On our way back home from Germany, we stopped off at the circuit for a Testing Day on Thursday, 19th. With 30 minute sessions, the few Caterham Academy cars were grouped together with Roadsport B, Roadsport A, Supersport and R300s. The difference in speeds between us and the R300s was immense. Sharing a garage with Mike Linzey, we were neighbours to Supersport and R300 drivers. They advised us to keep to our line - don't try and get out of their way - the closing speeds are such that they're choosing their route way before we've realised they're about to pass. If we deviate, chances are we'll be turning into their line and could cause an accident. In a nutshell, it was difficult to get much out of the day and despite trying a few things with tyres etc, I didn't end the day feeling comfortable.
Friday was a day off and myself and Claire spent the day driving round the Kent coast, eating fish-and-chips and taking in the sights of Canterbury.
Saturday saw us Qualify but the timetable put us at the end of the day - the very last group out finishing at about 6pm. So, of course, we arrived before 11am! But it was a worthwhile exercise. The car was prepped and I could relax. Having bled the brakes and swapped the tyres back to their original corners, I was as prepared as I could be. The car felt good at first but I didn't think I was getting the most out of things. Whether there was understeer of poor traction out of corners, I didn't think I was as fast as I could be. Ultimately, I ended the session in an average 9th position.
Next day and there was less time to prepare. Having watched the Group 2 chaps race (a first this year - they were scheduled before us) we were ready to race before lunch. Starting from 9th place meant I had a bit of work to do if I was to progress up the order and off the start, I kept to the inside of Paddock Hill Bend to make up two positions. At Druids, I headed round the outside of the cars keeping a tight line and found myself alongside Wes Fox - he'd started 3rd on the grid! Then the car twitched and on the exit, I ran wide onto the grass. I followed Blaize Rhodes (who'd also taken to the grass!) and a stone flew up from his car and smashed my windscreen. Still, I'd made a few places and settled into the race. A lap later, I'd lost one place but was still in a solid 7th place.
Soon, the cars started to fall out ahead - Merlin Edwards was hit by Mike Hart and was unfortunate to retire with bodywork rubbing his tyre while Jon Mortimer spun away at Druids. Now in 5th, I had a quiet few laps but when the rain started, I panicked and slowed unnecessarily. On the line, I was beaten into 6th by a recovering Jon by 0.002 seconds - we spent the cool-down lap waving to one-another as to who had got the better result.
Ultimately, poor Mike was excluded (despite crossing the line first) for his tangle with Merlin but this gave me a final result of 5th place. Through hard work, and a bit of luck, I'd made a four place improvement on my starting position.
I hope this will be shown on the TV, soon. Motors TV covered the event again and I was lucky enough to have the 'in-car' camera attached to me car. I hope the start at least will make the highlights.
Once again, I was assisted through the weekend by my Mum, Dad and Wife - all of whom make my racing so much more enjoyable - it wouldn't be the same without them. An added bonus was that my Brother John came along as well, with Billy, my Nephew.
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