Meade's mountain meditation

From front row to last in the opening 200m, James Meade’s recovery drive showed calm, peace & balance to post a top 10 finish at Mount Panorama.

RRL Media:
Hi James! It’s been a while since we last saw you race in anger at RRL, Season 52 I believe. What have you been doing with yourself since then?

James:
It has been a fair will since season 52. In between, I’ve been competing in multiple events mainly endurances with probably my best result being 12th overall in the simgrid time attack finale. So trying to hone some of my ACC skills ready for the Masters!

RRL Media:
How would you assess your season so far in our flagship series?

James:
My championship so far has been a very mixed bag. I’m very honoured to have been recruited to the Crew Chief Works Team but the Audi certainly isn’t suiting me. Personally, I’m struggling a lot with the car in every practice and race to get a handle on extracting the pace and consistency I expect. This also wasn’t helped by a technical issue in the first round.

Although getting the win at Watkins was great and knowing I have a front-running pace, sadly the mistakes have cost me a lot in the championship.

RRL Media:
Here we are at some of the most famous tarmac on the planet. What does this place mean to you as a driver?

James:
I always look forward to Bathurst purely for the challenge that the track brings and this time was no different. How close the margins are to the walls of which if you hit can be race ending really requires good attention for the full 2 hours! Plus there is no better satisfaction feeling than nailing a good lap around Bathurst!

RRL Media:
So it’s Sunday evening, the nerves are kicking in and your palms are getting sweaty. How did qualifying and the race unfold?

James:
I was disappointed with quali as I ruined a few attempts that would have seen me get pole but starting on up near the front is always the goal here to try to avoid potential wrecks on the opening laps.

Alas, a small error of judgement caused me to get turned out at T1, dropping me to the very back and sustaining heavy damage.

From there, I just tried to change my pit strategy up to just fix the damage and take 1 litre of fuel then pit later once more for tyres. I think I lost, in total, around 1 minute on the leaders and with the strength of the field, I knew a podium wasn’t happening without a miracle.

It made a very interesting and fun first 45 mins trying to carve my way back up the grid and with some strokes of good fortune managed to have, in my opinion, the best drive of my season so far finishing P5.

RRL Media:
About that T1 incident. Would you care to elaborate on how you saw it and do you think the stewards got it right?

James:
The T1 incident at Bathurst, to me, was an innocent one. I was thinking the Audi behind was going to back out just before the apex so I came across slightly tighter and I think the combination of him not lifting and me taking a narrower line caused the crash.

Tbh I wouldn’t have been bothered if he got a penalty or not, these things happen. The biggest and best thing is the respect given and I instantly got an apology from Bram and that means the most tbh.

RRL Media:
There’s no denying you have impressive pace but as you eluded to earlier, the season has been a bit of a mixed bag for you. What do you hope to have achieved in terms of the drivers’ championship come the chequered flag in Spa?

James:
In terms of the championship going forward, being realistic, it will be difficult to make any real jump upwards as drivers like Bulke, Bram, Dekeyser and Max have been flying and super consistent all season long.

RRL Media:
And what about the teams’ championship? A strong Belgian contingent above you but a bit of a buffer to some also misfiring outfits in the chasing pack. Are you confident the sponsor team will hang on to third?

James:
I think in terms of team-wise Jim has been on the unlucky end of some incidents in the early races but has been getting stronger in the car throughout too. Hopefully, with the right rub of the green, he can continue showing that pace as he did at Kyalami and Bathurst for a last push for maybe a podium finish.

written by: Simon Fillingham

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