Daniel Rogers Racing

Formula 6 Round 1 – Bayford Meadows

Dan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:22:01 +0000

The opening round of the Championship in Formula 6 is also the O Plate meeting. 17 karts created a large grid for Senior TKM 4 Stroke, equalling that of the British Championships this year, and hopefully many of these will stay with F6 to help their ever increasing problem with lack of entries.

The racing was mixed throughout the grid, with quite a large division of speed, however the top five had a list of names that was not going to create an easy meeting. I was able to take victory from pole in the first heat of the day, and managed to finish 5th in the second heat from the back of the grid, whilst also setting the fastest lap.

My results from the heats had earned me pole position for the Final, and I managed to keep hold of the lead after the first few laps. I wasnt the fastest in the Final, but the lap times were still close, making it difficult for anyone to pass. I was allowed a slight gap midway through the race when there was a bit of battling going on behind me, and then with a bit of defending on the last lap I was able to take the race win and consequently the O Plate.

Final Results; Dan Rogers, Adam Nichols, Ryan Fleming, Michael Rich, Curtis Mitchell

Super One Championship Presentation

Dan — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:36:41 +0000

The public awards for the Super One British Championship were held at the Autosport International Show at the NEC in Birmingham. I collected my award for sixth in the championship of £150. The KF classes were presnted awards by Jenson Button, but strangely the TKM classes were not, despite the fact that Jenson Button used to race in TKM, but perhaps it is best to not go into detail. The show was up to its usual high standards and provided a great atmosphere to present the awards, and make it more high profile than before when it was in a private function room, and not in the main show stand. The top 10 in the championship were as follows;

1. Adam Nichols (903 Points)
2. Steven Welsh (874 Points)
3. Michael Rich (865 Points)
4. Brendan Carton (864 Points)
5. Rhys Jenkins (853 Points)
6. Daniel Rogers (842 Points)
7. Michael West (842 Points)
8. Scott Mitchell (836 Points)
9. Joel Saunders (813 Points)
10. Jake Clifford (812 Points)

Photo by Chris Walker (www.kartpix.net)

Formula 6 Championship Presentation

Dan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:06:08 +0000

The Formula Six South East Championship Presentation was held at Brands Hatch, in conjunction with Race Car Live show. I collected my trophy as champion of the Senior TKM 4 Stroke class, and will be able to run number 1 in F6 if we race in the series again next year. The top 3 in F6 for 2009 were as follows;

1. Daniel Rogers (905 Points)
2. Ryan Fleming (840 Points)
3. Joel Saunders (724 Points)

At the moment we are uncertain which championship we will be doing next year, but it is likely that we will be competing in the Super 1 British Championships and perhaps do the odd round of F6 when its convenient so that I can run my Number 1

TKM Kartmasters GP Plate – PFI

Dan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:36:40 +0000

The aim was to retain the title and this was never going to be easy. Like last year, the weather was bad, despite being moved forward a month from December to Novemeber. There was an announcement on Saturday evening that due to the numbers being below 10, that the GP Plate would not actually be awarded, effectively making the weekend worthless, but we had made the journey to PFI and it was too late in the day to go home thanks to the clubs poor organising.

The wet weather made qualifying tricky but I still managed to qualify 4th and the times were very close. Heat 1 looked promising and the kart was quicker than in the qualifying, but ended badly when the engine electrics unit failed; possibly due to the amount of surface water.

By Heat 2 we had replaced the electrics with a spare unit, and set about trying to make good the weekend. The track had started to dry out and the conditions were very similar to last year where I won the event. From the back I worked my way up and finished in 2nd, which was a big confidence boost moving into the Final.

In the Final I started 5th because of my DNF in the first heat but after the first corner I had made my way into second and set about chasing down the lead. I didn’t show the pace in the first part of the race, as the tyres didnt warm up quick enough, however by half way my pace started to show. Behind me however Rhys Jenkins was working through the grid and passed me for second. Both of us then chased down the lead and on the last lap Rhys got into the lead and I made a move into the chicane to take second. Rhys managed to hold the lead until the flag where I took second. It was frustrating to miss out on retaining my title by one place, but given the plate was not awarded anyway it would of been more annoying to have won then not been able to use it!

We were unable to record the race due to PFI officials preventing us filming; I get the impression that the club is not a fan of TKM

Formula 6 Round 12 – Bayford Meadows

Dan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:30:48 +0000

The final round of the Formula Six Championship, and I entered the round knowing that I was already champion no matter what happended. I qualified first on a drying track, and therefore started both heats from pole. In the first heat the track was drying quickly and we went for wets because it was wet offfline, however the sun came out as we left the grid and my choice of tyres meant that despite an initial lead, I slipped back through the pack to around 6th.

