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Snetterton - 1 Sep - Race 13 |
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The first of three Snetterton races
on the bounce was a good result
following the disaster at Oulton.
So onto Snetterton. Snetterton is
not my strongest circuit and my target
for the weekend was the podium.
Testing on Thursday was a nightmare,
in every one of the four sessions I
had something go wrong with my car,
from the clutch master cylinder, to my
front brakes boiling. I think the
problems were all down to the fact
that a lot of work was conducted on
the car following the crash at Oulton,
so the testing on Thursday acted as a
shake down for the car. At the end of
testing I had done a 1 minute 15.08
seconds (this was faster than I had
done before at Snetterton) and Hideto
was the quickest with 1 minute 14.89
with Kaz also in the 1 minute 14's.
Everyone in the championship went
quicker now compared to back in April
when the season kicked off.
Qualifying went well. I qualified
third with a 1 minute 14.59 seconds,
Kaz was pole and Hideto was 2nd, I was
0.3 seconds of Kaz. Aaran had had a
problem with his car and qualified
7th, whilst a new comer to our class
(graduated from the Zeus class) Ben
Elliot had an excellent session and
qualified 4th. The rest of the grid
was made up of Jonathan Potts in 5th,
Damian Byrne in 6th, Rob Barnett in
7th and Chris Ware in 8th.
My tactics for the race was to get
a good start and sit behind Hideto and
Kaz and let them battle it out for the
first 8 laps before I attempted to
make a move on either of them. I
thought Kaz had a point to prove and
would want to beat Hideto. In the
early stages I was comfortable in
third, but by lap three Aaran had come
through the pack and was forth. Hideto
had got passed Kaz and was beginning
to pull away. Therefore I thought the
time was right to try and pass Kaz and
chase Hideto. I decided to make a move
at
Rusell, the last bend on the
circuit which is a tight S. I pulled
along side Kaz and out braked him and
myself! I was going to quick to make
the corner, so had to cut the S and go
over the grass, I rejoined the circuit
in second but because I had gained a
place by overtaking on the grass, I
had to slow down and let Kaz back into
second or I would have been subject to
a time penalty. Therefore, up the
straight I slowed down and let Kaz by,
however, my loss of momentum also let
Aaran by. Now I was in forth and
cursing myself.
I followed Aaran for the next lap
and when he made a mistake at Sear I
was close enough to take advantage and
overtake him on the long back straight
at the exit of the corner. I put my
head down and decided to chase Kaz. He
had pulled about a three second gap
because of me and Aaran battling. On
the next lap Aaran had developed a
problem with his car and started to
drop back so I could now concentrate
on catching Kaz. In the last two laps
I had caught Kaz and it was obvious
his brakes were not working very well
because he was braking very
erratically. This made it very hard
for me to overtake because his car was
very unpredictable under braking. We
collided a few times but the impacts
were not big and we carried on as
normal. I decided that I was going to
make my move on the last corner at
Russell again. I waited until the last
lap and knew what I was going to do.
However, a back marker got in my way
and Kaz managed to put the back marker
between him and me. My chance had gone
and I had to settle for Third.
Hideto won by 8 seconds. Kaz 's
problems and the battle with me had
slowed us down, and Hideto had a
comfortable last four laps. The new
driver, Ben Elliot made a mistake on
the first lap and did not finish,
Chris Ware was lucky to avoid the
accident between Ben and Rob and
finished 7th behind Damian (Damian
span at the last corner and let Aaran
through), Aaran and Jonathan Potts.
Overall I am please with third. I
had to score this weekend. Although
Hideto has increased the lead at the
top, I am still in touching distance,
and my lead over Aaran in third has
increased slightly.
Hideto is very good at Snetterton.
So with 2 of the last 4 races at
Snetterton Hideto is the strong
favourite for the championship. I am
hoping for rain next week, that would
make the race very unpredictable.
