Practice makes progress - May 7th 2006

Progress in race three for Humphrey and me

My next outing was at Cadwell, a circuit I know well, could it make a difference? I was hoping it would because running the whole race on your own gets very lonely, as I experienced at Snetterton.

Our timely arrival at the track allowed us to watch a couple of the test sessions and seeing them come throught the esses at the top of the Mountain I realised they were doing something very different from me... time to do some talking!! Later on with a couple of beers in hand a group of us walked the Mountain section of the track and it all became clear - I needed to perfect the art of left foot braking and heal and toe... before qualifying.

Before I could do any correction in driver malfunction, first I had to solve the nagging electrical fault and with the arrival of Graham and Richard and one new kill switch later, I had a fully functional car and the dead weight of the extra battery removed, a big thanks to both it made for a much more enjoyable weekend.

I started the race, for once not right at the back of the grid, although I did still have to look underneath someone elses rollcage and squint to be able to see the lights, but it was progress and as the race got underway, I was conscious that I wasn't being dropped... this was it, I was racing!!

Racing at last

Kelvin Foy and myself had a battle from start to finish, swapping pieces of tarmac throughout the race - I was quicker than him around the Club circuit and he obviously had better control of his feet through the Mountain section, this was the most thrilling experience of my season so far and only three races in, I was three seconds quicker than I'd gone in qualifying and definitely moving in the right direction.

I finished in 19th and as we climbed out of our cars in parc ferme, Kelvin and I shared a beaming hug... amazing what fun you can have towards the back of the field. I was a reserve for the final, but everyone turned up, cars repaired and ready to race - so close but so far - but definite potential.

Monday morning came and so did the rain, a downpour to be exact, making for an interesting and eventful second outing. I made a typical rookie error, spinning my wheels on the grid and losing a couple of places, but catching the pack up into turn two I was confident of taking them on in these less than perfect conditions... a little too confident however and getting the power on a bit too quickly into the steep part of the Mountain caused a 360 degree spin and left me high and dry (well damp) as I lost touch with the pack.

Taking on the challenge of the Mountain

A lonely but successful finish as Humphrey brought us both home in one piece, disappointed but some more track time and loads of experiences to take home and learn from for our next outing.

The Locost Championship now moves on to Thruxton and Brands Hatch, two meetings that I will unfortunately have to miss due to funding, or lack of, so officially my next outing will be at Lydden Hill in July, but I have my eye on the Spring Cup at Cadwell at the end of May - two open races with some much quicker cars in attendance, but there is a class for little old me and I reckon it would be a shame to say no.