The day finally arrived and I was woken by rain on the hotel window.  Oh heck, that’s the last thing we needed.  A worried hour laying in bed, not sleeping and listening to the rain didn’t help the nerves but by the time I’d got washed and we’d booked out of the Travelodge, the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to break through as per the forecast.  Phew.

We arrived at the track at about 8am to find that Dad had already unloaded the car, so we signed on and attended the very brief briefing.  As 9 o’clock and the first convoy run loomed, Dad disappeared to get a video consent form and was nowhere to be seen.  I decided to jump in the car and join the queue so as not to miss out.  On the convoy run the track was very wet but obviously drying quickly in the sun and wind.  On arriving back in the paddock, Dad tells me that we can do our practice run whenever we want so I may as well queue up while I’m in the car.  After about 30 seconds sat in the queue I twig that this is a very daft idea as I’ll end up wasting my practice laps on a wet track when it’s quite obvious that it’ll be dry for the timed runs.  I left the queue and parked back in the garage.  Nice try Dad.

/Portals/14/Blog/Files/11/55/IMG_8425_thumb.jpgClass 1 cars parked up under the paddock shelters

As expected, the track dried quickly and we went for our practice run, which consisted of two laps with only the first being timed (the proper timed runs are only over 1 lap).  Dad went out first and his lap was pretty much on the pace straight away with a high 105 second lap.  I then had my go and was pleased to find the track perfectly dry.  My timed lap was a 106 which was 1 second slower than Dad’s and 2 seconds off the time we both did last year when we were separated by just 0.02 seconds.  I found the second practice lap fairly useless – without time to mull over my first lap (you spend a lot of time mulling laps over when sprinting) I didn’t really drive any better.  However, Dad and I were pleased to see that we had a 5 second gap to our nearest competitor.  It looked like another inter-family battle was afoot.

/Portals/14/Blog/Files/11/55/IMG_8393_thumb.jpgCars and planes.  Just like the Goodwood Revival meeting - honest

After a lazy lunch thinking about where to go faster, chatting with fellow competitors, watching aerobatics overhead and lounging in the sun on our outdoor sofa (yes, really) the timed runs came round quickly.  My first run was much more committed than practice.  My only real concern was Woodcote, a double apex corner with the second apex being much slower than the first.  In Dad’s car, if you carry enough speed through the first part of the corner you have to change from 4th to 3rd, while still turning and slowing down, for the second part.  The pedal setup in the car is quite poor so I can’t heal and toe, which means the downchange momentarily locks the rears, sapping confidence to attack the corner.  Despite that, I do a 104.2 (or thereabouts), which is faster than I went last year so I’m on the right track.  Dad’s first run is another 105 but slightly quicker than practice.

The 2nd timed runs came around quickly and Dad goes out before me.  He had a cracking run (he claims!) until Woodcote when the nasty downchange caught him out.  He ran wide and span.  I’m looking forward to seeing the video!

/Portals/14/Blog/Files/11/55/IMG_8428_thumb.jpg Whoops – you can see the tyre tracks on the grass on the right hand side

Having checked that Dad and the car were OK (they were) I jumped in, but then the timing equipment broke!  During the 20 minute wait for the equipment to be fixed I found out that Paul Winterbottom had come from nowhere - his first run was over 110 seconds - to post a time of 102.9.  Oh heck.  My goal for the day was to get into the 102 second bracket so the pressure was now on, especially as we weren’t assured of a 3rd run due to the down-time.

/Portals/14/Blog/Files/11/55/IMG_8418_thumb.jpg Lined up for my second (quickest) run

Visor down and off I went, only a brief lift into Madgwick and back on the power before the crest, which makes the car go very light and skittish.  Flat through Fordwater and another short lift for no-name.  St. Marys felt sweet using loads of the road on the exit.  I braked too early for Lavant but realised and carried plenty of speed in.  Woodcote was a bit compromised by the same issue that troubled Dad, but the chicane was tidy.  Result was a 102.5.  Phew.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased with a lap and I did shout a few words of encouragement into my helmet as I crossed the line.  I’m looking forward to seeing the video when Dad downloads it from the recorder.

The third runs came around very quickly.  My run didn’t quite go as well after I tried to take Madgwick flat but bottled it and I just wasn’t as committed for the rest of the lap.  Dad did another 105 and Paul Winterbottom spun so I had my first ever class win.  I was a very happy bunny.

So, all in all, a very enjoyable day in every respect.  It was great to catch up with the usual suspects, meet a few new faces and enjoy close competition at a great venue in wonderful (in the end) April weather.  It was also fantastic to see such a large entry for class 1 with 11 drivers taking part.

Llandow is next in a fortnight’s time for ASBO’s first outing of the year.