The second race of the year at Castle Combe proved to be my finest ever outing in Formula Vee, and demonstrated that I will be fighting at the front for the remainder of the year. Finishing 10th out of 44 cars in the teeming rain proved that both I and the car have what it takes to be pushing for the podium and wins as the year continues.
Firstly I’d like to wish Neil Hurran a speedy recovery from his horrific qualifying accident and hope that he returns to the grid as quickly as possible.
Castle Combe saw another bumper entry from the Vee boys, with 44 cars due to compete over the weekend. This meant that qualifying was split into two groups and necessitating a heat and a final. I was in the first qualifying group and was instantly on the pace in the dry session. Unfortunately the session was abandoned after only 5 minutes following Neil Hurran’s accident meaning that very drivers had set a true flying lap myself included.
After what seemed like an eternity a grid was issued for the heat, and my name wasn’t on it, having scraped through as the last of eight automatic qualifiers for the Final, the first time I’d ever achieved this.
As the lights went out to start the first race it started to rain, and rain and rain. The Vee heat was run in conditions best known to residents of New Orleans and after a six car pile-up halted the Caterham race as cars aquaplaned off in all directions it looked as if we were not going to race.
Amazingly in the failing light we were called to the grid and sent off on what must have been the longest 10 laps of my life. I made a poor start dumping the clutch and getting excessive wheelspin, losing a handful of places, although I regained many of these outbreaking several cars into Quarry for the first time. The remainder of the first lap is a blur, quite literally, as I couldn’t see anything, using spectators cars and marshalls posts as indicators that I was near a corner.
As the field spread out visibility improved and I was able to get a better feel for the track conditions, and was able to more or less hold my position, for every car that passed me, one in front spun off, or pulled out. With the passing of each lap my pace kept improving but I was losing out to other cars on the straights as my car was wheelspinning at comparitively low revs forcing me to upshift early to avoiding aquaplaning out. Even so my pace into and out of the corners enabled me to pull away from those behind and eventually come home a damp, but delighted 10th.
