Mallory Park April 18th 2010
After a long cold winter break the 2010 mr2 racing series kicked off at Mallory Park in Leicestershire on April the 18th.
As I had a day off work on the Saturday before the meeting we drove down mid afternoon to arrive at the circuit by 6:00 pm, drivers were already setting up the BBQ`s , we unloaded the car and set up our tent and air bed “then crossed our fingers it stayed inflated”, we then joined people and chatted and found a BBQ and asked if we could pop our food on, we ate and then had various discussions with racers new and old before it turned cold and we decided to nip into the van and go and find a warm pub for a night cap, we returned about midnight and climbed in the tent relived to find the bed okay we soon fell asleep.
A fine sunny day greeted the racers and with record entries of 41 cars it looked set to be interesting! We got up and showered then to sort the car out and the paperwork, first to sign on and get my scrutineering ticket, then to scrutineering with the car, it all passed so back to the van and fuel the car and set the tyre pressures.
We were called for qualifying and I went out doing first three steady laps and then my race pace, that’s when I noticed something, was not right, I had to use loads of lock and struggled to hold the car tight to line and the hairpin was a nightmare I had to change hands on the wheel to turn, it knocked loads of time off me I thought I had a flat tyre! I came in and to say the least I was not happy I knew before I got the times I would not be good news and it wasn`t, Stu jacked up the car after I had informed him of the steering issues, Stu found the O/S/F camber bolts loose, he fitted some new shake proof washers and tightened everything up. I had qualified in 12th place not good at all and a lot of work to do on the shortest circuit in our calendar.
During the lunch break that was now happening we get a visit from members of the MR2 Drivers Club, Brian Elliot and some friends plus some of our motorsport friends came out for the day.
So to race 1
I got a reasonable start but got blocked by three cars coming together in the first corner, I got clear of the accident and settled down to gain some places, the car seemed sorted now anyway but with the first corner hold up the front guys had got away and pretty much where I was, was my finishing position I had made it up to ninth place in that race, and finished with no marks on the car and a better start position hopefully for the second race.
Race 2
Due to accident damage on cars in the first race and a couple of cars with mechanical issues I found that I was starting race 2 in 6th place now, so as I sat doing the green flag lap in the car I was planning my start weighing up who I was next to etc, all lined up ready to go and I went but stupidly, missed the second gear change “furious with myself I never fluff the starts!” I pulled my driving in and tried to make the most of a wrecked opportunity and lost places to boot. So down to 10th by my own mistake I got involved in a good race with car 75 Matt Coggins, unfortunately Matt got a bit over ambitious and as a result I turned into Devils elbow on line and Matt was trying to go under my car as a result the rear quarter of my car got pushed and put me into a spin, luckily I just missed the inside barrier kept the throttle and got straight back on, I worked my way back to 14th from there and finished with minor damage, I wanted a lot more from my first races but that’s motorsport unfortunately, so Stuart has some cosmetics to do before the next meeting at Snetterton on May 30th and a little bit of panel straightening but apart from that we got off unscathed and had two races, thanks to Brain and friends for coming to see us and the racing we hope to see some other members throughout the year at meetings.
