In the end it was a more than deserved P4 in the Championship with one win in the season. But Colin could have won more and even come out on top in the end. We talked with him about his last season, and his journey into simracing.
FBL: It’s not obvious if one looks at the results of last season’s races, but you were driving amazing during the WTEC. We saw you on pace and in reach of victory at almost every track. How did you cope with all those problems in the pits during the first half of the season?
Colin: Thank you Sandro – to be honest I struggled, and it took a while to get my head around it. Usually when it comes to longer distance races there is either a Spotter taking on the role of crew chief, or you have Jim from that remarkable bit of software Crew Chief running, which usually handles everything, but I don’t have a spotter for FBL being solo endurance and I never got Crew Chief to work correctly under the FBL 2 mandatory stop ruling.
At Mosport, the season opener, I pitted early and had Crew Chief running, but Jim filled the car with so much fuel (to run to the end) that I ended up being over a second a lap down on the front runners, which I believe ultimately cost me a podium place. At Road Atlanta I took over the management of the fuel stops myself, using my Stream Deck, and royally f**ked up with the car taking on a full tank of fuel, much more than it ever needed and thus cost me another podium place.
However, I was determined to continue managing the fuel stops myself, but again mishaps in the pitstops themselves and/or refuelling cost me further podiums at Nordschleife (my favourite circuit in a Radical), Monza (where I truly believe I would have won but ended up rage quitting after a spin from far too much fuel, again!), Brands Hatch and Spa Francorchamps. However, everything eventually fell into place nicely at Suzuka, but by that time the Championship was well and truly out of my reach.
But I must say that everyone kept me humoured in the Discord channel regarding my refuelling incidents, thanks guys, but I would like to think I have this mastered now, so look out REC 2022 😉
FBL: It must have been a big relief when you finally managed to get everything together and win the penultimate race at Suzuka?
Colin: Suzuka is an awesome circuit and one of my favourites for sure, but everything just clicked during that race. I didn’t qualify on the front row of the grid, but I had a great start and then Daniele had a spin on or around lap 8 into Degner 2 and I capitalised from there. It also helped that not only were my pit stops faultless (for the first time), but my teammate Graeme kept Daniele behind him for several laps during the middle stint of the race.
However, I can’t help but think that maybe it would have been a different race if Nihad hadn’t taken up spinning on the grid, Alfonso hadn’t jumped the lights at the start, and Nathan had remained in the States 😉 But I’d like to think not, and will take that overdue victory with a huge smile 😊
FBL: Besides your win and pit stop problems, what stayed in your mind about the last season?
Colin: It’s the clean competitive respect between everyone. Many of us have been racing together now for a few seasons and I would like to think that during that time we have all gotten to know who will and who won’t give an inch into a corner and/or a chicane, and considering our races are 90 minutes there are actually very, very few incidents, but there is an awful lot of fine racing during that time, so for me it’s that really, the clean competitive respect shown by all.
FBL: Looking beyond your results in the last season, we have to consider you to be one of the favourites for the championship. Is this a position you see yourself in?
Colin: Well I would like to think so, I missed a few races last season so I am hoping to make every round this coming season, and with the fuel stops finally sorted who knows where I’ll be at the end of the season. More podium places I would hope, which in turn could lead to the overall championship – one thing for sure is that I will be giving 110% to each and every race.
FBL: Seeing you race on track, one might think you are simracing for ages, but you just started a few years ago. How did you get into it?
Colin: I started in August 2020, I had become a member of Porsche Club GB earlier in the year as I was looking to buy myself a Porsche 911, which I eventually did last June, a Carrera S (992). Anyway, either in the monthly newsletter or on an email from them I spotted that there was a sim racing community using some software called iRacing.
For years I had always raced on consoles, owning both PS4 and Xbox at the time, and I had a cheap and cheerful sim rig setup with a Thrustmaster wheel and pedals that suited me just fine, but iRacing was PC based and it had been a very long time since I raced on a PC. I created an account with iRacing and joined the PCGB sim racing community on Discord, I even moved my entire rig into my office, and made full use of the 3 monitors at my disposal, although I was probably 3 feet away from them and a good foot or two lower. I joined PCGB Season 2 as a driver and was instantly hooked, not only on sim racing but on the entire Discord community too, everyone was so friendly and helpful, and that is still true to this very day as I have met some wonderful people through the sim racing community that I am honoured to call friends.
