Qualifying was on Saturday in 2 sessions, both with good weather.  I was in the second session, and came out with a best time of 1 min 30.54 secs - just 4/100ths off my best time ever!  This put me in 4th place on the grid, also my best ever.

The races weren't until Sunday, which was a shame as the gap was too long, and I was fed 1 glass of red wine too many on the Saturday night!  We lined up at about 11:30 am, with Lee Baverstock on pole, then Brendan in 2nd immediately n front of me, and Declan O'Donnell off to my right.  I used another new technique at the start (no I'm not telling) and got a cracking start, overtaking Declan and Lee on the run up to Redgate, tucked in behind Brendan Dudley for 2nd place.  Following Brendan down the Craner Curves I had to back off to avoid running into the back of him, and again on the hill up to Macleans.  I got an excellent run at him around Coppice corner onto the back straight, and by Dunlop's Bridge I was past and into the lead.  For all of a second, until Danny from 3rd with the benefit of 2 tows, shot passed the pair of us and into the lead.  At this point, I must add how calm I felt in the driver's seat - not sure why!  So at the end of lap 1, Danny led.  At the start of lap 2, I got a better run around Redgate and managed to overtake him on the left going down the Craner Curves - really quite brave!  But then I ran wide on the exit of the Old Hairpin and Danny overtook me going up to Macleans.  Danny then stayed in the lead until the start of lap 3 when I got along side Danny on the exit of Redgate.  We entered the Craner Curves together, but Danny had the better line, and I had to back off.  This allowed the 3rd - 5th place battle to close up, and Lee, Brendan and Declan sailed past me on the run uphill to Macleans.  Down to 5th place! However I re-overtook Brendan on the back straight and started the next lap 4th.  As we went down the Craner Curves in lap 4, Lee tried to overtake Declan on the outside (right) of Craner Curves, but ran wide putting a wheel or 2 on the grass.  I'm not sure how he made it around the Old Hairpin, but he was obviously always going to run wide.  As he did so, he spun and was flung back across the track hitting Declan - all this was no more than 10 metres in front of me, despite me having backed off.  Now in 2nd place, I continued to chase Danny until the red flags came out - I believe that someone further down the field hit either Lee or Declan.

For the re-start I was in 4th place on the grid again, which was strange since I'd never crossed the line in 4th place - Declan was off to my right in 3rd place, with Danny in pole.  There was no 2nd place car - it must have been either Lee or Declan, neither of whom were able to re-start.  I made another good start, although not quite as good as my previous one, ending up in 2nd place at Redgate.  I challenged Danny for the lead down the Craner Curves, but couldn't quite make it stick.  On the back straight, I lined Danny up, and took him for the lead.  I led for most of lap 2, but there seemed to be very little grip compared to the first half of the race.  At Macleans I ran very wide, and stayed on the grass for at least 50 metres.  Once I got back onto the track I looked in my mirror to find that Danny in 2nd place had followed me onto the grass!  We chatted afterwards and both agreed that we had braked as normal - must have been the fault of the track or tyres - clearly not our fault! But this gave Brendan in 3rd place a good run on both of us, and he took the lead on the back straight.  As we started lap 3, Brendan led, but I pulled alongside going into Redgate, but couldn't make it stick.  I managed to get a good run through the Old Hairpin, and overtook Brendan on the way up the hill into Macleans, only to find him overtake me again on the run up to Coppice!  So I then overtook him again going down the back straight to lead as we started lap 4 - this proved to be crucial.  Brendan overtook me again going into Redgate, but I then overtook him again on the back straight and led into lap 5.  As we exited the Old Hairpin on lap 5, the red flags came out, as there had been a nasty accident at the Esses.  So that was it, race over.  I was not sure at this point who had won.  I knew that I had led at the start of the lap, but had no idea who had led at the start of the lap before!  However, everyone else seemed to know, and they all came over to congratulate me.  It was even announced on the tannoy, but I had to see it in writing.  I rushed off to race control to find the results - in black and white - and they came with a rather nice laurel wreath and trophy!  My first ever trophy - and a win at that. I was so chuffed.  Huge thanks go to Mark Stanton - my loyal pit crew - this is our 3rd season, and he's supported me throughout.

The 2nd race on Sunday afternoon was a bit of anti-climax for me.  I was just so happy that I couldn't really care less!  However the red lights on the grid changed that very quickly!  From 4th place on the grid I made it to 3rd b Redgate and stayed there until the back straight when all of a sudden my video shows 3 cars taking advantage of the tow from me and shooting past - not happy!   I re-overtook Danny on the run into Redgate leaving me in 5th.  The top 6 were in an incredibly close battle - I've never known anything like it.  On lap 4, I managed to overtake Declan for 4th place, where we stayed for some while.  On lap 5 Brendan, Martin and me managed not only 3 abreast down the back straight, but also 3 abreast around the Esses chicane - and we all came out in the same positions we had been in before!  My video stops at this point bizarrely.  I remember that Nick and Jamie both overtake me at some point, but that I overtake Jamie again before he runs out of fuel on the last lap.  So I ended up in 6th place, but with the car intact!  See you at Cadwell.