By the second heat the track had dried and I was back on form, taking a win from pole with quite a considerable gap to second. I was unaware of most of the action going on further down the field until I watched the video back afterwards. For the Final I started 4th, and quickly got up into 3rd. I’m not sure whether knowing that I had won the chamionship already acted as a de-motivator but I didn’t quite seem to be focussed enough to work my way to the front. Instead I came home in 3rd, with a final podium placed finish of the year. Throughout the year I collected 8 trophies from the 10 rounds we were present at. The video highlights are below;

Super 1 Round 6 – Buckmore Park

Dan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:44:49 +0000

The final round of the British Championship, and on Friday practice we were very quick in the last few sessions and things were looking good for a successful weekend to secure a strong place in the final standings. The first heat went well with no problems, but I was aware that our speed might not be enough to produce a race win, so we ended the day still thinking of ways to find more speed from the kart. We started Sunday with the beleif, as always, that the kart would now be right, but things coudn’t of gone worse, when an accident on the first corner put me into the wall and bent the steering. I was able to restraighten the stub axles enough to take the restart, and we had a decent result considering the damage.

By heat three, it was apparant that we had the speed, it was just not usable i.e. it was on the wrong bits of the track. The kart was particularly struggling through the hairpins compared to others and was ‘bouncing’ on the back due to the amount of grip. We tried everything we could to solve the problem, but nothing was working. The remaining heats gave me enough points to start fifth for the final. I knew that I had to try to beat Rhys Jenkins to maintain my position in the championship, but this was always going to be difficult due to his speed on the day. A red flag half way through the race should have bunched the field up again, but the restart was a mess and the race became very strung out. I finished the final 6th.

When we got the kart back to the van, we found the chassis had cracked, and would need re-welding before next week. We also beleive that it’s twisted, because the front won’t line up correctly. Ok, so I’m being a bit negative, but I wanted to end the year on a high and frustratingly, we tried everything but didn’t get the results I was looking for. However, the final points didnt turn out quite so bad. I scored enough to fnish 6th in the championship, and when I look back over the year, then I’m pleased, as its a respectable number and I hope to improve on it next year! Check out the video;

Formula 6 Round 11 – Buckmore Park

Dan — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:11:45 +0000

This was a race that could decide the championship with a round to go, so I had to play it safe, but at the same time make sure that I maximised our points. We were racing only one person for the championship; Ryan Fleming (#7), however there was a grid of 16, which made things a bit more challenging. Ryan was quick through the early heats, but I had equally as much speed and seemed to be able to make my way through traffic faster and get to the front. My combination of heat finishes meant that I started on 2nd for the Final.

After a good start the first three broke away from the field, and we were pursuing Joel Saunders for the lead. Most of the race I was fighting to hold onto 2nd place, whilst really trying to make a move to get myself into the lead and get away, because we had the pace to win. The last lap was close, and knowing I had the championship at risk, it made it even more frustrating when I was pushed wide at the bottom of the hill. Thankfully I was able to regain the position on the last few corners, to cross the line 2nd.

Second was enough, to be crowned the 2009 Formula 6 Champion in Senior TKm 4 Stroke… still with the final round still to go! We never intended to do the whole championship, but realising that I could win it still, despite not contesting the second round, I couldn’t resist the temptation. This makes it two championship wins on the trot in Formula 6. The video below shows all the day’s action.

Formula 6 Round 10 – Bayford Meadows

Dan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:51:37 +0000

Knowing that I needed to score as many points as possible in order to secure the championship for another year, I was extremely focussed on getting the job done. I qualified on pole and was able to turn this into two heat wins. The Final got off to a good start, and I pulled a comfortable lead in the first few laps, however towards the end of the 18 lap race the kart lost a bit of pace and my gap reduced slightly. It was never enough for me to be challenged and I took the race win, and another maximum points haul for the championship, so things are looking extremely strong for the last few rounds.

Formula 6 Round 9 – Clay Pigeon

Dan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:21:41 +0000

Despite bending yet another steering column in the first heat, the day picked up and we qualified on second for the final. Knowing that I had the pace throughout the day I just had to try and lock in some quick laps. The start was a bit unusual and I dropped to third, however was able to quickly pass and chase down the lead. Getting the lead took quite a few laps before I was able to definately secure the place and with a few laps left I had the speed to take the win. This meant that we scored yet more good points towards the championship and are narrowing the gap further to the championship lead.

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Super 1 Round 5 – Ellough Park

Dan — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:05:53 +0000

What could’ve been! After some strong results in the heats, which included a win in Heat 1, two third place finishes and a seventh; we started second for the Final. I got across on the start and was able to maintain my position, and quickly moved into the lead a lap later. I held the lead for about 3 laps, however the lap times had been close all day and pulling away through outright pace was going to be tough. As it were, we were unable to show our ‘fastest lap’ speed that we had shown in the earlier heats as the tyres became older.

I’ll leave the video to show what happens in the Final, however off camera in the hairpin, an incident smashed the radiator and meant that I was unable to continue at the speed I was before, which was so frustrating given how well we were doing. However when you look at how close the Final was it was inevitable that something was going to happen, it’s just a shame it happened to me!

The points didn’t turn out to be that bad for the round; I think we were saved by our results from the heats. It looks like for the final round at Buckmore Park at the start of October that we can hope to end the championship in 5th at best, because of the way the points are looking, but anything can happen in racing, so I’ll just push for the win and see how things look by the end.