Darran has also put some pictures
from the weekend on his web site:
www.manchap.com > Archive > 2002 >
Snetterton
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Oulton Park Aug 17/18 (Race
12) |
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Well Oulton park did not go as
planned from start to finish!
Fridays testing was bad, qualifying
was hectic and the race was terrible!
But you have to take the good with
the bad and except it and move on. I
have already put this weekend down to
a drop score and am now looking
forward to Snetterton.
Testing on Friday was not good. We
had two test sessions, one 20 minutes
long and one 40 minutes long. The
first test session went okay in terms
of driving, however my in car computer
broke (again) so I had no idea of my
times and how I was doing compared to
everyone else. It felt okay and quick
but without comparing data, you cannot
tell where you need to improve. The
second test session, after waiting 4
hours for it to start, was red flagged
after two laps and cancelled due to
the amount of damaged caused to the
barriers. The barriers would take
until after 5:00pm to fix, so the day
was cut short. Therefore, I finished
practice not knowing how I was doing
compared to everyone else and no one
really knew who was quickest because
in the first session no one really
went for it at 100%. You always take
the first session to warm up and get
into it gradually. We were racing on
the full circuit, nearly 3 miles long
at 1 minute 48ish lapping time.
I was up for qualifying. We had not
raced the full circuit before, and
after Rockingham was confident I could
put it on pole. However, on corner two
it was apparent I was not going to
have a good session. By the second
corner my clutch had completely
failed, I had lost hydraulic pressure
and the pedal was floppy. I therefore,
did my mandatory three laps in order
to qualify to start the race. During
these three laps I worked out how to
change down and was putting in 1
minute 58 times. I came into the pits
on lap 4 of qualifying in 9th overall
(9 out of 15 starters). The mechanics
identified a hose that had split. The
gearbox need to be removed to replace
it. I had 2 minutes 30 seconds of
qualifying left, I told the mechanics
to fill the clutch system back up with
fluid and I would only use the clutch
on two corners. I went out with 2
minutes to go, I had to make it around
the circuit in under 2 minutes in
order to have one last flying lap. I
made it round with seconds to go and
then went for it. Again my clutch went
after three corners so I reverted to
slamming it into second gear from
forth whenever I needed to slow down.
It worked well but completely wrecked
my second gear. I crossed the line
with a 1 minute 47.7 which put me on
pole, but then Hideto crossed the line
10 seconds afterwards on his last
flying lap and stole pole off me by
0.3 of a second. Not bad in the end
considering the trouble I had and the
fact that I only did one flying lap
and had no clutch.
The race was 9 hours after
qualifying so the mechanics had plenty
of time to replace the clutch hose and
rebuild the gearbox.
The race was even worse. I got a
good start and stayed close to Hideto.
Aaran who qualified third , also
got a good start and the three of us
lead the pack in that order. By the
end of lap one I was all over Hideto
and made my overtaking manoeuvrer into
the last corner on the first lap. It
worked and I was now out in front.
However, I did not drive well and
could not pull away from Hideto and
Aaran. Aaran managed to get past
Hideto and then Arran and I battled
for the next three laps. On the start
of lap five Aaran forced his way up
the inside of me into turn one. We
both ran a bit wide which allow Hideto
to close right up. We went into the
second corner, a fast 90mph left
hander Aaran in 1st, me second and
Hideto third. I was really close to
Aaran and then suddenly out of the
corner of my eye I saw Hideto heading
straight up the inside of me. There
was no room for him and I could not
give him more room without hitting
Aaran. Hideto hit me side on and we
went spinning off together into the
grass. Unfortunately, my car was more
damaged than his. He had taken the
left side of my car out, which
included puncturing the radiator and
ripping the bodywork off. We both
managed to get it back on the track,
but I could not go quick, engine
coolant was pouring onto the rear
wheels and as a result had no grip
what so ever. Hidetos car was okay and
he went ahead and made every effort to
catch the leaders. Once all of my
engine coolant had come out I watched
the engine temperature rise and rise.
