Lydden - Sat 29 and Sun 30 Jul
We last went to Lydden in 2003, and I didn't like it then! Too narrow for my liking, and I seem to do better on the faster flowing tracks rather than the tight and twisty ones. Oh yes, and in 2003, I remember watching my (now current) car crash in front of me when he tangled with Brett Townend. Despite the forecast of rain on Sunday, it was dry all weekend, and in fact Saturday was a real scorcher.
Scruitineering was a ridiculously early 0745 for us "A" session cars, with qualifying at 0900. I managed to line up 3rd in the queue and followed Declan around until he spun on lap 2 exiting Paddock - he almost clipped the timing gear on the inside of the track. Just so that he wasn't the only one feeling sheepish, I spun in the braking zone for Devil's Elbow later that lap! The car hadn't been used for 6 weeks and the brakes were snatching a bit. As I spun (fairly gracefully) sideways towards the gravel trap, I remember looking across at Martin Gambling who was heading towards me. Luckily I continued my slide without changing direction and Mart missed me easily. Funnily enough he remembers it well also! The rear wheels were in the gravel but I thought I could free myself, setting up a rocking motion from 1st to reverse. Unfortunately I couldn't change gear quickly enough to make it work. Luckily the traffic was still bunched up, giving the marshalls half the track free to come and push me out, which they did. Had it been a few laps later then they would have had to red flag the session. Mind you, a few laps later and my brakes weren't snatching any more! So I qualified 11th and 12th which was good. The car was oversteering badly, and I resolved to try some changes for the final (I had missed the heat and qualified straight through to the final).
Saturday's final was a missed opportunity for me. I had a cracking start, and was up to 8th or 9th place. I even overtook a couple of cars going into Devil's Elbow, and one around the outside of the top hairpin. I successfully (but fairly) defended my line almost everywhere, except the entrance to Paddock. Brain fade took over, and I was so intent on getting the right line into Paddock that I never once defended my line there - and lost 6 places during the course of the race. I therefore finished 15th rather than 9th. Idiot! Still, the car was handling much better.
Sunday's final was very different. I didn't get such a good start. Whilst the red lights were on, the car was rolling forward quite badly as the start line is on a slope. Not wishing to be seen to jump the start, I braked at the wrong moment! Still, I didn't lose any places, just didn't make my "normal" gains. At the end of lap 1 or 2, Brian Mitcham went very wide at the exit of Paddock and threw a huge dust cloud up behind him from the gravel trap. It was impossible to see through it, and I baked off, worried that there might be a stationary car hidden in the cloud. Luckily there wasn't, but I was overtaken by 4 other people who were braver/more foolish. I then followed a gaggle of cars for the rest of the race - Mike Page, Dave Bartholomew and one other who I forget. They were holding me up, but as is the way with Lydden, I couldn't get past them. So a frustrating 18th place over all. My 3 or 4 year old tyres are in need of replacing - I seemed to leave half of them on the track, and the other half on my trailer whilst trying to load the car on!
Next race is Silverstone on Sat 26 Aug - more my kind of track. See you there!