EDC Rnd3 - Knockhill
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:52 am
A VERY LONG JOURNEY !!!!
Not being blessed with Stu's Wicker-esque ability to conjure up images of far off events with words alone, I will apologize in advance if this report is long winded, disjointed or generally crap, right now Im a tired but very happy camper and wanted to share some of the feelings that I have experienced during and upto this weekend. Knowing where to start is difficult but I guess a very brief history to put it all into perspective makes sense !!
Alot of you here know that last year I basically went from club level drifter to pro level drifter in a very short time, mainly thanks to the experioence you get from having to drive on courses as fast as Rockingham or Silverstone against the best drivers in Europe. My results went as follows.........24th, 22nd, 12th, 9th, and then 18th in the wet !!! Overall I was joint 22nd for the year out of 40odd drivers. So basically big improvements and during this time my car went from 230bhp to 320bhp with various different setups at every round. I also did a few rounds of the Eurodrift Championship and finished 3rd overall in clubman with a 2nd and 2 3rd place finishes which I was using mainly for seat time and setup, but was nice nevertheless. I also did loads of demo's mainly at SantaPod and generally had a good amount of time in the car although only the 5 rounds for high speed stuff. The car was totally reliable as it had been during 2005 and 2004 and things were looking good for 2007.
Over winter we decided that a major revamp to the orange was required and basically we took the weight of the car down from 1200kg's to 1100kg's despite the addition of a much beefier rollcage and external jacking points, and the engine spec went through the roof (and my budget) upto over 400bhp at the hubs - circa 440-450bhp flywheel. All the other parts of the car were stripped and rebuilt, modified or changed as we went in search of a lot more grip to enable us to compete with the like of SVA's 350z and whatever mad thing Phil Morrision would be driving. Last years target had been to get into the top 16 by the end of the year which I did easily. This years targets were to win a Tsuiso (twin battle) so that I would effectively have a top 8 finish and ultimately finsih in the top half of the field (top 10 would be an absolute dream) for the season.
Unfortunately the first round at Donington didnt go well for me as I dont particularly like the track, but whilst I could do it I just didnt feel right and made a bad error on tyre choices which basically saw me finish 17th - one place away from getting the chance to twin. Silverstone would be my redemtion IO thought, as I liked the layout, the car went well there and my new super horse powers meant I could really be cometitive against the top 10. For the first time ever mechanical gremlins nearly cost me the chance to even get through qualifying, but with some help from a ciouple of peeps we managed to get 7th - my best result ever !! - and looked forward to the tsuiso. This was when everything went wrong - the car snapped all its belts again, overheated alot and when it was fixed and I ran in the tsuiso my throttle position sensor failed costing me a top 8 finish. This was the beginning of the most annoying series of events.
Worse still when I used the car again after Silverstone the thing overheated again badly and it turned out to have warped the head a fraction - 3/1000th's of an inch - but was enough to pressurise the water system. Out came the engine, it all got fixed and we tried it again on wednesday at the drift night. Sure enough it overheated again and lost all its water. So thursday it was treated to a much needed Koyo rad, we found the viscous fan was faulty and got a new one and also redid the breather system so that it wasnt lowing oil out the dump valve !!! GAME ON !!!
So here we are - finally at the point of this thread !!! Apologies again that its taken so long to get here already (hence the title !!)
This weekend was meant to go - drive up Friday morning, stay in hotel with the lads, have fun, drive well, get top8 with my first Tsuiso win and come home.
Friday there was a bunch of holdups meaning I left Colchester at just gone 1.30pm - I then hit some traffic which Dunc and Mike had managed to miss - numerous phone calls to people to keep me occupied (cheers Stu and Tan )resulted in me still going strong at 7.00pm when the A1 started to clear and decent headway could be made - turned stereo on so listen to Mr Pete Tong and was happily having my own one man party - oblivious the Sheila the Satnav telling me to turn off, at Scotch Corner, for the A66 and Scotland the easy way !!! Most the way to Newcastle I wondered why the route indicator on the Satnav kept telling me todo U-turns at intersections when it dawned on me what I had done !!! Despite Sheila trying to take me through Keilder forest - which Duncan and Mike had phoned me to say was bloody amazing with loads of twists and turns, and elevation changes and all the things my 6 year old 200,000mile old van and original clutch didnt want to hear whilst towing a trailer and race car !!! So I carried on down towards Carlisle the scenic route - which is fookin glorious by the way - and with an extra 50miles on the journey, 6 cans of Relentless and a few bags of Monster Munch I arrived at the circuit at 11.30pm, 10 hours after I left and still pretty fresh. I chilled out, got the sleeping bag out and went to kip.
