Not the most pleasant weekend to spend at Curborough weatherwise, but great motorsport.

I’d entered the British Motorsport Marshals Club Sprint on Saturday to get some sneaky practice for the Club event on Sunday.  It was quite a small entry, with only three cars in my class.  Alan Johnson was still glowing from getting his first win at Llys y Fran hillclimb last weekend and Alistair Gibbins was keen to show his mettle.

The showers were very kind to us – our timed runs were done on a track which had dried really quickly after some heavy downpours.  I had a lairy moment in practice when I went into the Fradley hairpin too fast and went round completely on opposite lock.  It’s fun drifting, but perhaps not the quickest way of taking the corner!

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It was nip and tuck all day, but in my last run I managed a 66.7 – a couple of tenths slower than my PB, and enough for a win.  Alistair had a storming last run, just managing to pip Alan.  The following day was going to be tough, and the weather forecast was grim.  What’s more, Matthew was to be competing, and he was praying for rain!

Sunday opened dry, and first practice went quite well for me with a 68.25.  Matthew got a 69.29, but I knew he could go much quicker.  Nick Chan was there with his new car and clearly meant business.  He got a 68.17 and looked very smooth.  Still, I was close to him, and the day before I’d gone quite a bit faster.  I was pleased to finish first practice in second place and quite close to Nick.

Second practice was taken in torrential rain and I had a spin at Fradley.  All of our times were much, much slower.  We sheltered for what seemed an age when we got back in, watching some very balletic spins on a track that was, by now, almost a river.  Then it suddenly stopped raining, and lunchtime was spent looking alternately at the drying track and the sky.

Class 1 went out after lunch for the first of the timed runs with the early runners posting low 70s.  I was the seventh to go and found the track more grippy than I’d expected, though still very damp at Fradley.  I was pleased with a 68.65.  Matthew went out immediately after me, and although he said the run felt quick, he got a time of 71.46.  The track kept on drying, and Nick’s run was great at 66.96.

We longed for another go, but I needed a dry track for my second run.  I was hopeful of a good score – my time the day before had been quicker than Nick’s first time.  As we sat in line waiting to go out the first spots of rain started to fall, rapidly followed by torrential rain just as I left the start line.  This lap took 81.59 seconds - the results of the first timed run were the ones that would count. 

I was thrilled to get second place out of a field of 15, but I need to get nearer to Mr Chan – he’s looking very good indeed!  I look forward to MIRA next weekend - I just hope for a nice dry day!