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This was my last race in the UK before I
emigrated to Australia. I was driving a Formula Vauxhall Lotus, being
run by Nemesis Racing.
This weekend was quite challenging. Its my
first race at Donington Park, so I needed to learn the circuit and acclimatise myself
to the new car. It was extremely damp and greasy on the track, so I spent most of my time
in the corners on opposite lock at near walking speeds. I never even attempted a
flying lap, so was surprised when I qualified halfway up the grid.
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In race 1 the heavens opened and there were 2
green flag laps. It was raining so heavily that I almost span off twice during
these laps and I couldn't see anything other than my steering wheel and a cloud
of mist. In the race, I got a good start, passing 3 cars into the first corner,
but after this my visor steamed up and was covered in so much spray that I
couldn't see the road or other cars, so I retired on lap 5 to save damaging the
car.
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Race 2 was dry with a much grippier surface
on the track. I got a great start of the race, passing at least 6 cars
straightaway. Unfortunately, I missed a gear when I changed to 2nd, and 3 cars
passed me again. I overtook a few more by the end of the lap, ending up running
in 11th place by lap 4. The race was then red flagged when Jim Blockley and
Jonathon Lewis had a coming together at the chicane before the start finish
straight.
At the restart, I got another good start to
5th place by the first corner, when a Comtec car span in front of me and
collected someone else, allowing Lee Bennett to sneak through the inside. I then
missed a gear when lapping backmarkers, and Russ Giles got past me, with Doug
McLay also having a look. I pulled off a scary overtaking manoeuvre back on Russ
Giles down the inside into Redgate, which luckily came off and we more or less
held position till the chequered flag, despite my having a few more gearbox
selector problems. I finished 7th overall, an improvement of 14 places and 22.5
secs from my qualifying position, so I was very happy with the result.
The season is now over, and it was great to
finish my last race of the season and my last Monoposto race on a high note.
Thanks to everyone for clean, close racing, especially Russ Giles & Phil
Moore who never seemed to be more than 20cm from my car throughout the last 2
years.
Another big thanks to everyone who assisted
Spawny Whippet Motorsport since 2002, but especially:
Dermot Healy, Annukka Sairanen, Phil
Dickens and the bunch of reprobates at Nemesis Racing
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