Catching Up With Michael Meadows

Double Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Michael Meadows is targeting a future in international GT racing following a toe-in-the-water foray into the European Le Mans Series and the Spa 24 Hours.  Although the 26 year-old didn’t have the results to show for it – an unspectacular 12^th in class at the Red Bull Ring driving the ageing Gulf Racing UK Porsche preceding a difficult Spa, where gearbox woes thwarted a promising run for the Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin – Meadows emerged encouraged from the experience and is eager to return in 2015.

Meadows thoroughly enjoyed his first experience of 24 hour endurance
racing in the Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin. (Credit: Brecht Decancq)

“It was a great experience, not just the race but the whole event was so exciting and I’d absolutely love to do it again. I have to thank Aston Martin Racing and particularly Leonard Motorsport for giving me the opportunity to go out there with them and show what I can do,” Meadows said afterwards. 

“It’s definitely something I’ve got my eye on in future, the aim is to go back and try and win it one day. I want to do all the big races and the biggest championships that I can; I did the Le Mans support race this year and now I want to go on and do the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Austria: A Learning Experience

Porsches have struggled all year against the all-conquering Ferraris in the ELMS and Meadows was under no illusions that the Austria weekend would be focused more on gaining useful experience and trying to match team-mate Adam Carroll, rather than the outright result.

“The main thing [to get used to] was the championship itself – the driver changes and the LMP cars going past you – rather than the car,” he said. “I’ve always been in one-make series and been at the front of whatever I’m doing, so that was interesting. It wasn’t too extreme at the deep end because it’s quite similar to the Carrera Cup car, a little bit more power and more grip perhaps, but essentially it handles in a pretty similar way.

“That particular car is a 2011 chassis RSR, so it’s lagging behind a bit in terms of development compared to the Ferraris and the Aston. We knew that going into the race we weren't challenging for victory, we were just trying to get some experience of the championship and get close to Adam Carroll. The pace was very similar between the two of us, so I was happy about that.”

The race-winning Signatech Alpine chases Meadows in the Porsche. (Credit: ELMS Media)

Despite the very evident differences between the GTE Porsche and GT3 Aston Martin, Meadows found the four hours of the Red Bull Ring a helpful precursor to the Belgian twice-around-the-clock classic.

“The longest stint I’d done in a car before the ELMS race was an hour in British GT in 2008 – not that fitness was going to be a problem – but it was just preparing yourself for it, hydrating and that sort of thing," he said. "In the ELMS race as the silver driver I got just over two hours running, which was good preparation as I was obviously going to be in the car a lot at Spa, and things like driver changes, the fact that you are waiting around a lot for your turn, setting the car up for three or even four drivers rather than just yourself. It definitely made Spa that bit easier.”

Spa: A Question of Survival

The 2014 running of the Spa 24 will long be remembered for the spate of terrifying accidents which littered the opening phase of the race, with red flags required to allow for Gentleman Trophy competitor Marcus Mahy’s extraction by helicopter following crashes that had already seen Tim Mullen and Andrew Howard admitted to hospital.

It was hardly the ideal introduction for a rookie in his first 24 hour race, but when the time came for Meadows' first stint the frenzy had thankfully settled down somewhat.

The early stages of the Spa 24 Hours saw several huge accidents, although it was
gearbox dramas which would account for the Leonard Aston. (Credit: Stefan Deck)

“I got in around midnight and by that time the race had been restarted after the red flags and everyone had calmed down a bit.” he said. “The first few hours were crazy, lots of mistakes came after the safety car from guys not taking account of cold tyres and full tanks of fuel, they just needed to calm down a bit and I think the red flags allowed the teams to give the drivers a bit more advice. When all the carnage was going off I was happy to be in the pit garage looking at the monitors; it gave me a chance to take it all in and learn before I got in the car and did my stuff. Watching it from the outside, I thought ‘what have I let myself in for here?’ I felt sorry for the guys in the cars during the red flags who got stuck out on track for an hour or so.”

After a productive night shift, a top ten finish in Pro-Am was on the cards, despite a tangle with Harold Primat’s HTP Mercedes at the Bus Stop that necessitated a brief stay in the pits, before gearbox problems struck with just two hours remaining. An eventual 37th overall was scant reward for their efforts.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get the result, but there’s not much we can do about it - it’s just bad luck at the end of the day,” he added. “I’m not sure the BOP was suited to the Aston that much, we were getting beaten by almost everyone else on the straights, but I loved it, it was great fun. I think I set the fastest lap for our car in the race so I was happy about that.”

Carrera Cup Return

Meadows' next goal is to seal his third Carrera Cup GB crown. (Credit: Porsche)

After sampling the Red Bull Ring and Spa Francorchamps, this weekend Meadows returns to his regular mount in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton with the aim of closing the nine-point gap to main rival Josh Webster, an unprecedented third consecutive title within sight.

“The third title is obviously the main aim and it’s by no means over," he said. "Being in the Carrera Cup has obviously been very good for my career, it’s given me the platform to show that I’m fast and I can win and be consistent and all those sorts of things. No-one has done three back-to-back before and that’s exactly what I want to do; it would be a great reward for myself and the team to repay the faith that all those people have shown in me.”