The best seat in the house at Snetterton - April 17th 2006

Gathered in the Assembly area for my first race

My first event was here and I was en route to Snetterton a day early to get in some much needed testing to learn the circuit, little did I know that the Gods of weather and electrics were about to bring an end to that little brain wave.

On arrival the sun was shining brightly, but as my session drew near the heavens opened. Still I have to get some practice in so out I trundled until on my second lap out of the pits (my first flying lap) 'Humphrey' decided running in the wet was not such a good idea and droned to a halt on the exit of turn two... an electrical fault somewhere, meaning my next lap was behind a tow truck, a great way to see the circuit, but not exactly what I had planned.

The guys in the paddock were there to lend a hand and get me out for qualifying on Friday morning, but having carefully weighed my car on Thursday I now found myself running with a second battery and around 20kgs too much weight - something that didn't come to light until Saturday afternoon following the second race, but hey you live and learn.

So back to the action, I qualified at the back of the field (34th) and ran in sight of the pack until I began to get sprayed with a mixture of oil and water from the engine and prayed to the Gods of chequered flags to come out and save me. It was not how I expected to start my race season, but when the lead pack started bearing down on me in the final turn it made me realise just how much I had to learn. With the best seat in the house I followed them through turns one and two until they disappeared down the straight - one day I kept telling myself, one day!!

Race one over I found myself inheriting 27th place, thanks to others demise... sorry guys, but I had finished and got myself a point, albeit in times that didn't even come close to my qualifying time and not really feeling that I was driving the car more that he was driving me, not ideal.

On my way through Corum at Snetterton

Time to take stock and change something over night - that something being my knowledge of the circuit - so trainers on, drink in hand and off we plodded, six of us in total all offering different and sometimes conflicting advice until my head spun with braking points, gear changes and double apexes.

Still confused I was invited into the 'Scottish bus' to watch some in-car video and have Dougie talk me round a lap in one of these beasts. Saturday seemed to come around too quickly and here was me about to go out for my second race on a circuit that, due to all the advice I had received,
was a completely different one than I had driven the day before - nervous? Just a tad!!

The second racing start of my life was much better, I was right in the middle of things coming out of turn two, there was lots of jostling for places and I was there, feeling at last like I was in a real race. I even passed someone coming out of the Esses, they came back around later in the lap, but at last I was racing, I felt in control and had the biggest smile on my face - it ached!!

I began to lose revs on the back straight in fourth, though and lost touch with the pack, but I brought him home in 28th place, two seconds a lap quicker than in my first race and even quicker than I had gone in qualifying, this was the biggest buzz you can imagine - thank you Dougie I
couldn't have done it without your advice.

People I hadn't even met were coming up to me to congratulate me on bringing it home, keeping it clean and getting quicker over the weekend, everyone was amazingly supportive, even the guys at the front of the field - unbelievable.

Heading down the pit straight at Snetterton

The old adage 'someone has to be last' is true, but unless it is fun too this can be demoralising. I don't have to worry about that because I can say I had fun, I can say I improved, I can say I have lots more to learn, but most of all I can say I am in the best place to do it and I'll be back at Cadwell in a couple of weeks time to close down that gap.

See you all there!!