James J Tucker

Grade Change

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:05:00 +0000

It has just got to the first grade change of the year, for the Rebels Racing Stock Cars and I have been upgraded from a Blue Top (b-grade) to Red Top (a-grade). This meens in the Heats and Grand Nationals I will be starting right from the back of the grid with only the Superstar drivers (top drivers in Red Tops) behind me. This is bassically a full half a lap down on the leaders on the rolling start, as the green flag drops.

Should be fun! :D

Grade Change

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:35:00 +0000

Now a Blue top!

After scoring a reasonable amount of points over the last few meetings I have been regraded by the Championship organisers. This means I will be starting the races further back, behind all the drivers I was previously starting with. Talking to the boys around the pits the recon its the hardest place to start, with the red grade drivers on you right at the start of the race and trying to drive through you.

So a good test for me for the remaining 3 races, Northampton 16th October, Birmingham 29th October and Wimbledon 13th November, before the winter rebuild, ready for a proper go next year!

Also for you that haven't yet seen it heres a video from Skegness Stadium (seems I can't stay on whilst being filmed haha)

Hednesford Hills 14/8

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Sunny wether and large crowds greeted me to my home track last Sunday.

Queuing up to get into the track, hours before the green flags were to "drop" at the meeting, I was amazed that the car park was full, as far as you could see, with a buzz about the meeting with a world title at stake for the Stock Rods and being a Semi World Final for the BriSCA F2s. A few late entries into the Rebels race brought the number out on the track to 36, a busy track with me not knowing what the car would handle like with the Long Track Tyres on, used to alter the gear ratio but also change the balance of the car.

Heat 1 and my first taste of the track and the new characteristics of the car lead to me getting a little 'beat up' by the more experienced drivers in the field but I settled down in 12th place, untill a tap on turn 4 turned me round on the final lap. I scrambled to get the car started but the race was stopped before I managed so I didn't finish the race. Ironically I had completed more laps than some of the drivers that did finish!

Heat 2 and a quick tyre pressure change made the car much more stable through the corners, bringing it home in 11th.

There was only one race between Heat 2 and 3 which seemed to help me as I suffered little in the way of problems in Heat 2. The only problem being a broken bracket on the alternator, which my old man (Paul Tucker) quickly put right. The car felt great crossing the line in 4th.

Unfortunately due to this meeting being the Twin Peaks Championship Final I only started 19th on the grid. A good start on the race restart saw me up to 15th at the end of the first lap, again the car felt great and I started to claw my way through the field. I got to 10th place when a big bunny hop out of turn 4 caused my gearbox to give up, damage from an early tussle in Heat 1 which had slowly been getting worse through the day. However I still scored 41 points moving me up 4 places in the National Points and gaining me the Yellow Grade Award, for highest points scored by a "Yellow Top" driver.

The next meeting is the Rebel Treble at Skegness Stadium on 25th, 28th, 29th August, with 41 drivers already booked in it looks like it should be a good one!

New Results Page

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 06:25:00 +0000

I have added a new Results page to the site, for everything I race. Allowing you to see results from every race date, track and category. I have broken the results down into Heats, Finals and Grand Nationals. If a box is left blank it is due to there not being a race.

http://www.jamesjtucker.co.uk/results.htm

Looking Forward to Hednesford

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:50:00 +0000

It's been nearly a month since my last race meeting at Northampton International Raceway, where I competed in the European Championships. I had a good solid weekend taking over 40 points each day and a highest finish of 4th, not bad for my 1st European Championship. But unfortunately in my last race I was caught out on turn 2, when someone "put in the bumper" whilst I was avoiding another accident on the inside.

This left me with a bent chassis to straighten.

Now it is all ready and I'm looking forward to getting the long track tyres on and heading to Hednesford!

Hednesford Hills Raceway is the fastest track on the Rebels Stock Car fixtures list, at exactly 1/4 of a mile and with 10 degrees of banking. Despite only living 5 miles away from the track I have never raced there, so am very excited about setting the Hills alight with another 30 cars.

Racing starts at 1.30pm on Sunday 14th August, with racing from Rebels, BriSCA F2 Stock Cars and Stock Rods. For more information check out this link! http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/incarace/bookedin.php?id=53

Birmingham Wheels 28/5

Sun, 29 May 2011 10:39:00 +0000

The meeting at Birmingham Wheels on 28th May was the venue for my 1st race in my own Rebels Racing Stock Car.

Heat 1 - After securing myself a front row grid slot in the “yellow tops” I had a shaky start missing a gear off the green flag start, leaving me high and dry for the first few laps, with no one giving me a gap to drop back down to the bottom (inside) of the track. Once I had finally dropped into the inside line I slowly managed to move back through the traffic, and there was a lot of it with 38 drivers racing on a track less than ¼ of a mile long, finally finishing the race in 12th position.

