2018 Champion (and a Caterham Sandwich....:) With Vids
Entry posted by Terzo204
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Like a kid counting down to Christmas, this race meeting could not come round quick enough. I had been over thinking the championship and really trying to get my fitness up, I just wanted to get out there and was chomping at the bit!
This was the penultimate meeting of 2018 with the Welsh Sport and Saloon Car Championship.
I had to book a different hotel to the one I usually get and although an ok place, it did smell damp in the room and my mate again, snored like a trooper. The ear plugs just didn’t sit right in my ears and I got another crap night’s sleep. Still I’m used to that now and several cups of tea, Lucozade and a healthy dose of adrenaline sorted out the tiredness. Overnight it was very windy and wet. Thankfully the new gazebo (Rock Awnings) held up. I got to the track in drizzle and an uncertain forecast…..after the biblical weather at Donny I wanted summer to return!
The grid was down to 14 as a few cars had either crashed or had major failures since the last meeting. This suited me fine as I had enough in my class for a potential maximum points and it gave me lots of space to set a quick one in quali. I was mucho surprised though when I got back to the pits to find out I was on the front row. I thought my mate was taking the mickey (he does that a lot….). P2 was my best ever quali result and for sure down to the wet. Now I wanted it to rain all day so then the sun came out…..
The start of race 1 was playing on my mind as I had two powerful cars on the row behind and I had no hope of holding them back. I opted for the don’t change position and let them past as this was least risk (neither were in my class). This worked but I did end up in a Caterham sandwich approaching the first corner. I tried to outbreak one car round the first corner but didn’t quite get it done and held 4th. Just as I was looking to get a good run out of the 3rd corner I got caught unaware by one of the Class CT cars (he was really, really close to my car) and in taking evasive action, ended up on the grass (he apologised after the race). It was a proper heart-stopping moment as the grass was sodden. This can mean you end up either spinning or the car digging in….I backed out of the throttle and got away with it, just managing to hold off 5th place. I quickly got the space back and finished 4th overall, which was what I was hoping for and more importantly 1st in class.
Race 2 was less interesting and mostly uneventful to be honest. One of the chasing pack span at the first hairpin and caused bedlam as about 10 cars had to go round a stationary car. I focused on getting the car home but I had also set myself a target. The class lap record was just a tenth of my fastest lap from race 1 and I manage to just dip under it on lap 14 of 16, despite my mate waving to tell me to slow down and think about the points. I finished 4th again and 1st in class once more.
All these points mean I can now officially call myself the Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Champion for 2018. I’m a very happy racing driver!
Thanks for reading. Vids to follow tonight.
Mike
Pic of the close moment in Race 1 (yep...that's literally about 3 inches away!) -
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