Silverstone June 7th
Round 3 of the MR2 Racing series takes us to the home of British motor sport, Silverstone, we travelled down after work on the Saturday and arrived in the paddock at about 10pm, dropped off the car and trailer then a quick round in the paddock as some of the other racers were camping the night and had settled in for late evening BBQ`s and we just had a few words with them and a drink.
Sunday morning brought torrential rain, the circuit was flooded so much so the qualifying was delayed until the track sweepers had tried to clear the flooded track. We had fitted two new near side tyres and needed to scrub them in to get them to work, you see the new Silverstone tyres when new have a coating on them and that needs scrubbing off before you have any grip its like driving on ice until its rubbed off abrasively, and to go out on a water logged circuit with outside tyres with no grip that meant I would not get much speed up which meant no heat which in turn not much grip, I would usually nip off in the rear of the car park and scrub the tyres that way but by the time the tyres were fitted we were then called, no time I would just have to see how it went, I headed out and let most cars by just circulating at a driving pace trying to scrub my tyres were I could safely this was in between waved yellow flags and the spray I began to think I needed to just go for it what the hell as I was sure I was nearly out of qualifying time, I pressed as hard as I dare and had a little slide but it was a smooth lap and it was as fast as I could go with the circuit and my tyres at that point so session over I was thinking 18th/ninteenth on the grid with work to do but, I ended up 8th and shocked but relived as you could imagine!
Race one, by now the sun was out and the circuit was bone dry so a fast start was not a problem and with Silverstone being so wide I had loads of room, so we got gridded up we also had the biggest ever grid or MR2 MK1`s at a race meeting thirty two to be exact all within the same spec of each other new racers and seasoned racers, looking back in the rear view it was brilliant this was going to be great!
We did our green flag lap, that’s a lap of the circuit in grid formation to make us aware of the marshals posts and circuit conditions, then re-grid and wait for the boards and lights, light on then out and away by the first corner I was in 4th place, I was then involved in one of the best MR2 races I have ever been in, and Stuart said one of the best he has ever seen, six cars were swapping places every corner every lap, it was great, I was one of these cars and from my point of the race it was such a great place to be but the closeness of the racing demanded complete focus, I did finish third but the race was red flagged and the result was rolled back a lap before the cause of the red flag and at that point I was fourth, this result was not made until after the cars were back in the paddock so I did appear on the podium for the finish.
During the break between races we had lots of spectators coming up and asking about the car and the series and also the Drivers Club, we gave out a lot of literature so hopefully more members will come of it and we hope you all enjoyed the day.
Race two I was nearer the front as you start were you finished the first race ie 4th for me, I got a good start and was with the leaders going into Copse Corner, the race soon settled into a four car dice for the lead, I sat behind the leaders to watch the action, I had decided to push with two laps to go and was pulling them in down the back straight, just as I pulled out to make a stab at a pass, yellow flags were being waved(no overtaking) and then the chance had gone! So I finished in 4th it had been a good day for me and now we had a long drive home.
I am looking forward to the next rounds at my local circuit Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire and its only 20 mins from our house BONUS! We have friends going to be at the circuit to watch this one so the pressure is on me for this one, we hope to see some Drivers Club members and of course please come and say hi if you
