Doodleco Takes Podium in Debut Race

First of all, Doodleco Motorsports would like to apologise for this very late review of the 1000km of Camino. Technical difficulties have prevented us from writing up a report before now. Better late than never though right?

Doodleco Motorsports made its debut appearance at the twisty mountain circuit of Camino in Spain as part of the 1000km V8 Supercars race, alongside the Clean Racers Association which provided Doodleco with a second driver for the weekend.

The first half of the race driven by Carl Ridge (FOOKPIG). Carl had to fight hard to stay in the fight but kept it together to complete his stint in 4th position. At the midway point Carl brought the car into the pits for a driver change, handing over to Steve Garfoot (Tango Wh1skey).

The leaders were starting to pull away from the Doodleco car at this point and so it became a battle to catch CRA Shell V-Power driver, Losing Shark. Losing Shark had a comfortable lead of around 8 miles however Shark was appeared to be having trouble and was driving about 5-10 sec/lap slower than Garfoot.

With just over an hour remaining in the race, the CRA Shell V-Power Ford was in sight but still a lap ahead. It was crucial to make the pass back onto the same lap quickly to remain within reach of a podium. As Garfoot got close it became clear that Shark was not going to leave a space and was blocking every attempt to pass. A few laps into the battle Garfoot got a great run out of Tag Heuer corner and went up the inside of Shark into the Stadium, clipping the grass on the apex to avoid a collision. Doodleco Motorsports was now within a lap of a podium but less than a lap later disaster struck as Steve lost control through The Chase and ran wide onto the grass giving back the position once again.

The fight kicked off for round two. Shark was defending hard while Garfoot took every possible chance to try and force the Ford into an error. More laps drifted away but a potential opportunity was developing. Watching Shark's line, it was noted that he always entered Spoon Bend early and drifted wide for the exit. As the two cars went into Spoon Bend, Garfoot kept out wide and threw the car into the corner to take the position on the inside but as Shark moved back left to take the next corner both cars were side by side. Contact was made, causing bodywork damage to both cars. Shark lost control and spun while Garfoot managed to slide out of the corner and carry on.

With 30mins wasted during the battle with Losing Shark, red mist set in and the Doodleco Motorsports team was praying for a miricle. Someone was listening to those prayers and in the closing stages of the race the leader retired with technical issues, promoting Doodleco into 3rd. As the new leader, Morphader, started his final lap, Losing Shark was less than half a mile ahead but time had run out.

Doodleco Motorsports went into the Camino 1000km with hopes of impressing but never expected to grab a podium position. This was a great race and we want to thank all who were involved.

"This race has given us a true taste of online racing and we know that we are not going to be challenging for wins just yet but there is hope. I believe this race is the start of something which could develop and eventually, the results will be there to support us. The team will now go back to HQ in the UK and look towards 2013 options, perhaps a full championship entry? Anything could happen!"

- S. Garfoot, Doodleco Motorsports, Team Manager/ Driver