About  Me

Hi I am Younes, and welcome to my website. Even if you are not a motorsport fan please do take a look around at some of the information, pictures and personal experiences past and present as I prepare to enter the new 2009 season and improve on my past results.

Please visit frequently if you want to keep updated on how my season is going. Over the course of the year, there will be plenty of updates, including race reports and photos.

When did it all begin?

I have always had a passion for cars. Growing up I spent many hours playing with toy cars and making things with a Lego set my parent bought for me when I was 4 years old. I guess playing with the miniature blocks paid off, I have always been very good at making things, fixing and repairing cars, engines more so!

Fast forward to 1997. I never had any serious experience with race cars, or go Karts until I was 19. I had saved up money from odd jobs whilst doing my A Levels. Then summer of 1997, I booked a Jim Russell single seater experience day at Donington Park.

The day started with a briefing of on track etiquette, what the flags meant, racing lines and personal safety. We were then taken around the track in groups of 4 or 5 and shown how to drive the track. I chose to go last so I could absorb more of what the instructor was saying and making comments to the other guys. My turn finally came, the track was damp, I was nervous, but powering out of Redgate corner and heading towards the mighty Craner Curves soon got me excited, I remember these Vectra Super Touring cars had so much grip, the car felt great.

As we went out on track the rain started to come down, and all I can remember is the huge rooster of spray coming off the car in front and also my front tyres. I did not want to do anything silly, this was not about chasing lap times or anything like that...so I drove with in my limits and just enjoyed the experience.

Time to get serious!

As I did reasonably well I was very excited and hungry for more, thought I had to wait 2 years. Until 1999, I did nothing. Then after receiving £3,000 (university loan) I decided to blow it all on a intensive racing drivers course at Silverstone.

The course consisted of a series of classroom and on track tuition. The cars that were used were Formula Ford 1600's and Vectra Super Touring for one to one tuition. During the course of the week we also had to go through written and practical assessment in order to qualify for a MSA National B Licence.

I had driven over 300 laps of the Stowe circuit at Silverstone, consisting of 2 straights and a chicane a very technical track, but also Mickey mouse in its layout. The emphasis was on reducing lap times and getting consistency. My very first few laps were in the 51-53 second rang as I adjusted to unfamiliar surroundings of the FF1600 car, but in the afternoon session my lap times were getting quicker, I was now in the 47-48 second range. Looking at the print outs I had done a set of 10 laps all within .5 of a second of each other and a 3 or 4 with in .2 of a second. My quest to go faster resulted in some spins and a few tank slappers.. top chief, John Kirkpatrick was not impressed and called me in to the pit lane to give me a bollocking!

I was now lapping in the mid to high 44 seconds, some 3 seconds faster, I felt at ease with the car and was able to push harder. I had also discovered that as I was going 3/4 along the 2 main straights I was using 4th gear.. doh! I was now leaving it in 3rd for greater acceleration and just hitting the limiter before braking.

The final day started off bad, I was not finding the grip as I had on Thursday. The weather was the same, no real difference. In trying to get into the 44 second bracket, I spun a few times. I came back into the pits and told the mechanics the car had changed. They told me you do not know what you are talking about and sent me back out. I knew the problem was with the car, and not my driving, you cannot forget how to drive a car which you have done some 250 laps in over night. I stayed out for the rest of the morning session, and my fastest lap was a mid 46 second.

During the lunch break I walked over to the mechanics and explained, I might be new to this, but I am not stupid, the car is very loose at the rear and I have lost it a few times under braking. I had never lost the car under braking in the past 250 laps I had done previously. They agreed to take a look, and surprise surprise! They had found that the rear tyres were around18 psi cold, which is some 3 psi over what they should have been. As the tyres get warmer the pressure rises. Its no surprise that the back end became unstable. Also the brake bias was turned a few turns to the rear hence why I spun a few times.

The afternoon session was a great improvement, after 5 or 6 laps I was into the 45's and ended the session after some 40 laps with a best of 44.57. I was still 1.7 second slower than the fastest guys, a bunch of Japanese racers who came to the UK. Well being some 3 stones heavier than the Japanese did not help. I know that if I want to get competitive I would need to start on a fitness plan and loose 3 stones!

Race day! We had all got our race licences, and this was the big day, an MSA sanctioned race. I had qualified 5th out of 10 drivers. I was some what happy with how the qualifying went; I was only 0.06 off the 4th place guy.

An hour later it was time for the race, we did a green flag lap (warm up lap) I line up in my box and ready to take the start, as the lights went off I made a great start and over took the 4th place guy and braking into the first hair pin. On to the main straight I was holding 4th place and braking for another hair pin bend, I spun off. I rejoined dead last, after that I had to dig deep to keep going, made up 3 places to finish in 7th.

I left the circuit frustrated, angry, but there was some satisfaction, in that I know that I did ok, I was not the slowest. I did 3 more races in 2000, with ok results, best being 4th place and the other being 6th and 8th. With a bit more time, practice and money I knew I could do much better. but sadly I never raced again until 2008.

What next?

It has been a long time since my last experience with single seaters. I realise that I will not be able to do any racing on a professional level, I am 31 years old now, and for me I would rather just enjoy it as a hobby and do club racing.

During 2008 I was financially to buy a 1998 Formula Vauxhall, ex John Villiage Automotive car, possibly driven by Thomas Scheckter. I did one race at Mallory Park, which was a disaster! I am not making excuses, but read the race report and discover many things that went wrong at the meeting.