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Snetterton - 24 th & 25 th August 2008 - Rounds 8 & 9
Snetterton Practice sessionThe plan for this weekend was to make some dramatic changes to the car. I went out for the first 30 minutes of testing to see what sort of time I could do on the original settings.When the session ended the team started work on the car and replaced various parts to the suspension. Out for the second test session and the car immediately felt better, with so much more grip and response from the steering. Unfortunately with tyres that have done more than 200 miles they had gone way past there best and so we called it a day and will put new tyres on the car for qualifying.
Qualifying SessionWith new tyres put on the car I went out for 10 laps to set a time and to get the tyres up to temperature. With the tyres corrected I was back out and was running 3rd fastest and trying to push the car further to the limit and set a time of 1.07.20 minutes.With just 2 minutes to go I had one last go and I had gone a second quicker right up to the last corner when I locked the right front wheel up causing me to lose time but I still managed to go slightly quicker and did a time of 1.06.87. Unfortunately 3 other drivers went quicker and I was 6th fastest.
Race 1Starting 6th on the grid I new I had to make a good start and try and pass at least 2 cars before the first corner. That is exactly what happened and I got up to 4th place on the first lap. I was chasing Chris Needham for 3rd place and the gap was closing one lap and increasing the next.After 10 laps Joe Crook caught up with me and I was on the defensive trying to stop Joe getting past me which the allowed Chris to open the gap up further. Eventually Joe managed to find a way past by slip streaming past me going along Revett Straight. I was now down to 5th but chasing after Joe again to retrieve my 4th place I had just lost to him. With 7 laps to go Chris Needham had stopped on the track and limped the car off the track which then promoted me back up to 4th. I was also catching Joe back up and hoping the chequered flag would not come out to give me more time to pass Joe but it was too late a hard fought 4th place was the result. I was feeling pretty good about my performance and the job Mark Bailey Racing Team had done on the car.
Race 2Starting 6th again on the grid I was hoping for another good start but it turned out to be a disaster when I stalled the engine on the grid when the lights went off for the start of the race.I managed to restart the engine and pulled away in about 11th place and set off to try and regain some places. I past 4 cars over the next 5 laps to get me up to 7th and in one breath taking move I past 2 more cars at the same time whilst braking from 145 mph going into the esses which put me up to 5th. With 4th place up the road I started to put some quick laps in to try and catch up with him when the red flags were shown saying the race was stopped due to a car spinning off and stopping in a dangerous position. We were repositioned on the grid from where our current positions were in the race. Great I thought. Another chance to get a good start and I was already up to 5th before we started our engines. The lights went out and I made an ok start but managed to get on the inside of Ray Rowen who was also trying to pass Chris Needham. Ray squeezed me to the inside of the track which caused my tyres to pick up old rubber and as I went inside Ray’s car to get me into 3rd place my rear tyres had no grip and I spun off leaving me on the grass and in last place. I got back on the track and set off again feeling very angry with myself. It took about 3 laps to get the tyres clean and sticky again by which time the cars ahead had opened up a gap that was impossible to close and my only chance of scoring points would be to hope some more would fail to finish which fortunately happened and the race was stopped again. I ended up with 10th and wondering “what if” I hadn’t taken a chance at the start. I will never know and that’s racing. Next round will be September 6th and 7th at Pembrey in Wales. |
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