How it All Began  

NICK ADCOCK ON HIS PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE

Motor Racing is my passion… it is far too expensive to be just a hobby!

As someone from an extremely modest background I wasn’t able to be funded by a rich father and, quite honestly, in my teens and 20s racing was beyond my wildest dreams. I had to focus on those gritty subjects: career, houses and family.

So it was only when I was well into my 30s that I was able to indulge in this magical, amazing world that awaited. When you are on the outside of the sport it seems very difficult to enter – I think this is a problem that puts off a lot of people today. Not only do you have to find the right car, a series to race it in and someone to prepare it for you… Next up is your ARDS test, licence application, joining a club such as the BRSCC or BARC, clothing, such as overalls, boots and helmet, before finally finding out whether you love it or hate it.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to a first class preparer through an acquaintance who rented me his old car. With the plan of doing six races in 2000 in a rented Rover 220 Turbo I set off to that year’s Autosport exhibition to sort out the finer details that would get me on to the grid in April.

I was planning on doing only six races as primarily my wife was appalled by my plans to go out and get myself killed. Secondly the cost seemed astronomic and thirdly I was unsure as to a) my ability and b) if I would enjoy myself.

As the weeks went by I was further and further involved in my preparations – such as buying the kit from Demon Tweeks, joining the BRSCC and registering for the then Tomcat Vento Challenge. I successfully completed my ARDS test at Silverstone and simultaneously had an hour’s instruction with one of the instructors, Paul Taft. This was very worthwhile and I have used Paul since to further hone my technique.

With the help of TOCA 2 and my computer I spent many hours improving my reflexes and learning all the circuits, only to find out later that this was pretty much a complete waste of time! You have to be out there to understand but the simulation bears no resemblance to reality.

My first race at Brands Hatch was, of course, incredibly exciting with all the new experiences and sensations I went through over the weekend. Any ridiculous fantasies of winning were soon dispelled as I lined up 10th, 1.3 seconds off pole. Never mind: as I lined up on the grid for the very first time I was struck with the thought that here I was on the inside looking out, when for all those years I was on the outside looking in. I was a racing driver!

A satisfying dice with Alan Sawyer and Mark Smith led to an eighth-place finish and the proof that I was not a complete waste on the track. The adrenalin surge was immense, the camaraderie great and I was well and truly hooked.

The 2000 season continued with Snetterton and a pleasing sixth spot on the grid and a 10th- place finish following a spin and a trip down the escape road, and then on to a fateful meeting at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. Cadwell is a very narrow track with some truly demanding corners and is difficult to learn, particularly as there was no pre-race testing, as well me a complete novice. With only a 15-minute qualifying session I was well of the pace but was buoyed with a misplaced feeling that I was a better driver than I was. How quickly your confidence grows. This was confirmed by a request from my new friend Alan Sawyer that I should drive his spare VW Vento in the inaugural race of the VW Cup later that day.

Sadly the race was a disaster and to this day I still cannot pinpoint why I was involved in the biggest crash of my career to date. I had already overtaken several cars and was feeling quite gung ho when I got confused with which corner came up next. The resultant harmless spin worked me up (you should never get emotional in a race car) as I felt I should be doing better and I took the first corner far too fast. The resulting tank-slapper put the car into an unprotected earth bank at 80mph. Rented car written off, huge repair bill, a sore back plus a huge dent in my pride and that new found confidence shattered.

At this point I wanted to go home and forget all about racing. But I still had a further race to go in the Vento and I somewhat dejectedly started the second race, praying that I did not lose another car that I didn’t own in the same day. Happily I came out fourth in a thin field and my confidence was marginally restored. Subsequently I bought that car from Alan Sawyer and as the season wore on I gained experience, confidence and speed, culminating in two pole positions, fastest race laps and a glorious race win in the last race of the season back at Brands Hatch.

During that first season of racing in 2000 I fully embraced all areas of motor sport and among other things formed a company to run the burgeoning VW Cup with the co-ordinator Kay Carter and series originator and sponsor Alan Sawyer as co-directors. Money was raised to run the 2001 series by selling shares in the company to other competitors. This worked really well and a feather in the cap came when Volkswagen UK came on board as the series sponsor. Although no money was forthcoming they were incredible at raising the profile of the series with great PR from Nick Carter and helped us no end with other incidentals.

One of the biggest changes made to the 2001 series was the format. It struck me as a waste of time to drive to somewhere like Snetterton (a 360-mile round trip) for one 15-minute qualifying session and one 15-minute race. In 2000 we had raced there three times on separate occasions! So the 12-race, six-meeting format was introduced and was and still is a great success.

The 2001 season started well with pole at Donington and two third places in each race. I was driving a new lime green Vento that had been reshelled over the winter and, handling wise, it felt good. I had not, however gone to the expense of rebuilding the engine which was, in hindsight, a huge mistake. That blighted the rest of the season as I struggled with an engine that was not operating correctly and with my engineer Steve Smith and I throwing short term solutions to it and getting nowhere (another very important lesson learned: don’t compromise your off-season preparations as you will never catch up during the season).

With full grids and an ever-improving profile our quest was to get more current model cars on to the grid with the German Beetle Cup car as the only really viable and available contender. As we sought purchasers for the small number available I promised that I would buy one if no one else took up the option. Guess what, I bought one!

The last two meetings of 2001 were in my new green Beetle RSi and they were a lot of fun even though we were just learning about the car. I posted three thirds and a fourth in the twilight of that year.

In 2002 again the season started well, although with the increase in competition and the changes in rules it made it increasingly difficult for the Beetle to be competitive. A pole at Donington with a win and a second were the hardest and probably best races of my career to date. More mid-season technical woes, which Steve was unable to trace initially, turned out to be a too-long driveshaft and a deranged rear beam. These problems cost me time and DNFs and basically finished my chances of challenging for the championship.

These maladies cured I rounded off the year with two wins at Thruxton, a great result and televised to boot, which was good for the ego... Due to the rule changes the unexpected champion of 2002 was Ian Carvell driving a Mk 1 Golf which, although looking like a museum piece, had an advantageous power-to-weight ratio as well as being expertly engineered and driven. Thus I concluded the season in third place.

For 2003 I decided that a fresh challenge would be motivating and, to that end, I secured one of the very few Renault Clios available for the TOCA tour Clio Cup. With its high profile, TV coverage, very strict rules on modifications (ie none) this would surely be a healthy way of lifting my game and be a good benchmark as to how good a driver I am. Well, watch this space and we will see…

A further change to the 2003 season was a change of team: It was sad to leave Steve Smith and Motorsport Engineering after three seasons. However, I felt it would be easier for me to move to a more experienced team, Clio wise, to shorten my learning curve. Every little helps, as they say. Having met Lee Brookes through Ray MacDowall, an ex Clio exponent and now Beetle racer, I was impressed with his team’s approach and this was consolidated when it dominated the 2002 Clio winter series with superbly well sorted cars.

As you can see from the historical race reports, my 2003 season was very much a baptism of fire and the leap between club racing and a national championship such as the Clio Cup is vast. From the preparation, commitment in time -- I spent the equivalent of two weeks of work just testing -- to the actual racing, which was incredibly difficult. Not only did you have to be consistently fast but you also needed military-strength armour to protect from all the collisions!

Seriously speaking, there is a particular technique to driving a Clio on the pace. This technique is hard to learn and you can drive the wheels off the car and still be a second off the pace. Once you know exactly what to do the lap times come down and you can start making progress -- something I did late on in the season.