The magnificent Spa Francorchamps circuit was a welcome return to this season's calendar.  The journey there is always and an adventure and the weekend one not to be missed. It also marked the first meeting of the year when the Open Series and Club Championship would be run together in the same race, so it was never going to be without incident!

Qualifying
Having not tested at the circuit, we ran the risk of being slightly on the backfoot during qualifying.  The car felt good throughout the period but we pitted in towards the end of the session to make some set-up adjustments.  With ten minutes of the session left, I went out to put up a quick time.  The lap was going to plan when the red flags appeared as Dave Roberts had binned his 944 out the back of the circuit.  We ended up qualifying fourth in Class which, to be honest, we were a little disappointed with.  However, we new the car could go quicker so were not unduly fazed.

Race 1
With 30 minutes before the race was due to start the heavens opened.  The big dilemma was whether to switch to wets or stay on dry tyres.  We opted for the latter, which we new would make the first few laps a bit challenging. A distinctly average start saw me follow Dave Robert's 944 for the majority of the first lap before I got a run on him and was able to sling shot past him exiting the fast Pouhon left-hander.

As we approached the start/finish straight at the end of our first lap, the Safety Car board was being ominously displayed.  As the bunched up train of cars crested Eau Rouge, a GT3 lay heavily damaged in the barriers having fallen foul of the conditions.  We then followed behind the safety car for a couple of laps before being set away again.  The Open runners had grouped up behind the Club boys and the restart proved to be eventful!  Three cars aren't able to negotiate the La Source hairpin together, and the debris field the left made things a bit hairy for the rest of us.  The safety car period had dried the track out and made for a quicker race thereafter.  I spent the remainder of the race scrapping with a couple of the Class 1 cars as well as one of the GT3's from the Open Series, who found the need to go defensive to prevent a 944 from passing him - curious!!  Neil Harvey and Mark Taylor had taken the first two places in Class leaving us to claim third and make a welcome return to the podium.

Race 2
In complete contrast to the previous day, Sunday's 50-minute race was contested in brilliant sunshine. I slotted in behind Dave off the start and had an entertaining scrap with him for the first few laps.  He had some speed on us down the straights, but our car was clearly handling better, so it was only a matter of time before we were able to pass him.  I pulled clear of Dave's 944 but was unable to catch Mark or Neil's 911.  The race there after proved to be very lonely.  It was a case of looking after the tyres and the car so as to safely get to the finish and we were rewarded with our second third place of the weekend.

Reflection
We're continuing to move in the right direction and the car is getting better each time out.  It was pleasing to be back on the podium at last, however we're not prepared to only make it to the first step, so watch this space!  On a separate note, it's the first time I've raced abroad and brought the car home without a scratch on it, much to the mechanics joy!  We have a bit of a break ahead of us now, but will be back in action later in the summer.