Dan Livingstone had a frustrating weekend last time out at Brands Hatch in the Caterham Academy.

Qualifying went well and Dan was feeling confident going into the race especially after such a good result last time out at Donington Park.

We caught up with Dan to get his thoughts on racing at his home track and the difference between testing and racing at his home track.

Speaking about being confident heading into the last round of the Championship, Dan said: “Following on from my first podium at Donington Park I was really excited to get back in the car again at Brands Hatch. Brands Hatch is an awesome circuit with loads of history so being able to race there was brilliant.”

Testing at Brands Hatch is completely different to racing around Brands and feeling that competitive edge as Dan explains.

He added: “Testing is very similar to a race weekend. The only difference is there is less pressure and you don’t have the nervous feeling. I like to use test days to get more experience in the car and to try new things on/off the track. For example trying different approaches to corners or something simpler like adjusting tyre pressures.”

Qualifying went well for Dan and he was close to finding himself on the front row of the grid, but the race didn’t quite go to plan for the Academy racer.

“I was happy with how I had performed in Qualifying. Ideally I would like to have been on pole position but it was no to be on the day. I knew that if I qualified in the top four then I would have a great chance at the win come the race.

“My fastest lap was a 56.5 seconds which was only two tenths slower than P2, this gave me a lot of confidence going into the race. It was a great feeling qualifying at my favourite circuit, knowing my family and friends were watching me was cool.

“I had a good start and managed to get up to P3 on the second lap. Over the next five laps I had to defend heavily to P4 (Pole sitter) which I felt comfortable keeping him behind. I knew though that this was slowing down the lap times which was allowing P1 and P2 to gradually pull a gap. At this point I felt like another podium was on the cards as I wasn’t going to let P4 get past me.

“Unfortunately for me though on lap eight P4 crashed into me on the exit of Graham Hill. I was defending going into this corner and he misjudged the extra speed he would carry through compared to me and just slammed into the side of my car. This effectively ended my podium chances. I managed to re-join in P18 and over the next few laps hunted down a few guys and managed to finish P14 with a bent steering arm.

“Although I was extremely frustrated with the end result I have taken the positives from the weekend. I tested and qualified well, the race went to plan until the incident too so this is good to know.

“While I was sitting in the gravel trap on the exit of Graham Hill I thought my race was over. Luckily I managed to keep going and although I had a bent steering arm I was determined to finish the race. Down the main straight I had to steer left to keep the car going in a straight line. I was still pushing hard though and wanted to put on a show for my friends and family.”

There is now a bit of a gap before the next race and Dan will be working hard to ensure that his car ready and raring to go for the race.

He said: “My next race is on the 7th September at Rockingham. This will give us enough time to repair the car and prepare it for the race weekend. After I arrived back in the paddock following the race the damage didn’t look too bad but on further inspection it requires a little more work. We will have it ready for Rockingham though.

“Rockingham is a track I’ve never been to before so I will need to learn the circuit on the Friday test day and try and get up to pace quickly. It looks quite a technical track with lots of corners so hopefully this will provide some more overtaking opportunities. I hope to qualify well again and then see what the race brings.”

Pictures supplied by John Hutchinson & Rick Wilson.