OK, so the car broke again; but at least qualifying was good!

With everything so far going to plan we had the car on it's new Dunlop tyres ready for action.  However the weather wasn't at it's best with lots of rain over the previous night leaving the track rather damp.  Dominic went out and did the required 3 laps very carefully on the greasy surface with the new tyres being an unknown factor.  With lots of other cars spinning off all around there was a distinct lack of confidence going on.

Dominic gradually upped the pace and at the end of a entertaining session had managed to achieve 4th in class and about halfway up the grid overall.

The race looked to be promising with the track drying out completely and the car still behaving itself.

With a good start and holding position into the first corner everything looked promising - until on lap 2 when Dominic was passed by Barry Obey and then by Simon Gent in his class E car.  Something was not right and this was confirmed halfway around the track when a small puff of smoke turned into a major cloud as the water temperature went through the roof and power disappeared.  Dominic eventually retired the car at Coram curve.  The cause currently appears to be the head gasket.

Despite the end of the season drawing closer this was at last our first race!  After a 6 hour trip most of which seemed to be spent in jams on the M6 we arrived at our luxury travel accommodation for Friday night on Saturday morning - a great start.  We had to arrive at the circuit at 8:00 for signing on, so not much sleep then.

Saturday morning promised rain to add to the fun and we were not let down.  The normal panic of unloading the car, signing on, scruitineering went as well as could be expected, however Dominic was required to attend a drivers briefing by the clerk of the course in addition to everything else and before qualifying.  This was just achievable if the briefing time was not changed, naturally it was and so Dominic got a telling off for not being in 2 places at once.  Lorraine however was proving most helpful with getting the wet tyres ready for qualifying.

Qualifying went better than expected.  With 2 of the wet tyres having a slow puncture we were only planning to do the minimum 3 laps, but with the rain easing and the car behaving itself Dominic elected to stay out for the whole session.  Fortunately the extended testing of our previously unreliable engine paid off, however gear selection was proving problematic.  This however was a problem that Dominic could live with for the time being.

As traditional with the wet circuit, lap times were fairly close together resulting in us achieving 17th place on the grid out of 27 cars.  This however is likely to make any dry start for the race very terrifying as the faster Cosworths at the back try to make their way back to their usual slot at the front of the grid.

So the rain stopped and the track dried out in time for the race.  A slightly nervous Dominic and car trundled over to the assembly area to prepare for action.  However the safety scruitineers thought different and objected to our dry slicks being too worn to allow us to race.  Fortunately they must have been in a good mood for once and allowed Dominic to start.

Now for some more confusion!  We were due to do one green flag/formation lap before the start but due to another car going up in smoke back on the grid, this was extended to 2 laps with some confusing signals and flags in between.  However the start proper arrived and our worn tyres made their presence felt with a good dose of wheelspin off the line before joining everyone else at the first corner.

Once everyone had sorted themselves out after Old Hall it was back to business with Dominic clinging onto 4th place for the first few laps and generally just concentrating on keeping the car on the tarmac.  The Puma in front of Ray Grimes decided otherwise and took to the grass and out of 3rd place thus promoting Dominic to 3rd in class.  However the gear linkage was not helping and Dominic managed to change down to 2nd when 4th gear was required!  Despite this being a very bad thing the engine kept going, but with confidence dented Dominic nursed the car around.

This situation now leads to Barry Obey's Fiesta drawing ever nearer, and despite Dominic's best efforts Barry overtakes on the main straight with only about 3 laps of the race remaining.  This position was maintained while traffic was encountered and while Dominic made best efforts to stay glued to Barry's bumper it still resulted in a 4th place for Dominic as they took the chequered flag.

Back in Parc Ferme after the car was towed back due to a stuck throttle at the end of the race (throttle problem was traced to part of the air filter sock being sucked into the carburettor); further anguish was to occur as the old Hoosier tyres we were using were deemed to be illegal. Fortunately the technical scruitineers were also in a good mood and let us off with a warning.

So overall this proved to be an encouraging start to the season!  We now hope to attend Snetterton for the season finale (once we've bought some legal Dunlop's). 

Sorry about the lack of updates recently, but we've been rather busy!  The new car is now up and running and on the road to bed in the engine.  So far it's done over 500 miles with Dominic taking it to work every day - so we're fairly confident that the engine won't let us down again.

To bring to car up to full race specification we still need to weld in the support plates for the rollcage and get the cage bolted in.  The front strut brace needs welding in along with the seat mount and the sunroof replacement.  The hole in the boot floor needs patching up too and finally the interior needs a lick of paint!  The exterior is otherwise now up to spec and fully decaled up!  Pictures soon to follow.

All being well with the welding, we expect to be at the Donnington Park round at the end of July.

We've also now secured sponsorship from Valvil signs in Rayleigh on 01268 777661 who will now supply us with all the vinyl graphics for the car.

The engine builder is currently waiting for a new con rod to replace a slightly bent one from the incident at the Brands Hatch trackday.  Hopefully the engine will be with us this week.

We've however just purchased a new XR2 car for £500 to use as a new shell and also a runabout for Dominic to bed in the engine at minimal cost.  Over the next few weeks we shall be transferring all the good bits from the old race car, this will mean that we will be missing more races - particularly the next race at Brands Hatch which we were really looking forward to!