This weekend saw us head to Donington Park for Round 6 of British GT. Once again, we’d teamed up with the 2018 GT4 champions, Century Motorsport who were looking after our M4 GT4 for us and making sure it was in tip top condition for our drivers Luke Sedzikowski and Dave Whitmore.

Free Practice Sessions

Saturday saw two official practice sessions take place along with some pit stop simulations for good measure too. Of course, Luke and Dave were super excited to get back behind the wheel and with a test day under their belt prior to this weekend, that really helped them get back up to pace quickly.

FP1 saw the M4 of Tegiwa finish a mere 0.02 seconds behind the other Century Motorsport ran M4 that was piloted by Ben Hurt and Adam Hatfield. Every session that our drivers were out on track, saw them gaining valuable knowledge of the handling characteristics of the car and learn the grip levels of driving on slick tyres, as it’s worth noting that neither Dave nor Luke have any real experience of driving on these tyres previously.

FP2 proved even more promising with the guys shaving a whole three tenths of their previous fastest lap and now well into the 1:37’s after having a fresh set of slicks fitted. Luke jumped back in for the end of the session and got stuck in, commenting on how great the car felt and topping his time from FP1 and finishing within 2 tenths of the other M4.

Qualifying

British GT qualifying is always a challenge compared to club level qualifying sessions due to only having 4 laps to get up to pace and put a decent time in. On the final lap of qualifying Luke was 0.6 seconds up when one of the McLaren’s engine blew up in front of him and dumped all of its oil over the track heading into the Melbourne Loop. With an entry speed of 118mph into the chicane and the brakes being as good as useless over the oil laden surface, Luke soon became a passenger as he skimmed across the gravel trap and into the barrier with a 5G impact. Fortunately for us, BMW Motorsport had a lorry full of M4 and M6 spares that they’d sent over from the factory in Germany, so sourcing the parts was easier than expected.

A massive thanks has to go to the Century Motorsport team who worked tirelessly until 3am to get the car straight and back out for the Sunday morning warm up session.

Race Day

With a quick warm up session on the Sunday morning, both Luke and Dave commented on how great the car felt again despite the damage it had taken the day before. Dave was the selected driver to carry out the first stint of the 3-hour race and headed out onto the track to take up his 8^th place position on the grid, just ahead of the Toyota Supra of Speedworks Motorsport.

Both Luke and Dave were getting quicker and quicker, with the lap times dropping throughout the duration of the race. However, two thirds of the way through, a driveshaft issue meant that the car had to return to the pits for the problem to be resolved which meant that we lost 22 laps to the car in front. The team at Century managed to rectify the problem and get the car back out for the final 40 minutes or so left of the race.

We eventually finished in 22^nd place overall and 9^th in the GT4 class. The pair didn’t go home empty handed – check out these awesome trophies that they were both presented with.

Thanks to…

It truly is a great experience and honour to be involved with such a prestigious championship and everybody involved had an incredible weekend. Again, a massive thanks to the guys and girls at Century Motorsport for all their hard work and late-night efforts getting the car ready to race again!

Finally, we’d like to thank our incredible sponsors; Yellow Speed Racing, Coilovers.co.uk, Motul, OMP and Knights BMW, without whom it wouldn’t be possible to go racing. If you’re interested in getting your brand exposed to hundreds and thousands of people and being involved with the pinnacle of motorsport in the UK, then get in contact us to discuss how we can make this happen.

If you’re keen for more Tegiwa British GT content, then stay tuned to our YouTube channel to see the upcoming highlights and on-board video footage from Donington Park! As always, you can check out all of the photos from the weekend in the Flickr gallery below.

This weekend saw us head to Oulton Park for the first two rounds of the 2020 British GT season. We’d teamed up with the 2018 GT4 champions, Century Motorsport who were running our BMW M4 GT4 for us, which filled us with confidence as we took the step up from club level racing.

Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the M4 GT4 didn’t arrive on UK soil until late February, nearly 3 months after it was supposed to. Therefore, it meant that we missed out on winter testing and the drivers only had quick 20 minute shakedown during the first round of Time Attack. So, we knew that we were going to be heading into the weekend on the back foot. Another challenge in store was that the GT4 field was filled with pro drivers, so it was going to be a hard fought battle.

Free Practice 1 & 2

Friday was test day and a chance for Luke and Dave to get into the car for the first time the Century Motorsport setup on the car. In addition to their lack of seat time, Luke hadn’t had any experience racing on slicks either.

On arrival to the garage, we were presented with a time table of events. Everything was structured and everyone knew the roles they had to play. Luke was straight in for a seat fitting so that both drivers are as comfortable as can be in the car. It goes without saying how important the pit stops are during GT racing, so we ran through this procedure so we didn’t lose time in the pit. If for example, we’d messed up a pit stop then it’d put more pressure on the drivers to make up the time on track.