During my initial season in PCGB I knew after about 4 races that my kit just wasn’t up to what was needed, and after spending an hour on a telephone call to the wonderful Matt Dorrington at Mydas Simulation I placed an order for an entirely new setup: SimLab P1-X, Triple Monitor Stand with Quad Monitor Mount, Heusinkveld Sprint Pedals, VRS Direct Force Pro and a Cube Controls Formula Sport rim, I didn’t mess around. I also ordered 3 curved MSI 27” monitors from elsewhere and upgraded the graphics card in an old Intel i7 PC I had laying around doing nothing.
And of course, shortly after the new rig was built (in a separate room away from the office), I did a Driver61 course (which I highly recommend) and subscribed to VRS to give me data logging, track walks and setups, and RaceLapApps to give me live data overlays. I still run all of this today except for the Formula Sport rim, due to recently upgrading to the Cube Controls Formula FPro, which I am extremely pleased with BTW.
After PCGB season 2 I discovered other Discord Servers and began joining in other leagues, GT3, Radical, Porsche Cup Car, but my love for the Radical just grew and grew and today it is definitely my weapon of choice and the car I get the most fun from.
FBL: You weren’t into Teams for a long time. Then we noticed you did practice sessions together with Graeme. Has your view on the teams side of the fbl changed?
Colin: Not one bit, sorry. Look, it’s fun and I will continue to take part in it, with Graeme as a teammate, as long as he’s happy with that, but it’s not why I race in FBL. I race in FBL due to the car and the race format, and long may that continue. Graeme and I practice together probably twice a week or more, whether it be for an upcoming FBL or RRS (see below) race and we constantly review, share, and give tips on each other’s driving, which clearly paid dividends as the FBL season drew to a close.
FBL: It’s not just you that raised your game in the second part of the season, also Graeme Brown showed impressive performance during the last couple of races. Will we see you grab for the Team-Championship next season?
Colin: Who knows, to win the Team-Championship you both need to finish well in every round, which is where I prefer to be a solo privateer, that way the only person I can ever let down is myself. It’s certainly not a championship I will be aiming for personally, but I will do whatever I can with my teammate to not let the side down.
FBL: Where can we meet you on track besides the fbl-races?
Colin: Ah well, the only series I’ve committed too outside of FBL currently is RRS (Radical Race Series) which is a weekly Radical Sprint series for those in UK&I that follows the official iRacing schedule, where we race using an open setup every Thursday evening. I may get involved again in FTR Event’s Endurance Series with 11.Tenths Racing Team, but nothing has been confirmed as yet, but watch this space. But while I thoroughly enjoy the Radical this is where I intend to stay for the foreseeable future.
FBL: We know you have an affiliation with Sim Racing Magazine. What is it about and what’s your role there?
Colin: Sim Racing Magazine was an idea born by Andrew Marston who only 12 months ago created a fun but simple digital interactive magazine for the sim racing community of PCGB (Porsche Club GB). Since then, it has grown to cover many other aspects of Sim Racing outside of the PCGB community, and most recently organised (with the assistance of Chaz Draycott Media) its very own GT4 Challenge League, which is going down a storm. My role, well I just help Andy with the social media and website side, and in obtaining articles for the magazine, like your FBL one recently.
FBL: Many of us might not know that you make a podcast called “Moving Matters”, that has already reached its 42nd Episode. Can you enlighten us about that?
Colin: Moving Matters is a podcast for the industry I specialise in, Removals & Storage, although I am a software supplier to that industry it is an industry I have been involved in since 1986. The podcast isn’t for people looking to move home, so you’ll not find any moving tips, but more for those working or have worked within the industry, which is a fantastic industry, and extremely friendly, much like the sim racing community. I like to get a wide range of guests, which I believe I have succeeded in to date, and talk about their views on the industry as a whole, and my guests gets to end each episode with at least one funny moving story.
So, if you see me on track, you should be able to spot me quite easily with the Moving Matters livery created for a bit of fun 😊
FBL: Thanks for talking to us.
COLIN WYNN
Located: Hampshire, UK.
Profession: Managing Director of Administer Software Limited and Podcast Host.
Simracing-Highlights: Meeting some of the awesome sim racing community in real life!
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