Aintree - steeped in history and novices...

Aintree is one of the most famous 'race' facilities in the UK and for more variations of 'horse-power' than you may think.  Quite aside from the Grand National, Aintree is a very special Motorsport venue.  It is the UK's only purpose-built motor racing circuit and played host to the British Grand Prix five times between 1955 and 1962.  Stirling Moss took his first victory at Aintee in 1955 which was also the first time a British driver won a British GP.

So it was with a great deal of pride that on Saturday, 24th April 2010, my first competitive event in the Caterham Academy took place on three-quarters of the Club Circuit section of the famous track.

Arriving the night before the main event, I could dump the 'big rig' (car on a trailer towed by our SAAB).  Claire (my wife) picked me up and we met up with Wes (and his family) as well as Mike Linzey and his good-lady.  As an aside at this point, it's worth pointing out that Travelodge let us down badly and at the time of writing, I can't think I'll ever visit one of their hotels again.  The one we booked was closed for a gas-leak (fair enough) but I still don't have my money back and trying to get hold of them is terrible - they don't even look at e-mails correctly.

Suitably fed and rested, we arrived early for signing-on and a walk of the course.  This entertaining stroll was enough to show that despite being only three corners, there was enough to be thinking about - not least the huge (and significantly permanent and solid) jumps usually reserved for the race that usually takes place at Aintree...

Sprinting is a branch of Motorsport in it's own right and there are some people who make a success of it.  It attracts a wide variety of cars (Caterhams, saloons, old F1 cars...).  Essentially, you start at one point on the circuit and finish at another with the time taken to get between them your only opposition.  At Aintree, we had two practice runs (both timed) followed by three official runs - the best of which is compared to everyone elses' best time.  We also got an extra 'run for fun'...

In the first 5 seconds after being called to the collection area, a few things cross your mind.  Firstly, 'THIS IS IT!'  Secondly, 'BLIMEY, THIS IS IT...!'  Then comes, 'It takes ages to get in the car' (there are 8 straps to untangle).  Following that comes, 'I should have been ready for this ages ago...'  Frankly, I wasn't as ready as I should have been so by the time I'd got to the start line for my first practice run, I wasn't in a good frame of mind.

Despite this, I was overjoyed to find myself with the second quickest time in our group.  Having learnt the lessons of rushing to get ready for the last run, I jumped in the car early to get to the second.  In my haste, I broke my video camera...  The back luck didn't end there with me finding myself on the grass at the exit of the first turn.  Not to worry, just a practice...

For the timed runs, however, I found myself braking early (a legacy of not being sure how to attack after my 'incident' in my second practice run).  Ultimately, as a result, I ended the day in 6th place.  Not bad but still disappointing given my promising start.

I had a great day with my Mum & Dad turning up with my Brother Thomas & Louise (his wife).  We parked up alongside Wes and his family as well as Mike and his significant other.  Between us, we spent the day helping each other out.  You'll notice I'm car number 146 for this event - this was allocated by the organizers.

For future events, I need to work on my starts - each car is timed over the first 64 feet - and I'm among the slowest off the line.  In fact, had I matched the starts of the winning cars, I'd have been in the top three...

FULL RESULTS

The video below is a collage of my runs - note I've deleted the 15 minutes sitting in the car waiting for each run...  The first picture was taken by my Dad and the second picture is credited to Rick Wilson - the official photographer for the Caterham Academy.