Woke up at 1am
Swapped seats for comfort
Went back to sleep
Woke up at 2am
Tried to have a cunning pee in the scenery in force 8 gale which nearly ended in disaster
Went back to sleep
Woke up at 3am
Got in the back of the van
Went back to sleep
Woke up at 4am
Considered ringing Stu
Though better of it
Went back to sleep
Missed 5am
Woke up at 6am to the sounds of a couple of competitors parking in the same overspill car park as me
Dozed for an hour
Noticed Dunc and Mike turn up so went to say hello and tell them they were in the wrong place for the days activities and we all went and found ourselves a good spot in the paddock and started changing tyres and so on.
Had a couple of lovely bacon rolls
Talked shyte with a bunch of the lads whilst the cheaters, I mean the Time Attack boys, had a crafty practice on the SIDC trackday that had been arranged that morning !!!
Signed on, got ripped to shreds by everyone that my car looked like a mobile mud pie thanks to Snetterton on Wednesday night so just for once I decided to clean it. Took it off the jack, went to the jet wash, got told I was now about to miss the drivers briefing so drove down to that, got told we had an hour to finish getting ready before being on track at 12.30pm so finished cleaning my now orange car. Come 12.30 we went out for 2 laps that had been alocated to EDC licence takers if there had been more on the day. First run at 2/3rds pace felt strange with a rubbing or grinding sound coming from the car. Mark Gillam from Abbeys poked his head through the window while I was queuing for my second run and asked how it all was and I mentioned the grinding which he though was down to the wheel rubbing thanks to my weight - shows you who your friends are !!! Second run at full pace the car was fine on the right hander but straightened alot on the left hander and made the same grinding noise, I glanced at the wheel in the side mirror as I held the car in the slide at around 70mph to se the drivers side rear wheel "wobbling" - I had remembered to tighten the wheel up hadnt I ????? :oops: 
:roll: I stopped just short of going into the gravel trap properly as I didnt want to risk a transition now I could see the problem and limped back to the pits !!!
Back in the pits and it transpired that 3 of my nuts could be done up a couple of complete revolutions by hand, and all the other nuts both sides were loose. In my haste to clean the car I had just taken it off the jacks and forgotten to get the torque wrench out - they up just been spun on with my 12v drill !!! Lucky boy !!!
The practice session came up and normal service was resumed, the usual suspects were doing well - Bon Bon was absolutely monstering the course, Luney was starting at the top of 5th gear initiating at the 100m board on the wand and whilst I was somewhat less exhuberent (and talented !!) I was doing ok, with several people saying how smooth and good my lines were - one of these was Sleepy the judge so I guess he knew what he was talking about !! Happy days !! Slightly less happy was the fact that the car was still overheating a tad, and looks like it might still have a prblem as its pressurising the water out the system, but this was such a minimal thing it didnt matter, it was cooling down the minute I was off boost so it was all manageable.
Qualifying came and as the first group had done there runs it started to chuck it down, none of us had wet settings, the rubber on track was like ice in these conditions and it was pretty daunting trying to figure out what speed to approach a blind corner in the wet you had been taking at 100mph earlier. Still I did my best, had a good sighting run, my first judged run was excellent, the second one I pushed harder - too hard - and binned it, the third one i pushed harder again and managed to hold it, but it was a bit ugly !!! This gave me a 7th position, the same as at Silverstone earlier this year and equal to my highest ever position. Now if only I could win a Tsuiso, hopefully I would be against one of the newer drivers or someone with a car with less ability than me. Oh dear - I've drawn Pazza. 
Chris Parry is one of the UK's original drifters from before there was any drifting over here !!! He started Night Spirit the first drift club which most the core members of Driftworks are members of - Phil, James, BonBon, Kenny, Jay, Mitto etc etc - and has owned his AE86 Corrolla for at leats 5years and the car is fundamentally part of him. This year he is rocking it bigtime and given the fact that his car weighs about 700kg's but only has 160bhp he has a huge performance difference against all the other cars, which is very hard to drive against. Blast away from him at the start and you will get judged down, try to match his mid corner speed and you will leave the track !!! I didnt have a ope - plus I like th guy alot and while I was talking to him at the start I said "Its a weird situation, I want to win, but I dont want to beat you" which he agreed with and we just went out and had fun.