I decided to try and finish the race
last and at least take a point from
the weekend. However, on lap six my
engine
started to sound very bad and I
began to loose power. I therefore
pulled into the pits on the end of the
lap and the engine seized as soon as I
came to a stop.
Aaran went onto win with Kaz second
and Chris Ware third. I am really
pleased for Chris as he was on the
pace all weekend and really deserved
the third place (his first podium of
the season, but not the last i hope).
Aaran and Kaz drove a good race and
Hideto managed to climb back to forth.
Again the top three we only covered
by a few seconds, and Chirs almost
stole second from Kaz on the last lap.
This all means it was a bad weekend
for me in terms of the championship.
Hideto increased his lead at the
top whilst Aaran closed the gap to me
in second (I have not completed the
championship positions yet, I will
forward you them when I have).
So onto Snetterton and hopefully a
better race weekend. The end of the
season is now drawing in, with 5 races
within three weeks starting on
September 1.
|
Rockingham July 20th (Race 11). |
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Well this weekend at Rockingham was
very satisfying. I approached
Thursday's practice with a plan to
consolidate and build on my two wins
at Brands Hatch last week and to keep
the pressure on Hideto at the top of
the pack. To do this I had in mind a
target of a podium finish. However, on
my very first lap at Rockingham I knew
that this was my type of circuit.
Rockingham is only one and a half
years old and is a 52,000 all seater
stadium with an immense circuit and
facilities in the middle of the
stadium. The circuit used part of the
banking of the Oval, had a number of
very fast chicanes and three very slow
hairpins. It had everything, and was
2.6 miles long which made the lap
times the longest in our series.
Again we were supporting F3 this
weekend, so there was a second class
of Formula Ford (lower class) racing
with us so there was a total of 19
cars for Saturdays race (12 in our
class).
Practice on Thursday was a mixed
affair. In the first session I took it
easy and learnt the track. There is
very little run off at Rockingham so
the slightest mistake would have
caused a very bad accident (specially
when you consider you are taking the
chicane at the end of the straight at
over 100mph). The second session went
well in terms of driving, however the
computer display and logging system on
my car broke so at the end of the
session and during the session I had
no idea of my timings and how I was
doing compared to the others. For
session three my in car computer was
repaired, but my accelerator linkage
broke six minutes into the 30 minute
session so I only completed three
laps, and none of them were at 100%
(we later found out the cause of the
problem because this also happened at
Brands Hatch). The forth session and
final of our practice time at
Rockingham went much better. The car
was great and I really put my head
down and pushed hard. By the end of
the session I had got my lap times
down to 1 minute 52.85 seconds, this
was 0.8 of a second quicker than
anyone else (this is unheard of in our
series, normally the top five or six
are split by less than 0.5 of a
second).
This was very satisfying and changed
my mentality for approaching the race.
I loved the circuit and knew I could
go quicker, a lot of the other
competitors were not sure if my
quickest lap was a one off, but I knew
I had consistently put in low 1 minute
53's and broke into the 52's on more
than one occasion in practice, and I
had a feeling I could go quicker.
So when qualifying arrived I had
decided to do three sets of flying
laps and take it easy for two laps in
between my flying laps. This would let
my tyres cool back down, because on a
very fast and twisty circuit you could
tell the difference in handling when
the tyres got overheated.
This seemed to work, in my first
flying three laps I had got down to 1
minute 52.3. In my second set of
flying laps I had broken down into 1
minute 51.85 a full second quicker
than I managed in practice and 0.8
quicker than anyone else in
qualifying. Again this type of
difference is very unusual.
In the race it was very important for
me to have a good start. Rockingham
has a massive straight at the end of
the lap and if second place was close
to me he would have got a good tow and
easily have gone past. That would
have meant me and second place would
have battled for the entire race and
the rest of the pack would have
challenged us as well. But I knew if
the leader could brake away early on
then whoever had done that would not
have been caught. Hideto qualified
second with Kaz third, so this was not
going to be easy.