Heat 2 – Yet another front row grid slot, this time a much better start, not missing a gear. This allowed me to dive straight down to the inside of the track and start moving forward. Dragging myself up to 4th but a last lap skirmish meant I dropped a place to one of the more experienced driver bring the car home in 5th.

Final – Due to my consistent finishes I started 4th on the grid for the, standing start Final. The grid formation is 2 - 3 – 2, which meant I was to start on the 2nd row in the centre. A dangerous place to be with no room for maneuver, as I found out on the first corner, after a great start only leaving me to push the 2 cars in front of me down the start finish straight, a huge whack from behind and again I was left on the high line struggling to get down into the pack. This led to hard fought race, with pushing and shoving on every corner, to pass the checker 12th.

Grand National – My 1st pole position in my group and a great start got me to the front, to lead my 1st ever Stock Car race, for the majority of the race. But the car bucked on me coming out of turn 2 demolishing my lead and letting a couple of cars through, this left me with World Champion Steve Shaw on my rear bumper and a nudge into turn 3 put me into a spin and left me momentarily stranded in the middle of the corner. Due to the high Armco barriers on the inside of the track I was hidden from the next car to come round the corner, who ploughed into the side of me and ending my race.

All in all a good days racing and Paul (father) and I are slowly homing in on the car set up, with the limited practice time we have available to us.

Full Time Stock Car Switch

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:23:00 +0000

After the disappointment of the RPM Scholarship not ‘paying up’ for a full Year in Formula Renault UK, the UK’s premier junior rank of motorsport.

I managed to secure a last minuet deal with long-term sponsors Superseal.co.uk and BgPrinters.co.uk to enter into the furious stock car scene.

I will be running and preparing my own car #263, the number my Grandfather, Nigel Bailey, raced in National Hot rods in the late 60s early 70s, in the Rebels Racing Championship. Where all competitors run the same cars to make for close racing, to further to the spectacle the highest ranked drivers in the championship start at the back and contact is allowed. This leads to plenty of spills and thrills for the spectators across the 26 race meetings from various short circuit ovals, including Hendsford Hills Raceway and Birmingham Wheels Raceway.

Stock Car Report

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Burntwood racing driver James Tucker tried something different as he made his stock car racing debut at Northampton International Raceway on Sunday 3rd April.

The 22-year old swapped his regular Formula Ford single seater for an 850cc Rebels Racing car in order to gain experience for a possible move onto the short oval raceways for the 2011 season. Starting his hired car at the back of a big grid of around 25 of the small but spectacular Reliant-powered machines, James predicted he would find the going tough and was soon involved in a back straight tangle as he tried to move up the order in his first heat.

The second heat ran better and again starting at the back he was able to move through to finish a fine 15th, ahead of several experienced Rebels drivers. This result moved him a little further up the grid for the main event of the day, the Midland Championship, but sadly a broken wheel bearing curtailed his progress early on.

James still enjoyed his first short oval experience hugely and hopes to race on the ovals again soon as he tries to raise the budget needed for another season on the circuits having won the inaugural Revolution Performance Motorsport scholarship over the winter.

He will be back out in another Rebel at Northampton on Monday April 25th.

Report courtesy of Dave Goddard.

Winter Update No.2

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:05:00 +0000

A Quick Post New Year Update

With the increasing exposure of myself through the racing season the Porsche Human Performance Center chose me to help with the filming for a selection of their promotional videos, which are played in Porsche show rooms across the UK, as well as their websites and promotional DVDs. The Porsche Human Performance Center is the UK’s top training facility for motorsport, with clients such as Formula One’s Mark Webber. In return for my help Porsche have given me one to one training sessions at Whittlebury Hall and a personal training plan, to keep me in peak physical condition for motorsport.

BESs

For the second year in a row I was invited to compete in the Racing4Charity’s David Brabhams Celebrity Karting Challenge, raising money for the charity Starlight. This year I was selected to race for the Aston Martin Racing team, with three Aston Martin Works drivers. I was chosen to do the final stint in the kart overtaking 20 karts, to finish 6th in the race and setting a lap time only 2 hundredths off the fastest lap of the whole event.

Photo by Mike Hoyer - Jakob Ebrey Photography

Winter Break?

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:01:00 +0000

Hi,

I know everyone think that the racing season ends in October and doesn’t start until April, but as a driver the season starts in October the day after the final race!

So for the last few months although I haven’t been busy racing cars, I have still been busy. Over the winter is where your plans for the next season are set, what class to race in, who with, how and for others winter testing has already started in preparation for next season! Not to mention keeping yourself in the gym so you’re race ready.

For me my main focus has been on sponsor searching, as with any young driver; no budget means no race. Along side that I have been setting my plans down, with another year in Formula Ford being my favored route for next year with a slim possibility of other options.

When I know more I will let you all know, but until then I whish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

James