The practice sessions went well, with the M4 GT4 completing just shy of 50 laps. Luke and Dave both commented on how much they were progressing with every lap that went by and this was reflected in their lap times throughout the weekend, with the sector times tumbling in each session as well as performing some great pit stop driver changes. The teams Data Engineer helped the guys to continually improve.

Saturday FP1, FP2 & Qualifying

Saturday saw two official practice sessions take place. Having had the night to reflect on Fridays testing, Luke and Dave both felt far better and got straight up to pace. Luke managed to get within 800ths of a second off the time of one of the pro’s in the other Century Motorsport M4, obviously much to Luke’s delight.

Two qualifying sessions followed, one for each of the races that followed on the Sunday. It’s worth noting that both Luke and Dave are both classed as amateur drivers, which made them the only bronze pairing on the grid. The rest of the field had at least one pro driver in the team which makes them a silver pairing. The best time of the day for Team Tegiwa was a respectable 1:45:374 in qualifying 2.

It was quite apparent as to how fast the other teams were, which meant that we’d start from the back of the grid for both races. Sadly, neither of the boys knew how hard they could push on brand new slicks until it was too late. Every lap that they went out, they went faster and faster but with qualifying only being 4 laps, it was too little too late. Luke set the fastest time, finishing 0.4 seconds off the other M4.

Race Day

If you’re familiar with British GT, then you’ll know that each race is made up of two separate races, GT3 and GT4. The GT3 grid consists of a multitude of super cars such as the Lamborghini Huracan EVO, McLaren 720s and the Ferrari 488 but to name a few. The difference in the classes being the price gap between them. For example, the GT4 field is made up of Aston Martin Vantage’s, the new A90 Toyota Supra and our BMW M4 among others.

Starting from the back we were keen to try and make up some places during race 1, but the cars ahead showed their pace and what a difference a pro driver can make. We finished 8th out of the GT4 grid but enjoyed the experience and put it all down to another learning curve and were pleased to finish the race with no damage or wanting for anything.

Race 2 looked to be promising as we weren’t too far off the pace of the McLaren 570s of HHC Motorsport. Unfortunately a long stint under the safety car didn’t allow the action to unfold and we were being extremely careful to nurse the M4 as it appeared to have developed a problem with it’s differential. We eventually finished in P15 overall, and 6th in GT4, ahead of the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang. All in all, it was an incredible weekend for both the drivers, the teams and everybody involved, with an underlying gladness that we were allowed to race again.

As previously mentioned, Luke and Dave were the only bronze lineup on the grid, which meant that they didn’t go home empty handed. Check out these awesome trophies that they were presented with.

Finally, a huge thanks to the guys and girls of Century Motorsport who’s support was invaluable to us. We’re looking forward to teaming up again and fingers crossed, progressing up the grid together. You can watch all of the highlights on our YouTube channel here:

What’s next?

Our next outing in the British GT will be at Donington Park on the 19th-20th September. We’re aiming to get a couple of test sessions booked prior to competing so we’re 100% comfortable with the car. Donington is also one of the pair’s favourite circuits, so fingers crossed we can bring you some good news!

The next event on the busy Tegiwa calendar is a trip to Cadwell Park in a couple of weeks as we take part in rounds 2 & 3 of Time Attack UK in our Honda NSX. We’ve already taken the first victory in round 1, so we’re hoping that Luke can carry on our run of form at the Lincolnshire based circuit too.

It’s a real step up for our drivers Luke Sedzikowski and Dave Whitmore, who were challenging for the title in the 750MC Club Enduro Championship last year. Neither of the duo are strangers to endurance and GT racing, with the pair running an M4 last year, albeit not a factory built GT4. Dave Whitmore bagged some decent experience competing in the Gulf 12 hours at the end of last year.

A word from the drivers and Century Motorsport owner

Luke Sedzikowski:

“I’m absolutely delighted to be making the step up from club level racing into one of the UK’s most recognised championships, British GT. Teaming up with the 2018 GT4 champions, Century Motorsport, is an exciting opportunity and that provides us with a lot of confidence to be challenging for decent positions. They clearly know their way around the M4 so it’ll be up to us to make sure we perform on the track.

I’m thrilled to be sharing the car with Dave Whitmore again, as we’ve built up a fantastic partnership over the last season in our M4. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the M4 GT4 and see what we can do!”

Dave Whitmore:

“Words can’t describe how excited I am to be part of the one of the biggest motorsport championships in the UK. From my childhood memories of growing up on a council estate, dreaming that one day I might be able to own a Ford Fiesta to following motorsport with my Grandad on the TV – being a part of any type of motorsport really is special to me. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to contain my excitement in the following weeks as we look forward to competing in the opening round at Oulton Park.

I couldn’t be happier to be sharing the car with Luke, we’ve done a lot of racing together and we provide each other with a good balance. I’m looking forward to sharing this opportunity with Nathan and his team at Century Motorsport. They’re a very experienced team who’ve achieved multiple accolades in the past, my aim is to make them all proud.”

