So Near at Silverstone
With two rounds of the season to go we were still in the hunt for end of season honours, but needed a good showing out on the Grand Prix Circuit at Silverstone. Our previous visit to the home of British motorsport had unceremoniously come to an end on lap one, so it was time to exercise a few ghosts!
Qualifying
With both the Club Championship competitors and the Open Series runners sharing the grid, the session was extremely busy with clear laps at a premium. Despite this, we were able to find ourselves some space and posted what we thought to be a respectable lap time. However, we were somewhat disappointed to find ourselves sixth in class, behind some of the guys we desperately needed to beat.
Race 1
A great start saw us immediately pass several of our rivals. However, it was to be short lived. As we entered the chicane leading form Vale to Club, the Class 1 968 of Adrian Grieves stole a move on us, and as we followed him through the corner, we felt a hefty shove in the rear corner forcing us to spin off onto the grass. It transpired that Andy Duncan had tried a ridiculous outbraking move, which involved him taking to both the kerbs and grass in order to plant the front end of his car firmly in our rear wing. The result was that our race was seriously compromised, indeed we ended up rejoining dead last, while Andy was able to continue unhindered. We spent the rest of the race carving our way through the Class 3 cars and the back end of the Class 2 runners and had just made it onto the tail of Andy as the chequered flag was waved. Disappointed and annoyed, we would have to wait until tomorrow for our revenge
Race 2
Some severe brake judder in the previous raced forced us to change the disks prior to this race, which we new would penalise us at the start. So despite a good start, our nearest rivals were able to edge away in the opening laps. However, we were soon to settle into a rhythm and started to close the pack back up. We first reeled in Alan Newbold and were about to put a move on him as he ran wide at Becketts, gifting us the place. Some further overly aggressive driving from Andy Duncan saw yet more paint swapping which was to play into our hands. We were able to catch the three cars immediately in front of us, but just as we made it into a position to attack, the chequered flag was waved, leaving us to settle for sixth place.
Reflection
So near, yet so far. We are still in with a shout going into the final round at Spa, but it's by no means going to be an easy task. However with bonus points being awarded at the final round we'll head off full of optimism.
Qualifying
With both the Club Championship competitors and the Open Series runners sharing the grid, the session was extremely busy with clear laps at a premium. Despite this, we were able to find ourselves some space and posted what we thought to be a respectable lap time. However, we were somewhat disappointed to find ourselves sixth in class, behind some of the guys we desperately needed to beat.
Race 1
A great start saw us immediately pass several of our rivals. However, it was to be short lived. As we entered the chicane leading form Vale to Club, the Class 1 968 of Adrian Grieves stole a move on us, and as we followed him through the corner, we felt a hefty shove in the rear corner forcing us to spin off onto the grass. It transpired that Andy Duncan had tried a ridiculous outbraking move, which involved him taking to both the kerbs and grass in order to plant the front end of his car firmly in our rear wing. The result was that our race was seriously compromised, indeed we ended up rejoining dead last, while Andy was able to continue unhindered. We spent the rest of the race carving our way through the Class 3 cars and the back end of the Class 2 runners and had just made it onto the tail of Andy as the chequered flag was waved. Disappointed and annoyed, we would have to wait until tomorrow for our revenge
Race 2
Some severe brake judder in the previous raced forced us to change the disks prior to this race, which we new would penalise us at the start. So despite a good start, our nearest rivals were able to edge away in the opening laps. However, we were soon to settle into a rhythm and started to close the pack back up. We first reeled in Alan Newbold and were about to put a move on him as he ran wide at Becketts, gifting us the place. Some further overly aggressive driving from Andy Duncan saw yet more paint swapping which was to play into our hands. We were able to catch the three cars immediately in front of us, but just as we made it into a position to attack, the chequered flag was waved, leaving us to settle for sixth place.
Reflection
So near, yet so far. We are still in with a shout going into the final round at Spa, but it's by no means going to be an easy task. However with bonus points being awarded at the final round we'll head off full of optimism.
