CASTLE COOMBE - 8th/9th August 2009 - Rounds 5 & 6

Thursday Practice
This was my first time at this circuit and wow what a track.
I have never raced on a track that was so bumpy and demanding.
It took the first two sessions to get used to where the corners were as I found that they caught me out a few times. The chicanes came up so quickly and Avon Rise was breath taking. Going out in each session I was reducing the times by 7 seconds with the help of Mark Bailey and his knowledge of the track. It was a great feeling to be getting close to the bench marked time of 1 min 5 seconds.
When we were in the pit lane waiting to go out for the 4th session the sky began to get darker until the rain began to pour down harder and harder. We waited until it had stopped and put the wet tyres on. I went out on the track with wets on but with a dry suspension setting and found the car almost impossible to drive. I came in and called it a day.

Saturday Morning Untimed Practice
The weather was dry and I went out for the official practice session with a new set of slick tyres and managed to set some good times. The car felt really good and by the end of the session I ended up 3rd fastest just behind Edwin Jowsey and Damien Charveriat.
This was a good result considering it was my first time on this track.

Saturday Afternoon Qualifying
After my practice times and position from this morning I was feeling quite confident of a good position. I was watching the pit boards each lap to see what my grid position was and kept seeing pos 7th.
I was pushing the car harder than in the morning and couldn’t understand my low position.
The pit board came out which indicated for me to come in which I did next time round.
Mark and Mike had notice some smoke coming from the rear of the car as I was coming round Camp Corner. They looked around the engine but couldn’t see anything but the engine temperature was very high. I went out for one more lap and came in just before the chequered flag came out for end of qualifying.
The car was taken back to the awning and once the engine cooled down Mike put two litres of water in the water tank which was bad news.
There was a serious leak in the engine which meant my race weekend was over.
After the initial disappointment of the thought of not racing and having to give Geoff Allum (Managing Director of Ventmaster) who had come to Castle Combe specially to watch me race the bad news it was now a case of what we need to do to get the car ready for the next round at Snetterton at the end of August.