Silverstone Here We Come!

Silverstone, England (November 1, 2013) – Official testing has begun for the Walter Hayes Trophy race at Silverstone. The Cliff Dempsey Racing team arrived here Wednesday afternoon and we began testing on Thursday, when we got some testing time in the wet, and the dry. My pace has been OK. I’m struggling a bit but I know that I am usually quicker on the race weekends, when it counts, as opposed to pre-race testing.

I think Silverstone is a good track for racing – with the straightaways and heavy braking, it will make it easier to pass than at Brands Hatch. All the racers from the Formula Ford Festival will be here, along with even more tough competitors. This weekend is looking to be even more competitive than the Festival!

It has been nice meeting and hanging out with everyone at the track. Peter Dempsey, a Firestone Indy Lights race winner – and son of Cliff and Michelle – will be racing here, and has been a big help to Jake and I during the testing. Jake and I have will also be under the same tent as Scott Hargrove, who won this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, and Chris Middlehurst, 2013 BARC Formula Renault champion. All of these drivers together will give me a good opportunity to learn new things. I think its safe to say, Cliff Dempsey definitely has a strong team going into the race weekend.

In other news, Jake and I went to a simulator in Oxfordshire, called Base Performance, where we met up with factory Aston Martin racer Darren Turner. Darren was kind enough to let Jake and I practice the Silverstone track on the simulator. It is an awesome sim – you sit in a real formula car tub and can get very into it with the large screen in front of you. It was a big help to do more laps on the Silverstone track, as you can’t prepare too much for a weekend as competitive ass the Walter Hayes.

While Jake and I were at Base Performance, we met John Hindhaugh from Radio Le Mans! We were both fortunate enough to do an interview with John for the Midweek Motorsport show on Radio Le Mans.  For me, one of the highlights from the trip to Base Performance was in the sports car tub simulator – it had two seats and I got to take John along for a lap at the famous Nordschleife circuit. It was awesome having John call out the corners as they came, and I was impressed with the little details he knew about the almost 14-mile long circuit. John gave Jake and I a ride back to the Dempseys’ house… It was cool to just talk racing the whole two-hour car ride back to the house. It’s always nice to chat with somebody who knows so much, and shares the same passion you have for racing. It was a full day at Base Performance – that simulator wears you out!

The next day, Cliff and the whole team packed up everything in the trailer, ready for Silverstone. While Jake and I were relaxing, doing our thing on Monday and Tuesday, Cliff and the team were working flat out to fix my car from the accident at Brand Hatch. They got everything sorted in time, which just reflects the work ethic and dedication the Cliff Dempsey team has to Team USA and its drivers. I am anxious to start the weekend of racing and try to redeem myself from the Festival. It’s going to be tough but I feel prepared, and ready to give my best.

Thanks for reading,

Joey