As the higher qualifyer I ran first - I dont like the way alot of people leave Chris for dead just before the start of the judged section so they have an advantage thats easy to defend, so i carefully matched speed with him and just went in as I wanted to, I held my nerve for once and did ok, Chris had spun out though - hurrah !!!
Next run and Chris led off - I followed at a safe distance, all I had to do was just match his pace and not spin.................................................yeah right !!!! 2 1/2 complete revolutions later and I had learnt another vaulable lesson - dont try to match a Hachiroku mid corner !!!!
We had to run "One more time"
I led off, made sure Paz was with me and did another super smooth run, Chris span off again - this was my chance !!!
Paz leading, I followed in alot closer - about a car length and tipped it in - DAMMIT - I'd done it again, I could feel the back end coming round to much - I shifted back down to 2nd, pumped the handbrake a couple of times and hoped for only a half spin (not a total loss in judging terms) - I had just about got away with it, forced my way round the last half of the course to see Paz majestically powering his way.............out the gravel trap - he had gone of course, and instant loss of all points, which meant I had won my first Tsuiso and now had a guaranteed 8th place finish !!!!!!!!
YEEAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!
We all went in to the debrief and sure enough it was confirmed, I was through, to meet Alan McCord who had just beaten one of the best drivers - Mark Luney in the 350z from SVA - and was a seasoned competitor from Ireland.
I chatted with Duncan and Mike back in the pits and commiserated with Mike about his off when he was looking so good. They said they were going to stick around to see how I did and wished me luck.
I queued up in the holding area, chatting with the other drivers, and we noticed there was only 7 of us - who was missing ???? It was Alan !!! They were still fixing his car. We all went on to the start line having been held up 15minutes for a huge off by the RCDevelopments car of Clive Seddon. Would Alan get his car ready ??? Would I have a by ???? Time went weird for a while and my nerves really started to join the party, it was unbearable not knowing if I would run against Alan or not, and then suddenly the starter came up said "He cant get it fixed in time, you get a by" WOW !!! I was now 4th,!!!! I felt for Alan but I also felt that perhaps I deserved a bit of luck for once and this was my reward for the hassle of the last few months. I did a half run to settle my nerves a touch and to see what the track was like, and then there I was facing Mark Buckle, another driver punching well above his weight in these difficult conditions, and someone who I thought I had a chance against, but knew that he was driving fantastically today. We went on our sighting lap and I just drove normally,. waving to the crowds, terrified not to spin it on a warm up lap !!! and just soak up the fact I was far higher than I ever dreamed of being !!!
The battle for 2nd was pretty straight forward, Mark lead and I followed, he had loads of grip from somewhere and I just thought I might be dong okay when it all went too far and I binned it.
My run in front and dertermined not to wimp out I went for it and again lack of grip got the better of me, watching my mirrors too didnt help as I ran out of time to get the final transition.
I gave the crowd a big wave and headed back to the start line, at which point they said "Hurry up and turn round, you're running against Tony for 3rd"
Totally unprepared against a really good driver in a really good car I though "What the heck, I've got 4th, I cant do any worse" and just went for it !!!
His car is well known for being a rocket off the start and sure enough he put the hammer down to gap me into the first turn, but for once I used full throttle myself and pulled him back in !!! WOW !!!!
I tipped it in, follwed him down really cloe and we both went through.
My run in front and I knew I didnt want to spin, but didnt want to try and go in fast either as that gave him the advantage, I came in alot slower, rode it all the way down Duffus and Tony was still there on my tail - oh well I reckon he will have got that for my slow entry I thought !!! I played up to the crowd big time, banging my roof revving the car and doing a 2nd gear rolling burnout back up Duffus waving out the window - I admit I milked it, but I was also saying thanks to the crowds for staying there til the end, for me I thought it was now over///////
Nope...................."One more time"
So we did it all again, exactly the same as last time, he blasted off, I matched him held a perfect line and held it together
I led off slower, he matched me, we both held our nerve...........surely this time I've been beaten (the old psychology still needs work for the positive as you can see !!!).......I played to the crowd some more, just to enjoy the moment really !!!!
"One more time"
I was so knackered mentally more than anything at this point I couldnt even spin the car round 180* at the startline !!!!
