24th May 2003 - Brands Hatch

Despite the weather forecast it was dry for the race so I set about deglazing the brake pads and generally fiddling with stuff. Our first race was race number 11 so there was a very long wait and even then we didn't get out before lunch as the race before us was red flagged due to a crash. I was quite relieved as it had just started raining so the extra hour gave it time to dry out before we had to race!

Race 1 - Mini Twins

For the first time in a while I got a decent start and managed to hang on to the next couple of rows. I got good drive through Paddock Hill and got by Matt Flynn coming up to Druids. I had a big scare when I tried to brake though as there was very little bite and had to do a wild avoidance move to prevent myself t-boning Gary Nicholas. This let Gary and Matt get away slightly and after turning it in to Graham Hill Rob Garland showed me his front wheel. I should have shut the door but am still a bit nervous so I picked the bike up and braked only for Jason Loveridge to come by as well. Grrrr!

Now I was well annoyed and after dispatching Jason on the way out of Clearways set about catching the pack in front. I did manage to reel them in a bit and for most of the race was only 20 - 30 yards behind but towards the end started making a few mistakes so slowed a little before the finish. I only ended up 5 seconds behind them so if I could just not mess up the first few corners I should be able to stay with them.

I finished 9th out of 17 starters with a best of 0:55.68 - Yay! Well chuffed. Ryan Harris won with a best lap of 0:51.89 - Not bad for a 72 hp machine.

Race 2 - Mini Twins

We were almost the last race of the day so I was quite tired by the time the second race was called and made a bit of a poor start. Jason Loveridge came by on the way in to the first corner and proceeded to hold me up for the first half of the race. Some of his lines were, er, interesting and although he probably didn't know I was there almost had me on the grass in a couple of places. I did manage to get alongside on the way in to Druids one time but had the door firmly shut in my face. Was annoyed really as if I had been a bit more confident I could have had the place.

The front end seemed very harsh and as the tyre started wearing began to chatter and slide on the way in to Paddock Hill and Druids. It was interesting to see the Marshals reach for their radios when they thought I was going to lose it! On one lap the front starting moving and I eventually got it back with inches to spare from the rumble strip. The following lap it went again except this time I was over the rumble strip and almost in the gravel. The marshals had even started running at this point towards where they thought I would end up :-)

Started making a few silly mistakes in the last few laps and lost about 5 yards on Jason. Decided to slow a little as there was loads of time before the next guy and finished 10th out of 17. My best was 0:56.13 which I was quite pleased with but most of my laps were in the low 0:57s which was a bit disappointing. Somewhere along the line Chris Firmin had managed to bin his bike at Druids yet still managed to get it going again to finish 7th. Big respect!

A good start to the weekend, particularly the first race, which was let down by my braking problems on the first visit to Druids. My suspension is causing some concern although I'm sure that can be resolved given some time - Unfortunately that is the one thing I don't have and I doubt I can afford to keep replacing tyres at the speed they are wearing either.