well bugger my boots, that was an interesting day... and lady luck must have been watching over me! no rain, and qual'd in 22nd with 1'07. i had the wrong gearing for the dry, but went with it anyway.


"i'm sure i dropped a quid round here somewhere?? wait, is that Doms exhaust bolt?"

Race one, got away from the lights well and tipped into Gerards 5th gear in around 12th position. I was carrying a bit more speed into the entry than those immediately in front and either side, couldnt go anywhere so closed the throttle down to bring my pace down to match, when someone ahead touched a brake, the guy in front but slightly to my right stood it up momentarily, his back wheel clipped my front wheel and suddenly i was running off the tarmac at circa 100mph, across the grass, through the gravel and towards the tyre wall. Somehow kept it upright and got it under control about 6feet from the tyre wall... rejoined the track in last (28th) and could see the tail end of the pack already going through Edwina's. I went on a bit of a mission to catch up. With 8 people that did not finish, and 5 that i caught and passed, i finished 15th. just 4 seconds behind 14th. After my rather sphincter trembling excursion, i managed a best lap of 1'05


"right, got me quid, wheres the ice cream van gone?"

Race 2 was ok... good start from 22nd place, went into gerards about 14th, but the race 1 incident was in my mind and i found myself braking for the corner a bit too much/early, also i had a couple of passing opportunities that i decided to back down from as they were a bit too risky. Ended up in a 6 or 7 way battle for 11th, with positions being swapped at every corner, but finished 14th. I was ½ sec per lap slower than in the 1st race, but still posting 1'05s.


Trouty stealthily sneaks up to attack from behind. But without Rohypnol this time.

It would have been nice to utilise the DNF's from race 1 and capitalise on those extra points that were up for grabs, but i managed to salvage more from the excursion than i expected. Maintained 9th in the championship, but it is close!

pics shamelessly stolen from [url]www.ospix.co.uk[/url] :) Great racing photography!