Over the weekend of the 26th & 27th of April 2025, the first round of the Sustain Fuels 750 Motor Club Formula Vee Championship took place. I was in attendance for this weekend, the first weekend of the 2025 season, but for me personally, the first two races of the Second season of competitor and friend Bradley Tarlton. So being here to provide some kinda (I don’t know what) support to Bradley in his efforts to get his Formula Vee car (number #36) back on track and racing. After a winter / off-season of rebuilding and only being able to watch this process through photographs from afar, simply seeing the effort that Bradley had put in to get the car rebuilt and ready for a pre-season test about a week before this weekend – That was amazing in itself, and choosing not to run in the pre-race test at the Croft circuit on the Friday before the weekend, Qualifying was the first opportunity for Bradley to get any kind of laps in. – To our total bemusement, the 15 minute qualifying session was.. interrupted after just two laps completed, by the safety car! – What the hell was the safety car doing on track during a qualifying session?! (Just red-flag it and let them go out again).. but no, the safety car ended the session and in being out ended any quicker laps being completed. So for a long period of time following qualifying, we were unaware of the official results.

But no time to dwell on that, it was on to Prep for the first race. Now, my own involvement in ‘Prep’ is limited to the occasional twiddling with a camera or two to capture on-board footage as required by Race Control, that and basically just getting in the way as much as possible. This may be a small and insignificant thing to do, but simply being there and being able to provide support however I can is enough for me. Bradley in taking part in Formula Vee is living the ‘dream’ that many of us have of taking Sim-Racing to the track, and in doing so he joins a club of perhaps 2-3 people who I’ve known to do so personally. – But he’s doing it in a “Real” race car… I mean it’s a race car, you look at it and you think.. racing car. – You know what I mean.. it’s a purists car.. it’s a single seater with no downforce… – We don’t have to talk about its origins having.. bodywork, downforce, wheel covers etc.. no, this is a purists race car. Now, disclaimer, I am not saying other forms of motorsport are not motorsport.., but I say again – It’s a single seater… you know what I mean.. right?!

Anyway, back to the paddock. It’s a mixed affair with some of Bradley’s fellow competitors doing things for the first time, some returning for another season after completing or competing in several others before.. There are those who have money who are competing for.. Well I don’t know, and there are those which are firmly family run teams and of course the independents such as Bradley. Generally in motorsport, money is considered to be king. I get that, and I am sure everyone else does, but the collection of other series running on the 750 Motorsport racecard are meant to be considered to be some of the cheapest ways to get on track and in to competitive motorsport. (Although at this point I am not sure Bradley’s wallet would agree). But this is the first steps for many a driver who doesn’t come from… Money and isn’t 14-15-16 out of karts and in to genettas. Everything costs money, from the fuel you burn to run the car, to having snacks to eat at the track while awaiting the next session. Every penny is accounted for and put to good use. At the same time, there are outfits that are.. displaying a much higher level of money availability. They have to have their reasons to remain in these series, rather than moving on up to series that award prize-money alongside trophies and medals.

We are here, at Croft, qualifying is done, the car is fueled and checked out ready for the first race of the weekend. Being at a racetrack for me was always a special thing. Getting to be so close to the raw speed is an adrenaline seekers dream and often at UK based tracks at least, getting close to the track on a club-level race meeting is a fun thing. You can get so close up to the cars, the drivers and personnel who help the meetings run on time and safely. Watching motorsport trackside is always exciting to me. But watching motorsport when you know someone who is competing on the track… That feels so much different. Simply put, there’s blood in the game now, and what was a game in a safe environment is now this very real event happening in front of you. To say it adds to the adrenaline is a massive understatement. But the point of racing is to go as fast as your car can take you, overtake and finish higher than you started. So as safe as it can be made, there is still an inherent danger in Motorsport. – It says so right on the ticket “Motorsport is dangerous”.

Race 1. I think after the weirdest qualifying session ever, Bradley was starting from 14th. Off the starting grid there was a bolt of lighting.. it was Bradley! On the first lap, he overtook 13th, 12th, 11th, 10th and 9th I think! Then further overtakes to take 6th place within the first 2 laps. That was stunning. The onboard footage is amazing to watch.

It must have felt electric in the car. You see the thing about Formula Vee is that they are not the quickest car at all, but you are low to the ground and you all have (ha ha) the same power… So it all looks from the outside to be very exciting anyway. – Continuing on, the recovering #44 of Dan Polley in his yellow WAV takes the 6th place back in his challenge to get back to the front. But still running in 7th place as we go in to a safety car period. A wave of calm washes over then a couple of laps later its all Go Go Go again. On the restart.. #44 drops it on the exit of the chicane and back up to 6th place we go! Bradley is all over the back of Simon Foley heading in to the complex until unfortunately an untimely spin demotes him down to 12th place. Unlucky.. but it’s not over yet! So much power seemingly in the car this season (which is great), but perhaps too much for the grip the tyres had at that point in time, straight off of a safety car period. On the last lap.. Bradley loves himself back up to 10th place with a loverly do-or-die double overtake of Phil Waterhouse (who was holding on to his own bodywork while Bradley shoots to the right and perhaps a little on the grass.. overtakes two at once! –

A stunning race and a great showing for the first race out in the new season. – The adrenaline pouring off of Bradley when he jumped out of the car back in the paddock… That feeling, right there, being present for that, seeing that joy.. THAT makes it all worth it. Fantastic! On to Sunday…

Race 2. Starting in the finishing position from Race 1 (new for 2025, so new even the commentators didn’t know), Bradley and number #36 lines up on the grid in 10th position and at the green flag gets another great start! I am loving the confidence on show from Bradley in these first two races of the season.. The door is closed ahead.. ah ok, no worries, I’ll go around the outside. Brilliant! Up to 8th by the end of the first lap. Bradley’s racecraft is clearly improving race by race, knowing where to position his car in order to force a mistake or an opening from the driver in front. Lining up people for overtakes and using the slipstream. Backing out where required, but it seems compared to last season (which was the first time that Bradley had ever raced at these tracks), confidence in himself and in his car and what it can give him has increased immensely. Another pass and up to 7th place before what sounded (from my standing position) like a miss-shift exiting Sunny Out, not ideal but no issues, still going fine, infact, pulling away from the last car he overtook and building a little bit of a gap. That all comes from smooth driving. The commentary team on the livestream noted that Bradley Tarlton, only in his second season of racing, was choosing to take a wider line around Sunny In / Out and that doing that was very much working for him, so getting some attention from the commentary team too, always good! Towards the end of the race, Simon Foley retired which briefly promoted Bradley up in to 6th place till Colin Gregory (who Bradley had passed and pulled away from early on) caught up and re-passed him. We settled in to 7th place and the officials choose to end the race with 47 seconds left on the clock as Phil Waterhouse had come to an unceremoniously early ending.. running out of grip and ending up in the barriers. So a 7th place finish after a race-long battle is another great result for Bradley, however it did come at a cost of a blown piston a dying battery and slightly melty tyres. Still, seeing Bradley’s face as he climbed out of the car beaming with joy, makes everything worthwhile.

I took photos at this event, I’ll be editing and uploading them this weekend and you’ll be able to see them over at www.pixelography.co.uk. Sometime.. soon!

What a weekend… and we get to do it all again soon.. Next race is at Castle Combe towards the end of May, a circuit I’ve never been to before, so I look forward to adding that to my collection of visited tracks, and it’s a short and exciting looking circuit, and the location of the test Bradley did to shakedown the car prior to the start of Season 2. I’ll be back out with the camera, ‘helping out’ in my own unique way ;).