Well, it’s been a busy year that has flown quicker than a car over a gap jump. The final round is nearly upon us and we roll in to Las Vegas next weekend for my last run of the eBay Motors Mk 7 Ford fiesta this season. After a poor show in the last round, I really want to finish this year on a high and plan on going all out to get that podium.

The race at SEMA is going to be a round unlike any seen this year; the scratch-built track next to the convention center in downtown Vegas is going to be epic. Once again, GRC has raised its game, factoring in a proper water splash which will unsettle the cars and create a spectacle for the crowd.

More dirt is also being brought onto the course, making this more like what we had back home in England. I am looking forward to getting my eBay Motors car on full 600hp drift through the mud. It will definitely keep the engineers busy for a different reason this weekend (car washing)

Although last time out we had issues, I have managed to get my head sorted and focused again for this meeting. The OMSE team is confident that issues are solved and the car is primed for winning.

Three points were lost in my championship fight in Vegas and it was my worst event of the year. Dropping from 5th to 8th in the Championship point series means we can’t mathematically challenge for the win, but we can go for 3rd. Capturing a podium spot for the Championship series is great incentive for getting my game on.

Meanwhile, I have been training hard over the last 4 weeks; running and biking and generally staying active – I’ve even enlisted Buddy (my girlfriends, cousin’s dog) who forces me out every morning for an 8 mile hike round the lovely countryside.

I hope all of you attending SEMA come and say “hello!” And watch out on our Facebook page in the next few days to see the launch of our new Binks 17 brand.

See you all soon.

David

I had a great feeling upon arriving in to Vegas. The Ford Fiestas that compete under the stewardship of OMSE all had a chance get the cars around a track in Lake Elsinore a few days ahead of racing and it was great to take the eBay Motors Ford Fiesta out for a spin after what has been a lengthy summer break.

Our morning practice session got the cars warm and we got to see how quick the other cars are in relation to ours. I was a little bit off top pace of Toomas Heikkenen, but rigorous measurement of split times of all the teams allowed me to pinpoint my weak points and ultimately know where to be more aggressive and improve to qualify well. It was also the start of the problems in the first warm up session. I ran some quick times but ended up losing drive after landing the table top jump. On inspection the guys found a drive shaft had come out due to the aggressiveness of the jump. Credit goes to my chief engineer Ian and the rest of the OMSE team for getting the Fiesta repaired before the qualifying sessions.

With the use of the split times I knew I had to push harder in the chicane and throughout the crossover of the jump; everywhere else we were on the pace. First lap out I found the speed and set a 26.83 lap. The second lap I brought it down to a 26.295 and then on the final qualifying lap I pushed through the chicane over the table top and bang! No drive!! My heart sunk.

We had just knocked another huge chunk off the split time on my final time round on par with Tanner Foust. Once again it was back to the workshop and another shaft to change. Now my guys had to work overtime and try to solve this prior to going to the heat.

My guys had worked right through the break in racing and changed the gearbox which had a slight knock in there. Also, we replaced the shafts and reset the spacers on the shafts to allow more travel.

Lined up on the grid I knew I had the start. We can generally beat everyone off the lights and the guys I was up against knew this. Surprisingly, it was Boss Andreas that jumped the start first. But when we lined up for the restart, Rhys Millen did it next. Now at drivers briefing we had been told that if there was a jump start it would keep going and a 30 second penalty given so when the lights went green I went! But a red flag came out again.

After two false starts by Boss Andreas and Rhys Millen jumping the green, I was under serious pressure to get into Turn 1 before the other racers. I had nailed two good starts and needed to get a third. Now with a hot car and tyres things start to change. I gave it a little more and slipped the clutch a bit extra not to get too much bite and we nailed the third start of the heat.

I was well ahead at the first turn, but I over cooked it, ran slightly wide, and Andreas and Millen got back through. I chased hard, whilst Andreas took the alternative, I took the jump and pushed hard catching them up.

