Rockingham June 7th

So next up on the racing calendar was Rockingham Motor Speedway. I've done a test-day there before and really enjoyed the track as it's got a good range of corners and a few different cambers. The facilities there are also excellent, almost puts Silverstone to shame!

Anyway, onto qualifying. As we headed over to the assembly area it was bone dry, but just before we were released out onto the track, the rain came hammering down in its typical torrential fashion when you don’t want it to. So for the whole of qualifying it was at that really greasy stage which is like ice. To top it off, we were on our full dry setup; anti-roll bars on hard setting, tyres with not much tread and strut brace attached.. So, it was real tip-toey stuff for the first few laps.

At one point I braked gently for a corner and turned but went straight on. I couldn't quite work out what was happening at first, but then realised I'd locked up. A quick release of brake pressure got me round the corner fine, but as in the wet there's no friction, locking up doesn't make a sound, so it's another case of silent-but-deadly. Another lap or so later, I just gave it a wee bit too much power too early in one corner and spun it around a complete 360, but managed to keep it on the tarmac and keep going. My first spin ever!.

I didn't feel like I did that well, maybe not helped much by the car setup. I ended up qualifying 6th which is my worst result yet, but at least it breaks the trend of qualifying 5th.

The Race
Onto the race, and there was only one this time. Luckily, it had stopped raining and as there were a few races before us, the track had almost completely dried out, except for the odd damp patch off-line. This time I made sure I put it in the right gear from the off, and I got a pretty good start.

After a couple of laps the top 7 were all reasonably close together, me being one of them, and after some frantic position-swapping, I managed to get up to 3rd. However, coming onto the banking at one point I missed the gear change, which dropped me down to 7th and royally p'eed me off. It was another case of working my way back up and slowly I picked them off, one by one. The racing was so close that by the end of it, both of my wing mirrors had been folded in. Despite my lack of visibility, I managed to keep getting past the people in front of me and in the end I finished 2nd, which I was really, really pleased with. By the end of the race, the leader was long gone as a result of all the tussling going on behind him, but my fastest lap time was quicker than his, so if there were a few more laps I could have caught up with him.

For the rest of the pictures from this meeting, SEE HERE

For on-board videos from this meeting, SEE HERE.
 

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