Wow what a weekend! On 16 and 17 September, Formula G took over the upper paddock at Brands Hatch. MSV were kind enough to allow us to use the space on both days of the weekend, with racing on the Saturday and the Ford Power Live show on the Sunday.

The upper paddock is long, but not very wide. When we came here last year, we did manage to run the usual mirror image track, but it was about as tight as a gymkhana course could be so we decided to mix it up this time. After all, if we’re going to be putting on a show for the crowds, we’re going to need a little more space.

So instead we ran just the one lane and gave drivers twice the room to stretch their legs!

As it was a non-Championship weekend, as well as the usual suspects, we had three of our very own marshals shed their hi-viz vests and pull on a lid - Joshua O’Sullivan, Nick Cheng and James Cordery.

On the Saturday, we ran a barrel sprint. Practice sessions were mixed in with freestyle sessions to allow the drivers to practice other skills and/or show off a bit! We had a surprising number of people wandering over to take a look, and that only encouraged the drivers more!

`Stephen Gretton couldn’t help but put on a little show for the spectators`

In the afternoon, we ran a Fastest Time of the Day competition, with each driver getting 4 runs to set the best time they can, including reaction times. The racing was super close as always, with fractions of seconds deciding the winners. Despite only getting one clean run in due to electrical gremlins, Stephen Gretton took the top spot after a perfect drive. Gabrielius Krunkauskas came in 2nd just 0.057s behind Stephen, and 0.257s ahead of Jonathan Stevens in 3rd place. Fastest Novice went to James Cordery.

`Just 0.3s separated the top 3 in Saturday’s barrel sprint`

For the Ford Power Live show on the Sunday, we reverted to a more familiar gymkhana layout. It took the drivers a little while to pin down the route but once they did, the times started dropping rapidly. Freestyle sessions drew in the biggest crowds, with Alexey Underwood of Thunderwood Collective and Time Attack providing the commentary.

Heavy rainfall at lunchtime made conditions tricky for a while, but as the track dried out the drivers found their speed again.

As with the Saturday, a Fastest Time of the Day competition was held in the afternoon. This time, it was Mantas Sliogeris claiming the honour of the top step, a whole 1.6s ahead of Ged Lankutis in 2nd, and 0.4s behind Ged was Gabrielius Krunkauskas taking 3rd. Fastest Novice was Joshua O’Sullivan.