Cadwell 2014 : Title decider

Well I didn't exactly make it easy for myself.
With 2 races over the weekend, all i needed to do was stay ahead of Dave.  I even got a 3 day pass from home to go testing on the Friday. That went great. Got my times down into the 1:35s so quite respectable and boosted my confidence.

So, to cut a very long story very short, I messed up big time on Saturday. Dave won and I ended up 3rd, meaning he was 2 points ahead of me. That meant i had to win on Sunday to guarantee the championship.
So most of the rest of that day was pretty tense to say the least. I was definitely not enjoying the pressure!
Of course all the nerves melt away once you're on the track and Sunday's race was a blinder. The video is here.

 I got into the lead at the start but Austen was hounding me constantly and did get past me after a couple of laps. Luck was on my side though and on that very lap there was a red flag. That meant at the restart I was placed back in front as they take the places for the restart from the positions you were in as you last crossed the line. So this time I was more determined than ever to stay ahead. It was all a bit of a blur but I somehow managed to stay ahead. I was being held up by Tim H (class R) who was quicker initially but had backed off from his own class battle and was now backing me into Austen who was looming very large in my mirrors.
I think I crossed the line a matter of 10ths of a second ahead of Austen.

I must admit to filling up a bit on the way back to the paddock. Boy was that a good feeling. I needed to win, and I did. Awesome.

So, after a season of 12 races I've ended up with a podium in 11 of them (one DNF) including 3 wins, 6 seconds, 2 thirds, 4 fastest laps (one lap record for 24 hours!). I'm so proud to have achieved this, and of course I have Tim Gray to thank for building such an awesome car, keeping it reliable, and for nurturing my medioce driving ability into a championship winning performance.  Cheers mate!

So what, I hear yousay, happened to my champioship rival, Dave. Well sadly, although I didn't realise it during the race, Dave crashed out after an incident with my team mate Richard Wise having been running 4th. I am of course aware of the controversy surrounding this and I realise that it looks and sounds very much like a conspiracy to take Dave out of the race on purpose but I also know for certain that that was absolutely not the case. Richard would never do that and neither I nor Tim would not want him to. I do understand though that Dave was angry about it and I can only say that I am really sad that it happened and truly wish that it hadn't. I must thank Dave for his sportsmanship this year, and all his MNR team mates for their help over the season.

So, what now?

Well we'll see, but with a bit of luck (and a bit of 'man maths' with the finances,  I'll be back for more next season!

Anglesey and Silverstone International

So I've missed the Rockingham weekend due to the family holiday. I know, I know. Such lack of commitment. Bad planning on my part, but I didn't know I'd be leading the championship when I booked it did I!

So Anglesey was up next for me and I go into this still leading my class championship.
Only my second time to this track, and my record here is not good. It's a great circuit. With its banked corner, lots of undulation and spectacular scenery it's certainly interesting. Last time out here I was taken out on the first corner of the first race, and only managed a couple of laps of the second race before my bonnet came off, so I can't say I've got this one nailed.
I also had no chance to do any testing this time so I was straight into qualifying.
Do you see what I did there? Got my excuses in early.

Anyway, I qualified only 4th in class, which was disappointing. Unlike at Snetterton, I was struggling a bit with the car's handling this time.  Nevertheless, that recurring theme of a little good luck helped me out although sadly at the expense of Stevie Bell. I was running third with one lap to go and Steve lost it on the last corner of the last lap, just yards from the finish line, and hit the pit wall. I'm ashamed to admit that my first thought, as I saw him reversed into the pit wall by the finish line, was 'is he over the line or not?', not 'is he ok?' Which of course he was. So I inherited 2nd. Jammy bugger.
I just beat my nearest championship rival, Dave Watson, so keeping me in the championship lead.

For the second race we'd adjusted the rear dampers to make the car oversteer a bit more, which it certainly did.  However I couldn't keep with Austen / Dave Watson battle in front of me and finished a respectable but slightly dissapointing 3rd in class. Dave won that one so narrowed my lead a bit.

So I went to Silverstone with an optimistic spring in my step.

I was supposed to do some testing for this one, but only managed to get a 1 hour session which I promptly cocked up by breaking my gear linkage. I borrowed someone else's half hour session later in the day, but that had two red flags so I didn't get any useful track time. Still, at least I didn't have the gear linkage break in the race!

Qualified in 4th again. Not great, but I knew I could go faster. I've got Tim and Richard Wise to thank for their wise counsel on where to gain speed, which worked a treat.

Race 1 was a great battle. Got past Dave Watson early on, and then had a battle with Colin Spicer who was quicker than me on the Hanger straight, but overdid it a bit into Stowe and I got past. I was then chasing down Austen, but had to settle for 2nd.
I was pleased with that as Austen has missed too many races this year to be a championship rival, although he does have an annoying habit of beating me!
I was particularly pleased to have got the fastest lap of the (class) race which gets me an additional point, but it was also the lap record. I could enjoy that for at least 24 hours.

Race 2 - well, probably the least said the better. It lasted 28 seconds! I got a great start, but at the first corner , doing about 90mph or so, I got involved in someone else's accident, which quickly turned into mine. I was hit twice. Race over. Oh and I lost my lap record to Austen. Hey ho!

So here's the thing. My championship now goes to the last 2 races at Cadwell. Dave Watson is, allowing for the best 12, 3 points behind me with 32 points to play for. It could all go wrong yet. There are loads of combinations of things that could happen that I can't even think about it, except to say that, wherever we finish, I've got to beat Dave Watson. Given his recent form that is by no means a done deal. So it's very, very close and extremely exciting. Whatever happens at Cadwell, I'm probably going to get very very drunk afterwards!