On the next time round I took the alternative and got the bit between my teeth. I could taste a good result and a direct qualification but on the third lap I took the jump and “bang”, the sickening feeling was back as I lost drive for a split second and then it came back. I went up the gears down the straight, braked hard and turned in to bury the throttle. Again, nothing but revs and the car spun out in to the barriers.

It was the third time this weekend I had to take the long walk back to the pits and the first time this year I knew I hadn’t made it straight to the final.

I got the guys together and said are we going to make the Last Chance Qualifier and they just turned and jumped on the car. The boys had 20 minutes to find and solve this problem for good and I knew I had my work cut out to get us in to the final.

They were pleased to report that this time it was an actual shaft failure because the inner joint had failed. The boys swopped it and we joined the back of the grid. Not a place the eBay Motors Ford Fiesta has ever seen and hopefully won’t again.

A good start saw me go down the outside and struggle to stop at the first corner on the painted pit boxes, a slight contact with the back of the Subaru of Dave Mirra made me run round the dirt and push hard on to the back of the others. At the hairpin for the jump it felt like I hit some water as the car slid out wide as I pulled the gears and hit the jump. But as I landed it was evident a tyre had gone. Another half a lap it was off the rim and I wasn’t able to continue to the end.

So Viva Las Vegas wasn’t so good for us. The car ran well when running but the bad luck overcame us this weekend despite the grand effort the whole team put in towards keeping the eBay Motors Ford Fiesta out on track. When we return to Las Vegas in three weeks, I am going to make sure we end this year on a high!

So the last GRC round in New Hampshire seems so long ago – back in mid-July – and this break has been both long and welcomed. Taking full advantage of the time between GRC rounds, myself and the team have been able to kick back a bit, see family and friends, whilst also preparing the car (and driver) for the charge to the end. Hopefully with a bit of overdue luck we can make it on to the podium in the remaining two rounds.

The OMSE team has been working hard on my eBay Motors Replay XD Best Buy Ford Fiesta fixing the issues we had in NHMS and, as always extracting the extra speed we can from the car’s set up. When it comes to racing cars there are no better guys to work with; we all have one goal and that’s to WIN!

So what else has been going on?

I spent the first part of my rookie year racing in the highest level of competition I ever have, but also learning a new country. I have been fortunate to see a lot of America and meet some great people along the way. I traveled the whole West coast from doing my training at Dirt Fish Rally School near Seattle down to Los Angeles for the X Games. My girlfriend Jessica and I drove from Los Angeles to New Hampshire in a week crossing right across the country, seeing many fantastic States, and covering a good few thousand miles. Traveling across the U.S. was really cool to see, but I honestly felt it was great to go back to England seeing my family and friends when this mid season break arrived.

Now, in my family you’re never allowed to forget where you come from. I used to be a Director of our family waste recycling company where I started at the bottom as an apprentice mechanic many years ago before working my way up the company driving machines and trucks. So when my dad asked what I had planned for the weeks that followed I paused for a second to think. He just smiled and said, “I need a favour.” Three weeks later I had finished the drainage on a waste landfill restoration project the company was doing. It was good fun getting back on the CAT D6 bulldozers and 360 Excavators but a long way from the adrenalin rush of driving my eBay Motors Replay XD Best Buy Ford Fiesta, so I looked at trying to get some racing in back here in England.

Now our Fiesta is quite a complex bit of kit and running the cars outside of the events is strictly for development and shake down. So I decided if I could get in anything it had to be close competitive racing where I would be keeping my skills sharp and have some fun. Bring on the Suzuki Swift One-Make Rallycross Championship.

These little Suzuki’s are all the same with sealed engines and only moderately tuned ECU’s. Everyone has the same dampers, diffs and brakes so it’s always close racing. With 20 cars entered in to the weekend race at Lydden Hill in the UK I thought why not give it a go! And so the eBay Motors Suzuki swift was born for this one off event.