When the green lights came on I got a
great start and went 110% for the
first lap. By the time I had got to
the start of the straight on the end
of the first lap I had broken away
from Hideto who was defending his
place to Kaz. I then pushed as hard as
possible for the next three laps. By
lap four I was at least 4 seconds
ahead of Hideto who had pulled away
from Kaz after he had made a mistake.
Third place was a battle between the
remaining five cars. Damian had pulled
an overtaking manoeuvre which took him
from 7th to 3rd in one move. This
shows how hotly contested third place
was. This allowed Hideto to pull away,
however he could not close the gap on
me.
For the final three laps I eased of a
little to ensure I did not make any
silly mistakes. I came home 3.9
seconds ahead of Hideto after putting
in a very slow final lap. In the final
laps, after Damian lost his front nose
cone, third was fought out between
Aaron and Jonathan Potts, with Potts
coming home the eventual winner of
that battle. For the first time this
season, every starter of the race
finished!
| Brands
Hatch: July 13th (Races 9&10) |
|
Driver Interview:
I'd approached this weekend in a
determined mood, even in testing on
Thursday I was trying a number of
new things to try and go quicker.
In testing I was second quickest so
I was pleased.
In the back of my mind I knew I had
to win at least one race this weekend
in order to keep up with the leaders
in the championship. I like Brands
Hatch and have always been good there
in the past, and this weekend was
the last time we would be racing at
Brands this season, so I thought I
had to take the chance because I knew
my best chance of winning would come
at Brands Hatch.
So it was a busy day on Saturday,
qualifying in the morning and two
races in the afternoon.
Qualifying did not go too well, I
warmed the car up for the first three
laps and then put in two flying laps,
on my second flying lap I noticed
that I was not getting full throttle
when I put my foot down. I stayed
out for another two laps and the car
got slower and slower, so I made a
dash for the pits. The mechanics found
that the throttle linkage had snapped,
they made a quick repair and got me
back out onto the track with a minute
of qualifying to go. Unfortunately,
on my flying lap after leaving the
pits, Hideto crashed badly and
hit a wall and span out into the middle
of the circuit. This meant the qualifying
sessions was red flagged and that
was it. Luckily my first and only
proper flying lap was half decent
and I qualified fourth.
The first race basically proved the
saying "to finish first, first
you must finish".
Hideto's crash in qualifying was
so bad that the car was not ready
for the first race. Therefore, I started
from fourth, but only had Aaron and
Kaz in front of me. So the green lights
came on and I got a great start. However,
my car problems were not sorted. I
found out much to my surprise on the
first hairpin that my revs were sticking
at about 3000rpm. This meant that
when I braked and changed down a gear
then let my foot off the clutch
the car surged forward. This forced
me into a mistake on the first hairpin.
Luckily fourth place Antony
Halliwell was not close enough to
take advantage, but it did allow
Aaron and Kaz to pull away by about
three seconds. By about the fourth
lap I had worked out how to drive
the car with the sticking throttle.
This meant that I could pull away
from fourth place Antony Halliwell,
and I was making slow inroads
to the leaders. I could see Aaron and
Kaz battling hard about two seconds
in front of me, and I was just waiting
for one of them to make a mistake.
And much to my surprise it happened!
Kaz misjudged an overtaking manoeuvre,
mounted the back of Aarons car and
took off and hit the barrier. We were
later to find out that the crash had
such an impact that it bent Kaz's
chassis and wrote the car off. This
allowed me to catch Aaron, and it was
obvious there was a problem with his
car. One lap later he pulled over
and I went by! Into first with four
laps to go. Antony Halliwell now in
2nd was about 5 seconds behind me so
I cruised the last two laps. I was
delighted with my first win and with
it being a double header race day
it meant that I started from pole
in the second race.
