Mallory again - 11th October

Well that was an interesting day.
Lots of track time, but I'm not sure that I've really improved at all since last time.

I entered the allcomers race as well as RGB this time which meant an extra practice as well. The morning practice sessions and the allcomers race were wet. I have had very little experience in the wet..and it showed.
I had a 'memorable' moment in practice when I span exiting the essess. That is a very modest left hand kink where you would not even think of losing it. However there was oil on the track and it was exceptionally wet. I did a 180 degree spin straight down the middle of the track, fortunately without hitting the grass, and ended up facing the wrong way. There was nothing immediately behind me so a quick spin round and back up to speed without much drama, but on reflection I was very lucky not to do any damage.
Still, I managed to make the 5th row for the allcomers. I was expecting to get lots of practice overtaking slower cars. Rather embarrasingly it didn't quite work out like that. I was overtaken into the essess by an MR2 and then an MG Midget!! Racing driver excuse no.43 - heavier cars are better in the wet!!
Anyway, as the track dried a little bit I did at least catch them up, but failed to get past them. My lap times were quicker than them in the end but they beat me fair and square. Not a good boost to my ego!

Anyway, on to the RGB race which was dry by then. Not my greatest performance. I dropped back from the leading pack a bit on the first lap and then spent the rest of the race trying to catch up. Being mainly out on my own it was a bit of a dull race. That may reflect in my lap times. I did a 52.23. I've done 51s here in the summer. I think everyone's times were a bit slower, maybe something to do with the weather being cooler, but I think also that I wasn't in an immediate battle with anyone.

So in the end i was 14th on the track and 4th in class (a par performance given that Derek was a DNF).

So that's it for the RGB championship.
I've ended up 5th in class and 16th (or maybe 15th = if i'm being generous). That's out of 10 in class and about 30 odd regular competitors overall so exactly mid field really!
Not bad I reckon, given that I have done nothing in terms of set up on this car and am still learning. Oh yes, and I'm the highest placed front engined class A car! That's got to be worth something hasn't it!

Maybe next season I can step it up a bit. I'm going to have to come up with a plan over the winter to make some step changes in my performance.

Before that I have the Birkett relay which is a 6 hour event at Silvertone on the 24th October.
6 cars, 6 hours with all types of cars, both road legal and race only cars. There are a bunch of RGB teams so it should all be very close. Looking forward to that.