Circuit:	Snetterton, Norfolk
Date:	April 1st 2007
Championship:	Caterham Roadsports B Championship 2007

RACE ONE

I picked the car up from Caterham on 28th March having had all the necessary changes and upgrades done to make the car ready and compliant with the rules for the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsports B Championship. I had arranged an afternoon of pre-race testing on Friday 30th. However, upon arrival at the circuit and getting out on track, "straight out the box" the car felt sluggish, rough and very underpowered. Then after just 4 or 5 laps, the engine just "gave up". I was gutted.

It was looked over by a technician back in the paddock and it was clear it would not be racing on the Sunday. I had just enough time left to call Caterham support , tell them what had happened and arrange for a replacement engine to be brought over the next day. My thanks go to Brett and the team at CML. The guys were kept very busy all day Saturday and therefore my car was only available back to me on what was a lovely, sunny, Spring Sunday morning.

Pre race preparation was its normal frantic self and once again we had a situation of needing to be in 2 places at once, with our scrutineering slot at exactly the same time as a mandatory drivers' briefing !

Anyway, given the fact that the replacement engine going in could have a possible weight differential, I thought it wise to have the ride height re-checked and sure enough, the car was found to be under regulation height ! I now had just 30 mins before the start of qualifying to get it sorted. Luckily, I arrived in the assembly area with just 10 mins to go to the start, but time enough to recollect my thoughts and concentrate on the task ahead.

However, within half a lap of pulling out onto the circuit I realised all was not right. The engine felt very tight and was running quite rough just over 6,000 rpm. Down the long, long Revett Straight at the back of the circuit, I would normally be grabbing 5th gear at 6,500 rpm with about a quarter of the straight still to go. This engine wouldn't give me enough "get up & go" to even get to 5th before the end of the straight !

I knew I was on a useless mission. In the end I qualified 18th, a whole 5 secs behind the pole sitter.

Back in the paddock I even started thinking there was little point going racing with this engine, as I knew I would be at the back and there would also always be the risk of accident damage just to pour oil on troubled waters. However I was persuaded to go out and "poodle round" at the back, keeping out of trouble and at least pick up signatures on my licence.

Lining up nearly at the back of 20 odd cars for the start of the first race of the season was a "different" experience but I had a reasonably good start, kept out of trouble through the first couple of corners and to my great surprise, found I had made up four places or so already. However as soon as we got onto the back straight I was in trouble and could do absolutely nothing to stop all the guys I had just passed come straight back at me as though I was standing still !

I quickly realised the only way I was going to score points, was just to keep out of trouble and see if anyone falls off the track.

Unfortunately for Duncan Winner (car 17), his was the first I noticed, his engine having blown up at the end of the start/finish straight, just on the inside of Riches Corner.

My only real activity during the race was to take the place back from John Hoe (car 47) on each lap, as we went through the sequence of curves from the bridge at the start of The Esses, round to the Russell Bend chicane, that John had taken from me on each lap along the back Revett Straight.

With, I think, a couple of laps to go I noticed Richard Edwards (car 48) spinning just in front of me as I came round Sears onto the back straight. Looking in the mirror, I was probably a third to half way down the straight before Richard got going the right way again and yet he still caught me, taking the place from me just as after we came onto the Senna start/finish straight for the chequered flag. So miraculously I wasn't last but had actually made up one place from my starting position, but only unfortunately at poor Duncan's expense. So that was two of us facing engine rebuilds !

Well done to Andrew Thomas (car 10) though and commiserations to Chris Legg (car 33) who was leading the race until he span on the last corner of the last lap, recovering to finish 5th.


RACE TWO

There's no separate qualifying for the second race on the double header events, you line up in the order you finished in Race 1.

So as sat on the grid for the beginning of Race 2., it was nice to pass the time of day with almost the same folk as the previous race !

My strategy would again have to be to just stay out of trouble and at least collect a signature on my licence.

Within a couple of laps or so so, as expected, the rest of the pack were away out of sight and it was fairly uneventful at the back apart from again having the silly game of overtaking the two or three backmarkers through the Esses and into Coram on each lap, they having just flown past me on the back Revett Straight.

Again I knew there would be one or two casualties in the race and sure enough, as I came through the Esses tailing Richard Duvall (car 49) and Ollie Boughton (car 21), I saw Ollie's engine let go big time. Richard braked behind Ollie and I shot down the inside of them both. Blimey these engines blowing up are good for my race position ! I then also got past John Hoe (car 47) on this lap, only to see him naturally overtake me again half a lap later, going down the Revett Straight.

Andrew Thomas (car 10) had another great race until spinning spectacularly whilst at the front on the last lap, going through the Essses. He recovered to take 10th place. Richard Edwards (car 48) had a good race too, starting alongside me in 16th place, Richard shot off into the distance from the start, finishing a creditable 8th.

Congratulations to David Tansley (car 3) for an excellent race win and to Chris Legg (car 33) for a great second place and "another fastest lap of the day" (which was again nearly 5 secs quicker than my own).

The focus of attention now, given the fact that there are 2 days lost to Easter bank holidays, is to get the engine rebuilt in time for Silverstone in 2 weeks.