Unlucky number Seven

Round 2 Race Report

Qualifying – My teammate John Duncan and I found ourselves stuck in a pack. Not satisfied with the pace within this pack, I decided to drop out, give the tyres a rest whilst finding a better space and then went for it. Qualified P5 less than 2 tenths off pole! 

Race 1 – OOPS! Great start then an incident at McIntyres caused a yellow flag which we all slowed down for as normal. Upon passing this, it looked to me as if Ian Munro had started racing again with Dylan O’Donnell as they were trading paint with each other just past the chicane. Having front row seats of this mini battle, I was under the impression racing had resumed and went for it. Looking ahead to Clarks corner there were NO yellow flags to be seen. However, upon reaching the back straight and catching Dom Wheatley (still thinking we were racing), I then noticed the yellow flags and now also Safety Car boards… On top of that I had an angry Kyle Reid in my rear view mirror and eventually realised where I had gone wrong – SORRY GUYS genuine mistake! The race carried on after the safety car re-start, however I ended up finishing 7^th from avoiding Morgan and Dylan having a bump at the Hairpin resulting in me swerving and losing my pace up the straight and my position to both Mark Geraghty and Robbie Dalgliesh *sigh*. 

Race 2 – Finished 7^th again after a great battle with my teammate John. He passed me but then lap by lap I was catching him again so I went for a move at the hairpin. We were neck and neck up the straight with Duffus fast approaching. As teammates and having a great deal of respect for each other, we didn’t want to take each other out (and give Minimax twice the work!) but luckily I just had the legs on him and got ahead. A great clean race for the two of us.  

Race 3 – CARNAGE. Dom Wheatley did a Hannah and lost it at Duffus whilst in the lead. As the car went careering off stage-right, he was onto the grass and out of control. The car then re-emerged onto the track right in front of the pack as we were exiting McIntyres. Pretty scary! The cloud of gravel dust did not help the matter. I lost a few places again from having to brake hard to avoid hitting him -not ideal but far better than if I hadn’t avoided him. Unfortunately others weren’t quite so lucky –there were a few who didn’t make it. After what seemed like a lifetime under safety car for the wreckages to be cleared, racing resumed only to be followed a lap or so later by ANOTHER incident and another safety car. This time it was Mikey Courts trying to do a Hannah and overtake me under yellow flags but I was having none of it! During the race I was also having a good battle with Callum Dryburgh knowing I had the pace but making sure to get past him cleanly and fairly. Eventually I got past but as the end of the race drew nearer, my poor tyres gave up on me and I ran wide into the gravel, losing to Dryburgh and Courts. As I re-joined, I somehow managed to win the line into the chicane and get my place back from Callum and was hunting down Michael to get another place back. I managed this with a move around the outside of him at the hairpin and a drag race to the finish line. YAY. Finished 7^th, not bad considering the events during the race.

Overall for me, although three 7ths are not the best position wise, I am still much happier after this weekend compared to round 1 as I have got my pace back and I know I was driving well and getting stuck in again which was the most important thing for me going ahead.