Stuart McLaren had a fantastic race at Silverstone today and brought it home in P5. After a less than optimal start he put some great lap times in especially as he is running on last years tires. There was some elegant cornering with the car being well held. Stuart probably heard his family shouting at the TV as they followed live on YouTube even though they are two counties away! Great effort we are really proud.
After missing Thruxton due to family commitments Stuart was keen to get back into the Coupe Cup series and get some good tarmac time after the truncated Snetterton weekend.
Although Stuart has worked as a Supercar instructor at Mallory Park his most memorable visit was in 2005 for a Suzuki Rizla Bike Track Day. Fantastic tuition from James Hayden, ‘Shakey’ Burns and Nial McKenzie made for an awesome experience. I was supposed to be on photo duty but as the sparks flew from Stuart’s ZX-6R exhaust with his knee down I was stood there with my mouth open and missed nearly every shot.
So let’s get right back to 2021 and Hyundai Coupe Cup. Paid practise turned out to be well worth it and flushed out an issue with the car that was dealt with by the Misty Racing team.
So what was the outcome?
Qually: P11
Race 1: P7
Race 2: P6 – some amazing battles that saw p4-6 swapping several times. Overall a good weekend for Stuart with some close racing.
But it would be remiss not to give our condolences to the marshal who lost his life at Brands Hatch on Saturday 31st July Stuart has many good friends in the Orange Army and knows the passion they have for the job they do. He’s been pulled from cars by marshals and knows when it all goes wrong how quick they get to you with help. McLaren0to60 send their love and prayers to the family at this time of loss.
So the first round of Hyundai Coupe Cup is done and Stuart is a happy man. He was competative across qually and both of the races. He landed a 5th place in the last race of the day so that’s a decent way to close off his maiden weekend . Unfortunately he took some damage but managed to keep the car on the track and bag some championship points.
Stuart said “I absolutely loved it and cant wait for the next round” – well there’s not long to wait with the next round at Snetterton 8th/9th May
It just remains for me to say a massive thanks to all our supporters and sponsors – see you all in 2 weeks.
First race done and Stuart secured an amazing 4th place. Great job for your first Coupe Cup race.
Today is Stuart’s season opener in the Carbon8 Hyundai Coupe Cup at Cadwell Park with Misty Racing The car has had a shakedown but testing for this round was not an option. So it’s straight in to qually at 9:20.
Follow the action: livetiming.tsl-timing.com/211621
Stuart McLaren 