To be back racing in the UK was great, being able to meet up and see the fans who supported me in British Rallycross championship and who have been following me online over here in the US in the eBay Motors Ford Fiesta this year.

I went out in qualifying setting some decent times trying to dial myself in to the car. There’s not a lot you can change setup-wise, so it’s mostly learning entry speeds to keep this relatively low powered car’s momentum up through and out of the tight turns onto the straights.

The last time I drove this track was in my 600hp Fiesta so it was quite a change. In heat 1 we were leading for a bit till the joker lap where I came back out in 2nd place on the final lap, one of the other competitors took a final lunge on me in to the last corner, do or die sort of move, and spun me round, but in rubbings racing fashion I just punched the clutch in, straightened the wheels, and let him drag me over the finish line backwards.

Heat 2 started in great fashion I came off the back of the grid two wheels on the grass as the car in front moved over on me so I took the joker on the first lap causing me to be caught up in traffic, I once again drove the car past its limits, forgetting I didn’t have the suspension of the ebay Motors Fiesta, bending the strut in the first lap through the chicane trying to get a quick exit on to the straight to pass a car. For the rest of heat 2 I kept it going finishing 5th and only setting 6th fastest time.

In the final heat I went all out setting 3rd fastest time which joined to my other quickest gave me back row of the grid in the A final.

Off the start I got a great run up the inside in to turn one securing 3rd place, then the car in second took his joker giving me the run in 2nd, I went right up until the last lap (big mistake) before taking my joker. I came out right in the pack of cars on the last few turns, fighting with my fellow Northerner (term for us English that live up the cold end of England) I made a mistake touching his car mid turn spinning him out. This guy is a good friend of mine, Jonny Bean, and is fighting for the championship which he is currently leading and I unfortunately just made it a little harder for him! Sorry Jonny!!.. so all in all I had a great weekend in the eBay motors Swift but can’t wait to get back in the real deal of my eBay Motors Fiesta heading to Vegas.

The rest of my break has been spent seeing my friends and family, having lots of fun and getting out as much as possible in the countryside taking in the fresh air and bringing on my fitness. I got a cool mountain bike, which is the latest addition to my garage, a Ghost AMR 5900. I’m going to be hitting the trails on that and once my Replay XD cameras arrive I will be putting up some vids!.

So in this week’s lead up to Vegas, I have a shake down test in Lake Elsinore for the eBay Motors Replay XD Best Buy Ford Fiesta to give her a final shake down prior to heading to the track. I will also be doing a behind the scenes in Vegas with Replay XD to be aired on Facebook so watch out for that soon!

Make sure you keep following us on here as well as Twitter and Facebook, along with my fellow eBay Motors team mates Justin Bell, Tony Brakohiapa, Carey Hart and Ryan Beat and hope you can get out supporting one of us racing near you and see our varied eBay Motors rides ripping it up!

Photo credits: Big Thanks to two great photographers Kevin Noon Media and Richard Sams Photography

David

After getting to meet all the great people behind the scenes of eBay Motors in San Jose, I returned back to England last week. It was a hectic three days flying to California and back again but well worth it. I was made very welcome at eBay HQ and every one I met was fantastic. And I really enjoyed sharing my eBay Motors Ford Fiesta Global RallyCross Car with them. Explaining the race car to them was a great experience.

So back in England I was getting a bit restless knowing the last two upcoming Global RallyCross rounds up are a bit away. I knew I needed some adrenalin rush and the gym and training just don’t meet the grade of competition.

I contacted some old friends in the British Rallycross to see what was happening, Bank Holiday weekend in the UK is a special one it’s a public holiday and the Rallycross weekend at Lydden Hill Kent is huge! Big crowds and generally a sunny, hot weekend by UK standards.

