BLACKMAN THE MODEL OF CONSISTENCY AGAIN
Twelve wins in 17 races and the championship wrapped up with a round to spare. Reading those stats, you would think it’s been a case of one driver steam-rollering the competition but for Super Silhouettes champion Malcolm Blackman, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
After winning the first five races at Brands Hatch and Pembrey by “sticking his elbows out”, Blackman – who has now won four titles in the past five years – said his approach since then has been to pick his battles.
“There have been a few times this year where I’ve benefited from people ahead of me over-driving, making mistakes and giving me the lead,” Blackman explained.
“The prime example was at Snetterton. I was coming down the first straight in fifth, behind the lead battle, and at the first corner, I slowed down to get out of that pack. I came out the other side in the lead!
“I think maybe my experience meant I probably don’t drive at 11-10ths, I drive nine-10ths and I finish. If I was getting those elbows out and wanting the win as badly as they did I would have been off on the grass with them.”
That’s not to say the Vauxhall
Tigra driver is afraid of taking risks. His decision to pit for slicks on the formation lap at a wet-but-drying Donington Park was a gamble that paid off handsomely.
He said: “I think it was a big risk. I still think we should have gone two and two [wets and slicks]. The team picked wets and I eventually went out on four slicks. When I went off through the mud I thought ‘we’ve done it wrong!’
“At Coppice, twice I went through the gravel, through the mud, and the car was overheating because it was full of grass. But then the track conditions switched in our favour and, once the tyres got a bit of temperature, I just picked my way through into the lead.”
All of his success this year has come with the shadow of 2018 looming large. Four wins in a row at the start of the year proved to be a false dawn as he failed to finish another race through engine troubles and a Rockingham fire which is still throwing up problems.
“We’re still finding gremlins from that fire,” Blackman acknowledged. “In the wiring loom especially because some of the wires partly melted and have become quite brittle meaning we’re still discovering issues.
“For example, during the wet race at Mallory Park, I was running second and chasing down first. I went to switch on the demister to clear the screen but it wasn’t working which was a bit of a problem!”
It’s those difficulties that have made this year’s glory all the sweeter.
“The team needed to win [the title] after all the hard work they’ve put in this year,” he added. “The family don’t get to see you very much when you’re repairing the car, so winning the title makes the sacrifice worth it.”