will be competing in the Euro saloons, NSSCC and possibly some Endurance racing with the team of 'Bernard & Marcus' at the wheel next season.
The car is pictured during in a trip to the paint-shop.
Then it's off for some more modifications before the 2010 season gets underway.
The Prodrive Mondeo Supertourer is only semi-pensioned and will still be racing at events like the Silverstone Classic.
It's therefore nice to report, that it will still be seen about the circuits on a regular basis...
24th September 2009
Spa-rkling weekend
Round 5 of the British Caterham R400 championship took us all off to the world’s most (in)famous circuit – Spa Francorchamps, arriving only 2 weeks after the F1 boys had vacated the paddock and benefitting from some rubber left behind by Jenson and his pals.
Qualifying on Friday was daunting – “……it’s flat through Eau Rouge in 6th” (see below) says team manager “Flavio” Dave Ketter-atori as he straps us into the missile I’ve come to know as my Caterham R400.
Are you sure Dave ????????
Anyway it was flat in 6th and after a disciplinary for me and team mate Ed we established it was flat, but this does not include straight lining the exit for which we we received a final warning and the threat of a drive through in the race.
So first qually on Friday was more of a navigation exercise than a race environment – 7Km and 20 corners meant every time you arrive at a corner you’ve no idea which one it is or where it goes and invariably it was up when you thought it was down and left when you thought it was right!
So after an hour on track and some changes to the front bar to find some more front end grip under turn in, we had a half decent setting. Some more changes to ride height of the rear before final qually gave us pretty much the perfect balance of predictable under and over steer you need for spa and we qualified 10th out of 27, including 11 of the less powerful R300s. Having set off doing 2.52s we’d got down to 2.46s so it began to feel like progress and we were ahead of some of the guys who’d been there before.
So on to race one, too many revs and a stodgy start dropped me down the grid straight off and embroiled in a battle with the middle of the order we didn’t see the front runners again and finished up 6th after a few ding dongs, a lot of slipstreaming on Kemmel straight and a couple of front runners taking each other out at Les Combes.
With a decent points haul from race 1, team mate and I, Ed Hayes, started Race 2 on the 3rd row of the grid he in 5th to my left.
Far better start this time and straightlined to the apex at La Source, focusing on keeping it tidy and making it through to avoid Donington style heroics which inevitably end up with a going too fast backwards moment. A tidy entry and exit made it possible to get the power down early on the run to Eau rouge and tucked in with the front 4.
Eau Rouge is the most phenomenal experience in Motorsport.
Accelerating to about 110mph from the hairpin to the base of Eau Rouge you point the car away from the bend, take all the grass on the left then drag the car back across the track as you go up the hill with Newton’s basics trying to drag you through the floor of the car and the suspension dropping onto it’s haunches. Keep full power and stick the car on the rumble on the right and it drags you up the road in roughly the right direction – then down into 5th before the crest and enjoy the air time as you lift off over the blind crest onto Kemmel which goes on …. for ever. Far better drivers than I have had major offs here and it wasn’t lost on me lap after lap as adrenaline helped me ignore my more rationale nature.
So away with the fast lads and managing to live with them for the duration the race turned into by far the best of the year and on the last lap as team mate (veteran) Peter Ratcliffe backed the pack up for the final flurry I got a run on the front 4 on the exit of Stavelot only to put a wheel on the gravel and go into a 90’ sideways whoooooaooooaoo moment. Caught it and got back on the power, flat through blanchimont and as I arrived into the bus stop chicane, Ferrari Challenge driver Mike Cantillon over cooked it on the right left and I squeezed through to take 4th leading him over the line by 15/100ths of a second
All in all a fabulous weekend at the most beautiful scary and challenging race track in the world, a mega confidence boost and some momentum to take to the last round at Snetterton and into the closed season testing.
