Alex Kapadia just made things happen at the first round of the 2014 European Le Mans Series at Silverstone last weekend. Off the track he was a true multitasking master and the hardest working man in LMP2 show business! On it, he was superb. He announced himself properly to the International endurance racing scene with a sensational recovery drive from 35th to a stonking top ten position.
Here exclusively for DSC readers is the inside line on a dramatic week in the life of the ELMS newest British racing star.
Pre-event: A call from Greg!
The Wednesday before Silverstone week I was at Brands Hatch testing a Radical for the Masters series which I am competing in with Slim Borgudd Racing for 2014. I got out of the car and found I had a missed call from Greg (Murphy). I had been pestering him a lot throughout the winter, telling him that if anyone was ever ill or ‘tripped up in the shower’ then I would be there for him.
It turned out that is exactly what the call was about. Tor (Graves) has unfortunately been suffering with shingles and couldn’t drive, so Greg wanted to get me in the cockpit for the opening ELMS race of the year. It was an opportunity I usually just daydream about but this was very real.
I met the team the week before and then went to Silverstone on the Monday to meet Karun (Chandhok) for the first time. KC was approximately the same size as me, which was useful for getting the seat inserts done. I was delighted to find that everything I had heard about Karun previously was true. He is a great guy, very genuine and without any huge ego to speak of; also a proper team player and a massive advantage to an endurance racing team. He helped me massively in terms of getting to know the team and the Oreca-Nissan. Karun has a great team ethic which fits in perfectly with my view on endurance racing.
On Tuesday we had a straight-line shakedown test at Turweston Aerodrome, which is just down the road from Silverstone. Karun did a few systems check runs in the car and then I got in it, really to just make sure I was comfortable with the seat and in the cockpit. I’ve got slightly longer legs than Karun, so there was a bit of banging around for my knee-caps. So, on Wednesday I went down to Stand 21 at Brands to get some new knee pads! The guys down there were great and I ended up getting some new visors and just generally updating my kit for the big race weekend.
I dashed back up to Silverstone after that, as I had a session booked in at i-zone with John Pratt. As ever though, and very annoyingly, the M25 was chocker and part of it was actually closed. John was very helpful and hung around, so I managed to get an hour in on the simulator there. I almost felt that I had done a practice session before I got in to the weekend properly, so it was very helpful indeed.
I have always been one to be commercially pro-active and so I got some partners on board to share the ELMS experience at Silverstone. I got on to Motor Sport magazine on Wednesday and we did a great deal to have this hugely evocative and legendary publishing name on the car for the weekend. Like thousands of people around the world, I am a great fan of the magazine and to have them on-board with the Murphy Prototype team, in its 90th anniversary year (Motor Sport magazine, not Greg!!) was a real thrill.
Thursday – Man in demand and a trip to the famous Khushboo!
On Thursday I brought up a load of drinks for the Murphy team. No, no, it wasn’t any ‘black stuff’ but just some soft drinks. As part of my business portfolio, I own a couple of Bargain Booze franchisees, so I did my bit to make sure everyone was refreshed for the weekend!
We had a team briefing at the circuit on Thursday morning too, to go over the finer points for the weekend. Alan McGarrity and Nigel Beresford, who act as Team Manager and Lead Engineer respectively, gave us all the precise and detailed information we needed about how the car would be run and how we would use the track time available to us, which was split in to a 90 and 60mins session on Good Friday.
We also had to get our mug-shots done by the official ELMS photographer for press and TV purposes on Thursday afternoon. We did that just before I dashed back to my office to collect some decals that had arrived so I could promote one of my partners – Club 100 karting.
Then it was back to the circuit to meet our data engineer for the weekend, Lloyd de Boltz-Miller, who stood in for the regular number cruncher, Tomoki ‘Taka’ Takashi and we went over some of the 2013 data from Brendon Hartley, who is now of course a full factory Porsche LMP driver.
Then we got some good pit-stop practice in. This is obviously really important and you always need to find that rhythm and procedure refining method with new driving partners in the team.
Thursday night was very entertaining! Karun and his father (Vicky) invited Rodolfo and I to dine with them at the legendary Khushboo Indian restaurant in Brackley. Karun is a local and even has his own section on the menu, which is hilarious. Force India F1 driver, Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez, who is also a local boy and often pops in for a meal has a section too (see below). It was a really nice evening and a great bonding experience with both Karun and Gonzo ahead of the pressure and pace of the weekend ahead.
I had to leave the Khushboo early as I had sourced a local printer to do all of the autograph cards for the team. It was all very late because we weren’t sure what the final driver line-up would be until that week. Greg trusted me to find a good supplier and I got one, but had to go and pick them up at 10 o’clock at night from the guy’s house!
Friday – In the cockpit at last!
Friday morning saw one last non-driving commitment which was to have a group shot with the class of Silverstone 2014 (see below).
