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With Brands Hatch as our next port of call we were all wondering, ‘what could possibly go wrong this time!’

With both feet on the mend and the car in great condition, these thoughts from three weeks ago have been well and truly put behind us, so we’re hoping for an end to ‘Brands-bad-luck’ and a 1st place race win.

Qualifying

With past engine problems behind us, we hoped for a good qualifying time but it was not to be, being once again on the back foot with my fellow Class 3 drivers, who had took the opportunity to have some extra track time for testing on the Friday. With the track times down from last year we were again towards the back of the grid, but knowing we can get good starts, we were not daunted.

Race 1

With the grid lined up, 30 second board displayed, and then the 5 second lights were lit and just 6 seconds later they were off. Using the right number of revs, we dug in and made another fantastic start. By the first corner: ‘Paddock Hill Bend’, we had pulled up to 3rd place. It was a matter of knuckling down to close in on 1st place. With some of the slower Class 1 cars making their way past us, it inevitably took out some of our race pace, but with a 30 minute race ahead of us, we knew we had enough time to gather up what we might have lost with Class 1 cars coming past. With consistently good lap times we were confident of tracking down the front runner, but with each lap passing by, we didn’t get close enough to challenge, and we finished up in 2nd place.

Race 2

With race 2 starting later in the afternoon, it gave us the chance to reflect back on what had happened in the earlier race, and put a race strategy together. Our 2nd place in the 1st race meant we were lined up along side the 1st place finisher for race 2. Once again, it came down to getting a racing start. As we were on the outside and Jez on the inside, it was a matter of who could get the ‘jump-on-who’ going into ‘Paddock Hill Bend’. With another great start we were looking for an opening going into the first corner. With a lot of the front runners jostling for position, trying to get on the inside line, a major opening became available round the outside. Never to look a ‘gift horse’ in the mouth, I went for it - and it paid off! Climbing up ‘Hailwood Hill’ and going into ‘Druids’ I was able to put a healthy gap between me and Jezer.

All was well for the first few laps giving me a healthy lead which was retained until I made a small mistake coming out of ‘McLaren’ and entering onto ‘Clearway’. Instead of going into 3rd gear, I managed to go into 5th. With masses of frustration, I jammed the car back into third whilst entering into ‘Clark Curve’. Being mindful of the chasing pack behind, I moved off line onto the dirty part of the corner and lost traction. With one too many corrected moves, the back end overtook the front and I parked my rear wheels in the gravel. Having no traction I was beached!!! The safety car was deployed and I was pulled out of the gravel, only to join the back of the train. My only option now was to try to un-lap myself and race on. The car was handling well, the weather remained kind, so all that was left was some full-on racing.

On Reflection

“I was frustrated not to have converted another excellent start to a race win” Hey! That’s racing for you! What it does show is you can’t rest for a moment when racing. But, we were certainly not left wanting. Our race strategy was clean, with exciting results. Coming home with a 2nd and 4th wasn’t all bad.

“So bring on Castle Combe – we’re ready”