Having never driven at Brands Hatch before, I was particularly pleased to qualify 9th out of 35 cars, in a time just 1/2 a second off last year’s pole in identical weather conditions.

With only 30 places on each grid, the lowest 30 qualifiers competed in the heat, putting me 4th on the grid for the heat.

I got off to a good start in the heat, maintaining my position off the start, and after a few laps, I was up to 3rd place. A couple of laps later and I missed a gear changing down for Clearways corner, and took a lightly wide line (a bit of grass). Losing 2 places, I fought hard to get them both back within 2 laps. We were then catching the back-markers, and I was unlucky to catch one at Clearways when a yellow flag was being waved. Not allowed to overtake until the next green flag, I had to wait a short distance, allowing the cars behind to catch me at pace. Sure enough, they overtook me, and again I had to claw my way back. I finished 5th, confident that 1 lap more would have seen me re-gain my 4th place.

This put me 10th on the grid for the final. Again, a good start, and swiftly moved up to 7th. Unfortunately on the 4th lap I was overtaken on the inside going up the hill to Druids - I then had the better line around the hairpin, and applied power early. Too early and too hard. The resulting spin crashed me in to the barriers, Game over. 2 weeks until Snetterton to replace the steering arm and mounts, and 1 front wishbone.