After starting the year upside down what better way to end the year at your least favourite circuit, the other circuit where you had a trip to the local hospital! Yes back at Oulton Park in Cheshire for the final rounds of the 2011 MSV F3 Cup Series.

Once again being up in the northern area of the country it was set to be cold, it certainly was just that! Friday was incredibly cold however was perfectly dry. After missing the first session due to a misjudgement of timing in the morning Mark was left with 5 sessions to get his head back round the high speed circuit. Laps were going average however Mark knew he could do more. After a few tweaks Mark eventually went quicker before lap times getting slower and slower due to tyre wear.

On an even colder Saturday morning Mark arrived at the track feeling ready to grasp the challenge set ahead of him to demolish his Oulton Park jinx, something which has haunted him on all but 1 or 2 occasions at the circuit. Qualifying was going OKAY for the 50-year-old running in P2 but running 4 seconds off of the previous days testing times and pole, he knew he could do more. With around 8 minutes to go the safety car was deployed due to a car stuck on the edge of the circuit, Mark pulled in to try to save his tyres. The safety car left the track with just enough time for Mark to complete an out lap and have one last attempt at getting on the front row; he had now dropped to P4. Thanks to cold tyres the father of two was unable to better his time and stayed P4 for the first race and P3 for the second race.

With previous starts being phenomenal Mark wasn’t the slightest bit concerned at making up places going into turn one. Mark got from 4th to 3rd into the first corner launching past Tristan Cliffe. After 2 laps Terry began to lose power and Tristan came back past going into turn one. This was a disaster as eventually power became almost obsolete and the car began misfiring before the “low battery” warning being displayed on the dash. This was to signal the end of the fast starter’s race, the second DNF of the season. Gutted.

So after the Oulton Park jinx revisiting Mark in the first race the veteran was pumped up for the second race with nothing to lose, final race of the season…Just go for it! So as the cars lined up on the grid for the final time in 2011 Mark was planning his start, the plan worked and he shot up into 2nd, once again getting past pole man Tristan. Mark stayed in touching distance of Chris but before long the rapid Aaron Steele flew past Terry demoting him to third place. Aaron soon eased into the lead and cleared off leaving Mark to try to catch and challenge Chris Needham. “The gap from me to Chris was getting smaller, as was the gap from me to Tristan. Not ideal! We were both quicker than Chris by about one second”. Mark only really found some pace towards the end of the race where it will always be too late in these short 20 minute races. Mark crossed the line in third behind the storming Aaron Steele and just 0.7 behind Chris Needham. He was just 0.5 ahead of Tristan Cliffe, who knows what would of happened if the races were longer?

So ending the season on the podium is brilliant considering his season could have been ended at the first round “It’s always great to be on the podium and even more so in the final race of what has been a good season, obviously I would have liked to win this race and the Formula Two test however a podium is a podium. I would like to thank my team Lanan Racing for their enduring efforts all season and to my sponsors Exoair, Motorcare, Lucas Paints, Just M.O.T.S and Nev’ll Fix It. Thanks must also go to my family including my wife Tina and two sons for their amazing support all season!” Mark hopes to compete in the F3 cup again next year; it looks like it could be a championship meaning more to play for! If you’re interested in the racing then please contact Mark, you can get details from www.mark-terry.co.uk .