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Practice
I turned up at the circuit a little late but not to worry the space allocated for Vees had gone the day before so I found myself in the overflow. The weather was looking good and I was looking forward to some dry running. Practice proved hit and miss. Car felt nice, driver happy. Just getting into my stride when a nasty accident stops the session. Gordon Rae and Robert Dagg have collided at Coram. Robert’s car looks a mess and rather ominously he still in it when I come around again to file back into the pits. The session is halted for about 25 minutes. I hear later that both guys are OK. For the second part of practice I have problems getting a clear lap. Into Russell a number of times I come across slower cars going into the pits or spinners. A poor exit from Russell spoils the end of one lap and the start of the next. I am reasonably happy with 27th (out of 40) and a time of 1:24.6. Similar to what I did last year. Thought I could have gone a second quicker if I had had a good run through Russell.
During practice I was aware of turning in a few times on the brakes which means the back is little light and prone to stepping out. The back steps out I corrected with opposite lock and as a result missed the apex and therefore messed up the exit to the corner. I put this into the back of my mind and vowed not to repeat this mistake during the race.
Heat
So I start the heat in 19th place. An OK start is spoilt a little in the first car by a spinner. The rest of the race I spent dicing with a number of cars: Nick Brown, Andy Metcalf, Aaron Atkins and a few others. Much of the race we are trading places. Every lap someone has overtaken someone. Nick stays ahead of the pack. As the race progresses my visor gets more and more covered with oil. I wipe it once but a lap later its covered again and I try and wipe it again. This is the last lap and I can’t see a thing going down Revitt straight . I back off and give it a thorough wipe but it lets through Andy Metcalf and someone else. I am relieved to clear and I fend off a move from Aaron going into Coram and going into Russell. Someone spins in Russell and missing them meant slowing down. Aaron then pips me to the line to put me in 17th place overall.
Final
For the final I am in 26th place. Start again OK but I need to improve my starts. The first couple of laps I pass a few cars and I found myself with Nick Brown and I think Andy Metcalf again. I pass Nick once when he misses a gear but can’t hold onto the position and he retakes me on the pit straight. As I dice with people I become aware of a slight lack of straight line speed compared to the others. Through the corners I am either quicker or equivalent but down the straight even with slipstreaming I have trouble getting level with people to try a pass. I finish in 21st with my all time fastest lap around Snetterton of 1:23.8.
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