Nathan Freke, Team Owner:

“It’s great to welcome Luke and Dave to the team. We have been speaking a long time and it’s nice to be able to work this deal out. We’ve had great success with the M4 and can offer them the best chance of success with their car. It’ll be a good step forward for them both in terms of competition, but I’ve no doubt they will enjoy it and hopefully look to do more rounds of the championship.”

We couldn’t of put it better ourselves, it really is an honour to be teaming up with Century Motorsport, the 2018 GT4 champions who ran 2 M4 GT4’s themselves last year. They know the cars inside out and their input and experience will be indispensable to us.

We can’t wait till the action gets underway at Oulton Park for the opening round of British GT on August 1st. Make sure you’re following our socials to keep up to date with the latest news and announcements.

Every year around the months of March and April we see race teams worldwide, from Formula 1 to British Touring Cars, unveiling their new liveries. It’s no exception here at Tegiwa either.

Although it might have been a relatively cold month, it’s not stopped the lads at CN signs doing a fantastic job of bringing our designs to life. Thanks again to Chris and his team for all their work!

Livery Reveal

Check out the images below of the M4 GT4 in its new guise and let us know what you think!

You might also have noticed we’ve showed our lorry some TLC too, with a lick of fresh paint and a brand-new design to accompany the M4 we’re looking forward to getting out on the road in it. We’ve stayed away from the red that was previously used and gone for a more neutral look with the black and day glow yellow accent. Check out the pictures below!

I’ve personally really enjoyed working on both of these projects and it’s been incredible watching the designs come to life from my computer screen onto the vehicles themselves.

We’d also like to individually thank each of our sponsors, Knights BMW, MegaLife Batteries, Motul, OMP and Yellow Speed Racing. Without these guys backing, we wouldn’t be able to put a car on the grid, so it goes without saying how grateful we are to have these incredible brands on board.

It wouldn’t of been right to not get the NSX out to have some pictures alongside it’s race partner and new look lorry. So out it rolled out of the workshop and into position, looking as good as it did the first day that had it’s livery applied! Not a bad looking line up, eh?!

Testing

Since the last update, the M4 has benefited from seeing some track time at Oulton Park were Luke got to see what it could really do for the first time. Although we were mainly greeted by a downpour of rain throughout the day, the car performed faultlessly and judging by the huge smile on Luke’s face when he came back into the garage after his first session the car is everything he could of wanted and more.

We’re confident that when Luke and Dave familiarise themselves with the car properly, we’ll be seeing some incredible lap times and a few more first place trophies to add to the collection!

Most people would begrudge coming to work early, but not us, especially when we’re taking delivery of a new car to add to the Tegiwa Fast Fleet. Most of you will have probably read our previous update where we revealed the ins and outs of our latest race car. For those of you that didn’t, here’s a quick recap.

Recap

Back in January this year, we revealed plans to make the step up from club level racing and join the Intelligent Money British GT Championship for 2020. With GT level racing comes GT level cars and, in this case, we’ve just received our very own BMW M4 GT4.

Unloading

Shipped from the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia, the car arrived to us in the back of a shipping container. Hard to believe that one of BMW’s factory-built race cars was tucked inside. No sooner had the doors to the container been cut open than the lads jumped in and set about undoing its straps and getting unloaded.

It’s fair to say that it was a pretty tight squeeze, even for the thinnest of us, but we managed to push the car back enough for Luke to jump in and fire it into life. With a few heart sinking moments as we watched the carbon front splitter narrowly avoid ruin, the car was out the container and safely back on terra firma.

Let’s just take one second to appreciate how good it looks when hard parked against a gritty Northern warehouse in the middle of February.

Details

The car also came with a load of spare bits and trick parts but most noticeably were the BMW power sticks that we spoke about in our last blog. With the car currently harnessing the power of the silver stick, we’re pretty keen to see what the black stick is all about.

Although our previous weapon of choice was a road going M4 turned full on race car, the actual factory built GT4 has that bit more of an aura around it, especially when you step into the interior. Everything in it feels OEM, as OEM as a race car can be, from its control panel to the little crevasse where the key fob lives everything is so well designed and engineered.

The car was still in its race guise from its former owners, with a BMW themed motorsport livery. You’ll notice the Mega Life Battery stickers on the side too, we’d like to reach out and extend our gratitude once again to those guys who gave us a hassle-free transaction and were a pleasure to deal with throughout.

We then stripped the decals off the car to reveal the M4 in its natural state, it’s not very often you seen a full-blown race car naked and it looks damn good. We’re busy working on a new livery for it ready for the British GT, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

What’s next?

We’ll be making our season debut slightly later than everyone else with our first-round appearance taking place at Silverstone at the start of June. In the meantime, we’re heading to Oulton Park next week to get some seat time and give the car a thorough shakedown to see what it can really do.

Check out the gallery below for the full album of the M4 in all its glory.