In the UK there are lots of classes of cars from the Super Cars like my eBay motors Fiesta down to one make class which is a Suzuki Swift. So this weekend with my Fiesta stabled 5,000 miles away in CA I am excited to be going up against some stiff clubman competition in the Suzuki Swift Championship. Its closely fought with all the cars identical and I can’t wait to get out there and have some fun.
So over this weekend I will be posting on Twitter how its going and should get some snaps of the car online tomorrow!!

Here goes and I will let you know the results next week.

Keep them spinning till then!

David

My video interview at eBay headquarters in San Jose, California

Getting the news I was going to be driving the eBay Motors car in the final rounds of GRC was awesome, its been fantastic so far this season with the support from Serve and Best Buy but to get eBay as the primary sponsor for the final two races is great.

I’m delighted with the look of the car; the wrap and colour scheme look really sharp and on the track I’ve been pleased with how things are shaping up despite some tough breaks. The week eBay joined as primary sponsor I was taken out of a difficult 17 car final at X Games Los Angeles and my car failed me in New Hampshire, when running second. I’m hoping to pull something out the bag in Las Vegas to get that podium that is well within my grasp.

In 1998 and at the tender age of 16 I started my career in motorsport racing original mini coopers in Minicross. As much as I loved getting behind the wheel, the time spent building the cars in the garage at home with my father was equally enthralling for me and gave me an appetite to succeed in the world of motorsport. In the years that followed, I continued taking part in many amateur races until the beginning of 2010 when I decided to get serious and team up with Ford, turning semi professional in the process. The switch paid off and with a string of podium finishes and race wins, I brought home 3rd place in the MSA British Rallycross Championship.

2011 and after a successful start in the Best Buy UK Team, Andreas Eriksson invited me to a test in Sweden with OMSE. Eriksson subsequently asked me to join the OMSE team full time and run the remainder of the 2011 MSA Supercars championship. The trusted Mk6 Fiesta was stabled and I took control of one of the teams Mk7 Ford Fiestas. Instantly I found myself leading the championship in a three-way battle and with the support of the team I was never off the podium all the way to the end of The Championship.

2012 is looking good with the team initiating me in a full out assault on the GRC. I’ve left my full time employment at the family waste recycling company behind and will focus all my energy as one of the rookies in the OMSE Ford, Best Buy Racing Team.

I know I still have still has lots to learn, but I’m excited by the challenge and I feel I’m making great progress every race

History
1998 -2000 Minicross
2001 Minicross Champion
2002 -2005 MSA Super Modified
2005 Dutch Super Modified Rallycross Master
2006-2007 (break; work commitments)
2008-2009 MSA Super Cars Div 1 with DJB Motorsport Mitsubishi team 6th overall
2010 MSA Super Cars Div 1 with DJB Motorsport Ford Mk6 3rd overall
2011 MSA Super Cars Div 1 with OMSE Best Buy Ford Fiesta Mk7 3rd overall (only the 3 final championship rounds in the Mk 7)
2012 The story continues with eBay Motors…
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Final Round of the GRC 2012 on September 29th

Being part of this fantastic sport with a great team and Sponsor really makes me look forward to getting in a race car and, being a relatively young driver I’m extremely excited about the future and have the support of a fantastic team who push me to keep improving. I know podium finishes aren’t far away!

GRC is developing at great speed and the opportunity to expand it overseas is exiting and should increase what has already become a large following. The tracks are becoming more technical and exciting to watch as spectators, speaking to fans at all rounds this season it was clear that watching a GRC provides huge entertainment and that is always nice to hear.

Over the next two months I’ll be back in the UK catching up with family and friends and maybe doing a bit of light bulldozing at the family business when I can. Aside from that I will need to keep my eye in ahead of the next race so I’ll be spending some time behind the wheel at the DirtFish Rally School. Bring on Vegas!

To stay in touch with me, follow me here on the eBay Motors Blog and also on Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter : @ David_Binks
facebook : http://facebook.com/DavidBinksRallycross
Best Buy Racing Mobile App available to download free on Android and Apple