Race two came, I was on pole, Antony
Halliwell 2nd, with Aaron and Hideto
starting from 6th and 8th. Kaz did
not start after writing his car off.
I got a good start, but again much
to my annoyance my sticking throttle
came back. I battled with Halliwell
for the first four laps, taking a
defensive line. During this battle
Aaron had moved up from 6th to third
in about 4 laps. On lap 6 Aaron disposed
of Halliwell and for the remaining
6 laps Aaron and I battled it out.
We puled away from third and then
battled very hard during the last
four laps. When we crossed the finish
line there was 0.03 of a second between
us. We were almost neck and neck across
the finish line. I had driven a defensive
line into the last corner and he drove
the racing line and got a much better
exit out of the corner. We swerved
to block each other down the straight
and as we crossed the line I was about
half a meter in front. It was a real
battle and I really enjoyed it and
felt as though I had really earn't the
second win. I led from the start and
never lost the lead. It was the most
enjoyable race to date.
Well with Hideto crashing in qualifying
and missing the first race, with Kaz
writing his car off in race one, and
Aaron retiring from race one after
his clash with Kaz, winning
was made even better because the points
really have moved me up the table.
I am now second, 10 points off the
leader and 16 points ahead of third
(Aaron). However, this weekend just
shows how quickly points can
be achieved or lost!
My next race is Rockingham. I need
to consolidate now and ensure I finish
and finish reasonably well (we have
a three week summer break after Rockingham
so it is important to finish well).
I don't need to take any risks at
Rockingham especially when you think
I have never raced there before.
| Brands
Hatch: June 30th (Race 7) |
|
There was only one race
this weekend at Brands Hatch instead
of two. This was because we were last
on the schedule for the second race
on Sunday and due to too many races
and a big delay caused by an accident
(not in our race) our second race
was postponed.
Testing on Friday was okay but not
brilliant. I crashed out in the 3rd
test session at that same corner that
I crashed out at in the last race
at Brands. The mechanics managed to
fix my car and I was back out for
the last test session of the day where
I made a few adjustments to that corner
and I ended the day quite pleased.
This weekend was supporting F3 so
it was a big weekend for our championship.
Therefore, we had two classes of car
racing in our race, our cars were
the quickest class. As a result there
were 23 cars in total for qualifying
and 22 started the race. Around Brands
Hatch Indy circuit, 22 cars is a lot.
Qualifying on Saturday went well,
I qualified 3rd and went quicker than
I had done before around Brands.
Race day came on Sunday, unfortunately
I had only had 5 hours sleep Saturday
night (Friends Wedding) so I was a
bit tired before the race.
A number of people in my team had
had a word with me on Friday and Saturday
and suggested that I know that I had
the speed and potential to beat
everyone at Brand Hatch, but I needed
to race more tactically instead of
go like a bat out of hell from the
start and trying to get to first as
quickly as possible and then once
there crumble under the pressure!
Anyway for once, I decided to listen
to them, because my tactics in other
races had not brought me a race win,
thought I might as well try something new.
The tactics were, to sit in third
for most of the race (as long as second
was close to first) and then make
the overtaking moves late on in the
race with about 3 or 4 laps to go.
So this is what I did. The leading
three, me Aaron and Hideto drove lap
after lap flat out and pulled a big
lead over the chasing pack. I sat
behind them waiting to come across
back markers and waiting for one of
them to make a mistake. If a mistake
did not come then I had decided where
I would try and overtake Aaron and
then Hideto - I was confident I could
do this.
Anyway on the 12th lap out of 15
I was about to put more pressure on
Aaron and make my move. However, Mr
Antony Halliwell had crashed off the
lap before, and as we crossed the
line to finish lap 12 of 15 the red
flags came out! It was very annoying,
the three of us were covered by less
than 0.4 of a second. We were nose
to tail and the last three laps were
going to be a great fight.
