I was up against the Honda Civic VTi of Steve Palmer, the double entered MGF of Paul Rigg and Dennis Hope and the MR2 of Dave Exton, who won the class back in April with a 'magic' lap!
Unlike in April, it was the two-lap format they ran today and last year, I managed to do 117secs so that was my target time for today.
First practice went well and I posted 116.67secs which I was chuffed with as it knocked more than half a second off last year. This put me in the lead which made me even more chuffed.
However, closer inspection of my front tyre revealed some severe delamination and exposed cord! There was no way I could continue to race with that. :cry:
The damaged tyre
Not to worry - Steve (of the civic) had a couple of spare wheels with him and after a bit of umming and ahhing, they were fitted to the front end of my MX-5. Honda Civic wheels are a direct fit it seems! :D
So, with two ropey old Toyos up front and delaminating Marangonis at the rear, I set off for my second run. Needless to say, the car felt a bit weird and I only managed 117.19 secs. Still, it was faster than last year! The competition thought I was out of it - Paul was down to 116.79 and Steve did 116.35. Dave in the MR2 was proving that his win last time was a fluke as he only managed 136.
First timed run and I pushed on a bit. This time I managed 115.63 which I was very pleased with. I was quickly disappointed as Steve did a 115.57 and Paul a super quick 114.25. Paul was lining up his victory speech at this stage.
Second timed run and I tried some different lines and really had it on the ragged edge. I nearly lost it twice but I also fluffed a gearchange - losing lots of valuable time. To my amazement, I posted 114.34secs! :lol:
Paul and Stephen were going backwards by now posting 114.50 and 116.31 respectively. I was sitting in second and we got confirmation that we would get a third and final run.
I blasted off the startline, slid round the first corner, barely braked for the first chicane and got sideways up the hill. I got two wheels on the grass round the top corner and floored it for the straight - boy that felt quick! Braked VERy late for the second chicane and cut the kerbs on both sides - more like grasstracking! Screeching all the way round the 180degree bend, I floored it again and changed up to third. Braked late for the third chicane, snatched second and planted the throttle. Lots of kerb later, I was heading back down to the first corner for my second lap. More of the same and I managed to make all my gearchanges. Screeching round the last corner, I saw the clock....................
113.75secs ! 8) :D
Back into the paddock, I quickly got out the car to see Steve post 115.36. Paul was next and I was biting his nails as he crossed the line in 114.48secs.
I couldn't believe it. After such a disappointing day on Saturday, I had won convincingly and bagged a valuable 25 championship points. All on borrowed Honda wheels :lol:
Roll on the next event................
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