We ran again, Tony went very fast, I was forced to match him, certain that I was going to spin out, but I guiess I fundamentally can actually drive, because without nerves or brain I did pretty well !!!!! I matched him very closely, and then on my run I shift locked in 3rd as well as a touch of handbrake to slow a tad extra at the start of the corner but without him being able to see, this gave me the advantage down the hill and Tony was forced wide to maintain the drioft on power which gave me the win !!! It sounds simple typing it here, but at the time it was the only thing I could think of to try something dofferent, I didnt know if it would work or not, I didnt expect to win, but I did. I got back to the startline expecting to be 4th - I hadnt actually seen Tony go wide - to find Glen happier than ever and a bit choked up - he said "You've fuckin done it mate, Im so chuffed for ya" "What do ya mean" I replied - "You're 3rd mate, you beat him, you done it" said Glen we were both pretty emotional, he gave me a hug and a kiss and I must say we were both choked, I welled up a bit but managed not to cry. Tony is an absolute sportsman I must say, he was as excited for me as if it had been his own win - "That was fuckin awesome mate, phenomenal driving, you're so bloody smooth, I just couldnt match you" he said. For me it was just relief, like I had just run a marathon or something, and I was all over the place, but sure enough a few moments later Mark binned it againt Mark Johnston in the Westons car we got told to go down there and say hello to the crowds.
I went down parked up after a little burnout and got interviewed by Maz
I was just really chuffed for Mark buckle as well, he drove out of his skin with 3 reruns against Maciej Polody from Poland who one at Silverstone the other day.
The world was suddenly a very good place !!!!!
We went back to the pits, I had to get up on the podium and it was all a bit surreal to be honest, in fact I cant remember a great deal about it !!!
Duncans face will always be remembered, he looked like my Dad, he was so proud, and I have seen the photo on the other thread which I am so pleased came out it did. I havent been that happy for a couple of years, I feel like a weight has been lifted and now I just hope I can start to repeat this kind of driving which everyone else has said I can do and I have just not believed myself.
Sorry again for the length of this thread, but it really has been a very long journey for me to get to this point and I wanted to share it with those I consider my pals on here.
Cheers,
James.
Not being blessed with Stu's Wicker-esque ability to conjure up images of far off events with words alone, I will apologize in advance if this report is long winded, disjointed or generally crap, right now Im a tired but very happy camper and wanted to share some of the feelings that I have experienced during and upto this weekend. Knowing where to start is difficult but I guess a very brief history to put it all into perspective makes sense !!
Alot of you here know that last year I basically went from club level drifter to pro level drifter in a very short time, mainly thanks to the experioence you get from having to drive on courses as fast as Rockingham or Silverstone against the best drivers in Europe. My results went as follows.........24th, 22nd, 12th, 9th, and then 18th in the wet !!! Overall I was joint 22nd for the year out of 40odd drivers. So basically big improvements and during this time my car went from 230bhp to 320bhp with various different setups at every round. I also did a few rounds of the Eurodrift Championship and finished 3rd overall in clubman with a 2nd and 2 3rd place finishes which I was using mainly for seat time and setup, but was nice nevertheless. I also did loads of demo's mainly at SantaPod and generally had a good amount of time in the car although only the 5 rounds for high speed stuff. The car was totally reliable as it had been during 2005 and 2004 and things were looking good for 2007.
Over winter we decided that a major revamp to the orange was required and basically we took the weight of the car down from 1200kg's to 1100kg's despite the addition of a much beefier rollcage and external jacking points, and the engine spec went through the roof (and my budget) upto over 400bhp at the hubs - circa 440-450bhp flywheel. All the other parts of the car were stripped and rebuilt, modified or changed as we went in search of a lot more grip to enable us to compete with the like of SVA's 350z and whatever mad thing Phil Morrision would be driving. Last years target had been to get into the top 16 by the end of the year which I did easily. This years targets were to win a Tsuiso (twin battle) so that I would effectively have a top 8 finish and ultimately finsih in the top half of the field (top 10 would be an absolute dream) for the season.
Unfortunately the first round at Donington didnt go well for me as I dont particularly like the track, but whilst I could do it I just didnt feel right and made a bad error on tyre choices which basically saw me finish 17th - one place away from getting the chance to twin. Silverstone would be my redemtion IO thought, as I liked the layout, the car went well there and my new super horse powers meant I could really be cometitive against the top 10. For the first time ever mechanical gremlins nearly cost me the chance to even get through qualifying, but with some help from a ciouple of peeps we managed to get 7th - my best result ever !! - and looked forward to the tsuiso. This was when everything went wrong - the car snapped all its belts again, overheated alot and when it was fixed and I ran in the tsuiso my throttle position sensor failed costing me a top 8 finish. This was the beginning of the most annoying series of events.