Oh well, the tactics were good in
theory, however you could say they
were good in practice because I finished
3rd as apose to not finishing by crashing
whilst in the lead like last time
at Brands Hatch.
I am now still third in the championship,
one point off second.
So in two weeks, we potentially have
three races at Brands Hatch, two on
the Saturday and one on the Sunday
- I wonder what tactics I will deploy
then?
Oulton
Park: June 8th (Race 6)
|
|
Again, thanks
to everyone that came along and supported
me - it is great and definitely pressures
the other drivers.
Oulton Park was better this weekend.
I was good in testing and qualified
2nd.
The race was dry with some wet patches
and when the green lights came on
I had a good start and was half a
car length ahead of the leader into
turn one. I was not far enough
ahead to cut across him so we went
around the first corner side by side,
like Snetterton I ran out of road
and my left wheels took to the grass.
This threw me across the track and
I just about managed to keep it on
the track going roughly in the correct
direction. By the time I got the car
straight, the leader had already pulled
about a 3 second gap and the rest
of the pack was right up my gearbox.
I proceeded to be pressured by the
pack and dropped back to fourth by
about the third lap. I was half asleep
for the first 4 laps, I just could
not get going.
I then pulled third back off Damian
who was second at one point, as soon
as I overtook him, he pushed as hard
as possible to catch me and ended
up going too quickly into a very fast
double apex corner and spun out into
the gravel - I know how that feels.
This left me and Halliwell to battle
it out for second. By this time the
leader Hideto had got his head down
and pulled out of site!
I battled with Halliwell for about
the next five laps. We overtook each
other about twice on each lap. Eventually
he pushed a bit too hard and when overtaking
me on a slow corner drove over a very
large curve that we were told to avoid.
As he went over the kirb, his car
just came to a halt! I really did
feel very sorry for him because it
was a good battle we were having.
This left me in second, with Aaron
about 3 seconds behind. I just got
my head down, hardly looked in my
mirrors and drove like I should have
driven at Brands Hatch. By the end
of the race I was 8 seconds clear of
Aaron in a comfortable second place.
Hideto in the lead was out of site
for the entire second half of the
race.
What I did not know is that there
had been a lot of driving errors and
mechanical problems throughout the
field and only four of us actually
finished. Not a good advert for our
championship!
This was the first race where at the
finish everyone was spread out - it
was quite unusual and very different
to the past races where the first
five of us are sometimes only split
by less than a second.
This race was slightly different to
past races. Instead of 12 laps we
had to race for 15 minutes. This meant
that by the end we had actually completed
15 laps. It was good experience for
me to just put my head down and drive,
I proved to myself that if I ignore
what's behind me I can pull away.
- If only I knew this at brand hatch!
|
Brands
Hatch: May 25th/26th (Races
4&5)
|
|
My weekend of racing was a mixed
fortune affair.
Testing on Friday went fine and come
qualifying for Saturdays race I was
4th quickest and started the race
from row two. Saturdays race went
well, I battled with third and then
second for the majority of the race.
I broke into second on about the 4th
lap and put in good times to catch
the leader. However, the race was
red flagged on lap 8 because of a
bad crash so I did not have time to
put some big pressure on the leader.
If the race had gone on I know I would
have got past him and was confident
that I could have won it.
With Saturday in mind I approached
Sundays race in a different frame
of mind. I decided that
it was about time that I began to
make an impression on the championship
and stop the Japaneese running away with
it (no more drive for percentages
and just score while I am learning)
- therefore it was time to stop racing
and being pleased with 3rd, 4ths and
2nds - I decided I wanted to win -
this was probably a bad thing.
Anyway I started second on the grid
and got a good start. I was battling
with the leader from the first lap
and first got into the lead on the
second lap. For the next seven laps
we overtook each other about 6 times.
