2008
10-17  Brands Hatch
08-30  Donington
08-09  Silverstone
07-12  Oulton Park
06-22  Cadwell Park
05-26  Castle Combe
04-26  Croft

2007
10-19  Brands Hatch
09-22  Oulton Park
07-22  Rockingham
06-23  Castle Combe
06-23  Donington
04-14  Silverstone
04-01  Snetterton

2006
10-21  Brands Hatch
10-08  Silverstone
09-17  Mallory Park
08-28  Castle Combe

The weekend had the scope for being a wash-out as two months' worth of "normal" rainfall fell in just a couple of hours on the Friday before. The worst affected areas were the midlands belt of counties including Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire.

Rockingham had had plenty of rain in the afternoon but nothing compared to the counties west. Unfortunately, both the race car & the trailer were "stranded" in their respective units with deep waters surrounding the area and by Friday evening it looked highly unlikely I would even make it over to the circuit the following day.

However the water level abated overnight and I eventually rescued the car & made my way over to the circuit. Saturday was grey & damp at Rockingham with conditions constantly changing. Half the grid, including myself, went out to qualify with a wet set up for their car, with others taking the risk of a dry set up. As it happens, the risk paid off for the latter as the session stayed dry throughout.

Having not been able to get to the test day on the Friday and having never even been a spectator at Rockingham before, let alone driven there, it meant going out into qualifying "blind". Furthermore the softer wet set up felt absolutely horrible on the drying track, with the car understeering like crazy. I knew these were the worst laps the car had driven all season. Then after just a handful of laps & certainly before getting to know the track, the throttle cable simply snapped coming onto the start/finish straight ! No power at all & I just rolled down the banking to be "assisted" off the circuit.

So I was going to start the race practically on the back row in 20th position. Again, very disappointing. I have to admit, I was p…ed off.

RACE ONE

Sunday was actually quite a bright day and the choice of a dry set up for the first race was a "no brainer". The lights went out & I floored it round the banked corner 1. on the oval circuit down to the first hairpin bend. Some 20 cars all aiming for a gap which could only take three or four abreast maximum meant there was scope for a) accidents & b) overtaking. As the majority immediately in front of me went wide to the right to take the left hand bend ahead, it seemed obvious to me to stay close in to the apex & sure enough I managed to get by Simon Roche (car no. 18), John Hoe (47), Alex Monighan (50), Simon Naylor (9) and Mark Bowles (59), Mark at least having spun.

So I was pleased to have moved from 20th to 15th on the very first corner and then held my position for the rest of that lap. The "train" of cars in front of me though was staying in close proximity. I remember thinking that the car felt a little "perkier" than in qualifying and I wasn't losing as much ground down the straight as I had before. Maybe the renewed throttle cable had made a slight difference.

On the 2nd lap, coming round the first hairpin bend, Alex Monighan grabbed the inside line and moved ahead me coming out of the end. Alex has been driving very well this year & we've had some good tussles together. I pulled the position back a few corners later and then had a handful of laps in excellent close racing with Mark Bowles, Stuart Patterson (2) and Steve Streets (69). Meanwhile I was conscious that the front runners were, for once, not that far ahead of us.

On lap 5, Mark passed me but then I managed to get by young Ollie Boughton (21), who has the potential to be very quick but was losing time by locking his brakes up at important corners.

On about the 8th lap, I made a move on both Stuart and Steve which paid off and I moved another two places up to 13th. Stuart got past me again on the 9th lap but at the same time, I made up that lost place by passing Kevin Begley (6) who had spun again on that first hairpin, the place of so much action that day !

I stuck as close as I could to the back of Stuart's car & realised we were both homing in quite quickly on Steve Mansell (5) ahead. Stuart managed to get past Steve with a couple of laps to go but although I moved up to the back of his car, there was no room & not enough time left for me to get by.

So I had to settle for 13th place as I crossed the finishing line but have to say I was actually very pleased overall. I'd made up 7 places from the start, had had some excellent racing all the way through, the car felt a little perkier than in recent times and the front of the pack didn't seem as far away as in recent races.

A downside of the race was that as we were all on the slowing down lap after the chequered flag, half way round we passed a tangled mess of Alex & John who had come together in a fairly unhealthy fashion and Steve Streets a little further ahead, also showing obvious signs of impact damage. It would appear that John had spun on a fast corner & Steve, then Alex, following closely behind had no time to avoid him & both hit him, Alex possibly the hardest judging by the state of his car.

RACE TWO

So I lined up on the 7th row of the grid for the second race & as the lights went out, Kevin Begley who was technically behind me on the grid but actually lined up alongside, made an excellent getaway.

Going into the first hairpin, I again hugged the inside line & managed to get past Stuart and Steve Mansell. Going into the chicane just before the start finish line I was able to take a place away from Mark, so although I'd lost a place to Kevin at the start, I'd made up another three, to be a net two places up by the end of the first lap.

Chasing down to the first hairpin, I was conscious of an impact ahead of me with bits of wing etc flying all over the place. I could see that Chris Legg (33) was one of the cars but didn't know until a few corners later that it was Championship leader Gareth Thomas (77) who had come into contact with Chris. Unfortunately for Gareth, his damage was enough to force an early retirement.

Steve Mansell then flew past me going round the banked cornering at corner 1. & for the next two or three laps, Ollie was doing the same thing but I managed to hold the place each time by holding the inside line round the hairpin. However on lap 5, Ollie just flew me going round the banking by as though I was standing still. I stuck to within a foot or so of his tail for three or four laps but each time I made a lunge he closed the door.

Ollie was driving really well but still has a tendency to lock up the brakes. If he can get over that, he could easily be a front six runner on a consistent basis.

With three or four laps to go, I passed Chris as he struggled round the first hairpin and then Mark who I think must have spun. With just a lap or so to go, I simply out-braked myself going down to the first hairpin, which gave both Mark & Chris the opportunity to whip by me on the inside. I held onto Chris's lapels & managed to pass him within a couple of corners & then tried to get back in contention with Mark. Chris in the meantime was also snapping at my heels.

As we came round the hairpin onto the straight at the back of the pits complex, I made a move for the inside line but Mark quickly shut the door. We came together for just a moment but the only casualty was a rear mud guard from Mark's car. I didn't actually feel any impact at all & didn't have a mark (no pun intended) on my car afterwards. We ran up to the chicane before the start finish straight, but Mark had the inside line & there was nothing I could do but allow him the place. Mark is another great racer, very quick, who deserves better finishing places than he has been getting. Chris was immediately behind me & I was also conscious of getting through the chicane as cleanly as possible & holding onto my place, which I did.

So I crossed the line where I started, in 13th place, but again I was generally very happy with things and felt I had actually been in a race from start to finish, with almost every corner being fought over. That's what racing should be about. Sure it's great to get on the podium (I imagine……… I haven't actually done it yet !) but the important thing is to enjoy it & I had just had two extremely enjoyable races.

Spectators too said afterwards that both races had been some of most exciting to watch, being very closely fought throughout the grid.

……………. & despite the monsoon conditions that gripped parts of England, both races had been run not only in dry conditions but with the sun actually shining ! The rains only started to fall literally as we went through the gates to leave the circuit at the end of the day, ready to drive home. What a result that was !