Worse still when I used the car again after Silverstone the thing overheated again badly and it turned out to have warped the head a fraction - 3/1000th's of an inch - but was enough to pressurise the water system. Out came the engine, it all got fixed and we tried it again on wednesday at the drift night. Sure enough it overheated again and lost all its water. So thursday it was treated to a much needed Koyo rad, we found the viscous fan was faulty and got a new one and also redid the breather system so that it wasnt lowing oil out the dump valve !!! GAME ON !!!
So here we are - finally at the point of this thread !!! Apologies again that its taken so long to get here already (hence the title !!)
This weekend was meant to go - drive up Friday morning, stay in hotel with the lads, have fun, drive well, get top8 with my first Tsuiso win and come home.
Friday there was a bunch of holdups meaning I left Colchester at just gone 1.30pm - I then hit some traffic which Dunc and Mike had managed to miss - numerous phone calls to people to keep me occupied (cheers Stu and Tan
)resulted in me still going strong at 7.00pm when the A1 started to clear and decent headway could be made - turned stereo on so listen to Mr Pete Tong and was happily having my own one man party - oblivious the Sheila the Satnav telling me to turn off, at Scotch Corner, for the A66 and Scotland the easy way !!! Most the way to Newcastle I wondered why the route indicator on the Satnav kept telling me todo U-turns at intersections when it dawned on me what I had done !!! Despite Sheila trying to take me through Keilder forest - which Duncan and Mike had phoned me to say was bloody amazing with loads of twists and turns, and elevation changes and all the things my 6 year old 200,000mile old van and original clutch didnt want to hear whilst towing a trailer and race car !!! So I carried on down towards Carlisle the scenic route - which is fookin glorious by the way - and with an extra 50miles on the journey, 6 cans of Relentless and a few bags of Monster Munch I arrived at the circuit at 11.30pm, 10 hours after I left and still pretty fresh. I chilled out, got the sleeping bag out and went to kip.Woke up at 1am
Swapped seats for comfort
Went back to sleep
Woke up at 2am
Tried to have a cunning pee in the scenery in force 8 gale which nearly ended in disaster
Went back to sleep
Woke up at 3am
Got in the back of the van
Went back to sleep
Woke up at 4am
Considered ringing Stu
Though better of it
Went back to sleep
Missed 5am
Woke up at 6am to the sounds of a couple of competitors parking in the same overspill car park as me
Dozed for an hour
Noticed Dunc and Mike turn up so went to say hello and tell them they were in the wrong place for the days activities and we all went and found ourselves a good spot in the paddock and started changing tyres and so on.
Had a couple of lovely bacon rolls
Talked shyte with a bunch of the lads whilst the cheaters, I mean the Time Attack boys, had a crafty practice on the SIDC trackday that had been arranged that morning !!!
Signed on, got ripped to shreds by everyone that my car looked like a mobile mud pie thanks to Snetterton on Wednesday night so just for once I decided to clean it. Took it off the jack, went to the jet wash, got told I was now about to miss the drivers briefing so drove down to that, got told we had an hour to finish getting ready before being on track at 12.30pm so finished cleaning my now orange car. Come 12.30 we went out for 2 laps that had been alocated to EDC licence takers if there had been more on the day. First run at 2/3rds pace felt strange with a rubbing or grinding sound coming from the car. Mark Gillam from Abbeys poked his head through the window while I was queuing for my second run and asked how it all was and I mentioned the grinding which he though was down to the wheel rubbing thanks to my weight - shows you who your friends are !!!
Second run at full pace the car was fine on the right hander but straightened alot on the left hander and made the same grinding noise, I glanced at the wheel in the side mirror as I held the car in the slide at around 70mph to se the drivers side rear wheel "wobbling" - I had remembered to tighten the wheel up hadnt I ????? :oops: :roll: I stopped just short of going into the gravel trap properly as I didnt want to risk a transition now I could see the problem and limped back to the pits !!!Back in the pits and it transpired that 3 of my nuts could be done up a couple of complete revolutions by hand, and all the other nuts both sides were loose. In my haste to clean the car I had just taken it off the jacks and forgotten to get the torque wrench out - they up just been spun on with my 12v drill !!! Lucky boy !!!