By lap ten I was in the lead with
about a car and a half's length. All
I had to do was drive two more laps
and I would have won. However my in-experience
showed and I was concentrating on
the car behind trying to work out
what lead I had (instead of keeping
my head forward and just driving).
I was looking in my mirror down the
straight, flat out at about 120mph
by the end of the straight and when
I looked up from my mirror I realised
I had gone past the breaking point.
This was made worse by the track being
slightly damp off the racing line
and I span off into the gravel. What
a plonker!!
If I had finished first in the second
race I would have been in second place
4 points behind the leader in the
championship. As it is I am fifth
20 points behind!!!!
Oh well, I will have to put that behind
me and move on to the next round at
Oulton Park.
Well it all went a bit better this
time around.
I had problems in qualifying and
qualified 5th for the first race (clutch
problems again) and 8th for the second
(clutch fixed but had bad luck and
was never able to get a good flying
lap in, my fault).
In the first race, I had a bad start
and after two laps or so I was back
in 7th. I got my head down,
put some good laps in, caught up 6th
place and moved my way up from there.
Eventually I finished 3rd, I was neck
and neck with second coming out of
the last bend and just behind first.
The second race, starting from the
back is very interesting. Anyway I
had a great start and was up to 6th
by the second lap. I worked my way
to 5th and then battled the entire
race with the fourth place guy, Hideto.
We overtook each other 4 or
5 times. We were right behind the
leaders as well so I was always looking
for opportunities to get past the
3 leaders. It was a very exciting
race, Hideto overtook me on the first
corner of the last lap, relegating
me to fifth, however I got him with
a clever move on the last bend and
over took him to take 4th.
Both races were very successful
and eventful. I did a lot of overtaking
to make up for a poor qualification.
I am now about 5th in the championship,
three points off second and 12 off
the leader.
Well my first race and by all accounts
it was a massive learning curve!
Firstly we were the last race of
the day, race 9 so we did not actually
get onto the circuit until 18:00,
after qualifying in the morning, and
the weather was atrocious.
Qualifying was in the wet but drying
quickly. The session went well and
I qualified second. I could well of
qualified first if I had not made
a mistake on the 1st corner of my
flying lap. Anyway I was still very
pleased with second and confident
I could do well in the race.
The race itself was a different story.
I was taught some harsh lessons by
the more experienced drivers who have
been racing for years. When the green
lights came on I got a great start
and was half a cars length past Hideto
who was on pole. However, on approaching
the first corner the pole car moved
over towards the racing line and I
was forced onto the grass.
By the time I sorted this little
incident out I was down to fourth.
Not to be undone I spent the next
two laps catching fourth, Anthony
Halliwell at the time. Anyway, on
catching him, on the same corner as
the first incident, I decided that
this time I would take the inside
line. So this time I out braked him,
accelerated into the fast right hander
and was neck and neck with him into
the corner. With hindsight
there was not enough room for two
cars into the corner and I was again
forced to take evasive action.
So me who just wanted
to finish the race and get points
opted for the spectacular spin, that
I exaggerated for the crowd because
I was very frustrated at this point.
Well I got back on track and I was
now down to seventh, we had only done
four laps and I had dropped from first
to seventh.
By the fifth lap I had begun to catch
6th and the rain looked immanent.
I wanted it to rain because I knew
this would be my best opportunity
to pull back some places. However,
on the sixth lap, Ming, the first
ever driver from Taiwan accidentally
put his car badly off the track and
into the tyres. As a result the race
was red flagged while they cleared
the wreckage.
It took so long to clear the wreckage
that by the time the race could be
restarted it had gone past 18:30 and
by MSA regulations they cannot race
after 18:30 due to noise reasons.
Therefore, the race was stopped and
the standing on lap five counted.
Looking back I was unlucky in the
first corner incident and my overtaking
manoeuvre into turn one later in the
race was impatient and stupid driving.
However, I did finish and scored a
total of 6 points over the weekend
so all was not lost, and for my first
race, well it was exciting.
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