All this was fun but of course not the real reason I was at Silverstone with Murphy Prototypes! It felt like a relief to finally get behind the wheel of the Murphy Oreca-Nissan. Frustratingly in the 90-mins morning session there were some issues and we lost valuable track-time with some niggly electrical problems. The upshot was that ‘Gonzo’ and I only got four timed laps but it was still enough to have a useful de-brief afterwards and for us to agree on some changes.
In the afternoon Gonzo went out and did a good 10-lap run. Karun then went out and did a few qualifying simulation laps on new tyres and thought we could hone the set-up again a bit more. Then I got in to the cockpit and had a good stint at the wheel, managing to get within a couple of tenths of Karun, which I was very pleased with, especially after such little running in the car up until that point.
Saturday – Race Day!
It was then a case of getting our strategy for the race sorted out. We had decided quite early on that Karun would qualify the car, so that was all set. Rodolfo decided he wanted to start the race, so I would then go second and Karun would complete things. We were almost ready to go racing!
Saturday saw me taking care of some of my sponsors and giving them as much information and knowledge about what was going on during the day. I enjoy this aspect of the job and I always like to go the extra mile to ensure guests are comfortable and enjoying everything to the max. We had some really enthusiastic guys from Hertz Car Sales there for the day and I know they had a great time in their suite as I hosted a very enjoyable Q&A with them at lunchtime.
During qualifying I went over to the Radio Le Mans commentary booth which was very illuminating. I’ve long been a fan of the station and their other programmes such as Midweek Motorsport for a long time. I was able to give an insight in to what was happening from a driver’s point of view during qualifying and hopefully it added some useful knowledge to the listeners.
Showing the Hertz Car Sales guys around the grid was fun, Karun had qualified on 3rd position on the grid and it was all looking good in the opening laps as Gonzo muscled his way in to 2nd place in to the first corner. Then came the news from race control that we had been given a penalty, along with a few others in the field for having effectively jumped the start. It looked very harsh as Michel Frey in the Race Performance car appeared to slow a little as he came up to the line.
Anyway, Gonzo took the stop/go penalty and then did a very good job coming through the pack and in to 4th position. Then came the defining moment of the race. We got a puncture just after Copse corner which meant that ‘Gonzo’ had to do a full lap as the tyre went down fully and then delaminated and damaged the bodywork. The repairs were done really rapidly by the Murphy boys but we still lost somewhere in the region of 15 minutes.
From there it was all relatively simple for me. There was nothing else for it other than to clear my mind and go for it. We had nothing to lose really. The engineers told me later that I was the quickest on track for almost all of my stints and we ended up getting back through all the GT cars. I started the stint in 35th and handed the car over in 10th so I got to see plenty of action!
It was really satisfying to show what I can do when the chips are down and a job needs doing. I set at that time the fastest lap of the race at 1m51.179s and also claim the two fastest sectors of the race in S1 and S2. Also, the Dunlop engineers told me that I set the quickest average of best ten laps during the race as well (see below). All this is really satisfying as it shows that given the job I can be a match for anyone in the car.
Full timing info for Alex’s race can be viewed here. With thanks to HH Timing – hhtiming.com
I really didn’t take any prisoners through the traffic and was super focused on making up as much time as possible for the team. Afterwards I was really pleased to see that my drive had been recognised by the fans and Radio Le Mans and I was awarded with the ‘Spirit of the Race’ award, which was very nice.
Just before I was due to hand over to Karun I came up upon the Simon Dolan incident on the Hangar Straight. It was obviously a major shunt so I radioed through to the team to let them know a safety car was likely. Thankfully Simon was alright which was of course the main thing.
The team bolted on a fresh set of medium Dunlop’s when I pitted and after the safety car period Karun went on to set a series of fastest laps and we ended up finishing in 8th place. On the face of it, that was a poor reward for our great team work and pace, but it was a points scoring position and from a lowly 35th in the second hour, it was an epic recovery drive.
It was a whirlwind of a weekend for me but a very enjoyable one. I love being part of that team. The Murphy guys have a great work ethic, but also enjoy what they are doing and of course being Greg’s team having a laugh is also an important part of the equation.
We definitely could have won that race if it were not for the puncture or even if the puncture had happened 800 metres earlier before the pit entry! But that, as they say is endurance racing and I am a firm believer in luck evening itself out over the course of a season or campaign.
Now, having had a taste of ELMS racing with Murphy in LMP2, I am so motivated to ensure it is not just a one off. The team wants to have me in the car again this year but of course it needs to be commercially viable to do so. Now I’m working on making things happen so this can be achived in the immediate future.
I am determined for this to be the start of something big for me. I know that I have what it takes to win races on the International scene. It’s all about maximising the opportunity when you get it and I think that is exactly what I did last weekend at Silverstone.
Alex Kapadia was talking to Sam Smith
