At last the season’s underway!  Driving 200+ miles with trailer after a day’s teaching looked very daunting as Janice and I set off on Friday.  Thankfully, the journey was good and we arrived at the hotel at 9.30.

We met Matthew, who was sharing my car, and his wife Mel at the circuit on Saturday morning.  Seeing many familiar faces, and some new ones, was great, and pit banter was soon in full flow.   It had rained earlier in the morning so Matthew and I waited as long as possible for the track to dry before doing our practice runs.  By 10.15 when Matthew did his practice run it was virtually dry. 

I was pleased to get into the 105 second area on the practice run – the best in Class 1.   My best last year, when I won the class, was 104.76.  I looked forward to improving on this in the afternoon timed runs.

I had an awful start in my first timed run but got my time down to 105.13 – not a bad time to use as a banker.  Matthew fared much better, getting a time of 104.04 – three-quarters of a second better than his best time last year.

I went out for my second run determined to have a really good one.  The start was much better and I carried much more speed through Madgwick.  Fordwater was flat and I managed to hold my nerve through the first part of St Mary’s, taking it with only the slightest lift.  The left hander flowed well and I got my line just right through Lavant, exiting so well that I had to change up to 4th before the end of the corner.

As I approached Woodcote from the flat out Lavant straight I was determined to carry more speed unto the first part of the corner.  I changed down mid-corner but didn’t get my heel-and-toe smooth enough.  The back wheels locked briefly, unsettling the car.  I was going too fast into the last part of the corner and ran wide, beyond the kerb.  I kept on the power hoping to get back to the tarmac, but I lost the back end, spinning a full 360 back onto the track.  Disconsolate, I limped back in.  Ironically, despite the spin I still got a time of 110 seconds, so if I’d kept it together it should have been a really good time.

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Matthew’s next run was fabulous – 102.52 seconds and the one which secured his first class win.  We got a third run and I looked forward to having one more crack at improving my time. In the event I made too many mistakes and didn’t improve on my first run, getting third place.

I’m really pleased that Matthew did so well but a bit disappointed that I didn’t improve on last year.  However, the year is only just beginning, and I’m grateful that despite my rallycross moment, the car and I are still in one piece.

Roll on Curborough, my next event, on 17 May.