The practice session came up and normal service was resumed, the usual suspects were doing well - Bon Bon was absolutely monstering the course, Luney was starting at the top of 5th gear initiating at the 100m board
on the wand and whilst I was somewhat less exhuberent (and talented !!) I was doing ok, with several people saying how smooth and good my lines were - one of these was Sleepy the judge so I guess he knew what he was talking about !! Happy days !! Slightly less happy was the fact that the car was still overheating a tad, and looks like it might still have a prblem as its pressurising the water out the system, but this was such a minimal thing it didnt matter, it was cooling down the minute I was off boost so it was all manageable. Qualifying came and as the first group had done there runs it started to chuck it down, none of us had wet settings, the rubber on track was like ice in these conditions and it was pretty daunting trying to figure out what speed to approach a blind corner in the wet you had been taking at 100mph earlier. Still I did my best, had a good sighting run, my first judged run was excellent, the second one I pushed harder - too hard - and binned it, the third one i pushed harder again and managed to hold it, but it was a bit ugly !!!
This gave me a 7th position, the same as at Silverstone earlier this year and equal to my highest ever position. Now if only I could win a Tsuiso, hopefully I would be against one of the newer drivers or someone with a car with less ability than me. Oh dear - I've drawn Pazza. Chris Parry is one of the UK's original drifters from before there was any drifting over here !!! He started Night Spirit the first drift club which most the core members of Driftworks are members of - Phil, James, BonBon, Kenny, Jay, Mitto etc etc - and has owned his AE86 Corrolla for at leats 5years and the car is fundamentally part of him. This year he is rocking it bigtime and given the fact that his car weighs about 700kg's but only has 160bhp he has a huge performance difference against all the other cars, which is very hard to drive against. Blast away from him at the start and you will get judged down, try to match his mid corner speed and you will leave the track !!! I didnt have a ope - plus I like th guy alot and while I was talking to him at the start I said "Its a weird situation, I want to win, but I dont want to beat you" which he agreed with and we just went out and had fun.As the higher qualifyer I ran first - I dont like the way alot of people leave Chris for dead just before the start of the judged section so they have an advantage thats easy to defend, so i carefully matched speed with him and just went in as I wanted to, I held my nerve for once and did ok, Chris had spun out though - hurrah !!!
Next run and Chris led off - I followed at a safe distance, all I had to do was just match his pace and not spin.................................................yeah right !!!! 2 1/2 complete revolutions later and I had learnt another vaulable lesson - dont try to match a Hachiroku mid corner !!!!
We had to run "One more time"
I led off, made sure Paz was with me and did another super smooth run, Chris span off again - this was my chance !!!
Paz leading, I followed in alot closer - about a car length and tipped it in - DAMMIT - I'd done it again, I could feel the back end coming round to much - I shifted back down to 2nd, pumped the handbrake a couple of times and hoped for only a half spin (not a total loss in judging terms) - I had just about got away with it, forced my way round the last half of the course to see Paz majestically powering his way.............out the gravel trap - he had gone of course, and instant loss of all points, which meant I had won my first Tsuiso and now had a guaranteed 8th place finish !!!!!!!!
YEEAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!
We all went in to the debrief and sure enough it was confirmed, I was through, to meet Alan McCord who had just beaten one of the best drivers - Mark Luney in the 350z from SVA - and was a seasoned competitor from Ireland.
I chatted with Duncan and Mike back in the pits and commiserated with Mike about his off when he was looking so good. They said they were going to stick around to see how I did and wished me luck.
I queued up in the holding area, chatting with the other drivers, and we noticed there was only 7 of us - who was missing ???? It was Alan !!! They were still fixing his car. We all went on to the start line having been held up 15minutes for a huge off by the RCDevelopments car of Clive Seddon. Would Alan get his car ready ??? Would I have a by ???? Time went weird for a while and my nerves really started to join the party, it was unbearable not knowing if I would run against Alan or not, and then suddenly the starter came up said "He cant get it fixed in time, you get a by" WOW !!! I was now 4th,!!!! I felt for Alan but I also felt that perhaps I deserved a bit of luck for once and this was my reward for the hassle of the last few months. I did a half run to settle my nerves a touch and to see what the track was like, and then there I was facing Mark Buckle, another driver punching well above his weight in these difficult conditions, and someone who I thought I had a chance against, but knew that he was driving fantastically today. We went on our sighting lap and I just drove normally,. waving to the crowds, terrified not to spin it on a warm up lap !!! and just soak up the fact I was far higher than I ever dreamed of being !!!
The battle for 2nd was pretty straight forward, Mark lead and I followed, he had loads of grip from somewhere and I just thought I might be dong okay when it all went too far and I binned it.
My run in front and dertermined not to wimp out I went for it and again lack of grip got the better of me, watching my mirrors too didnt help as I ran out of time to get the final transition.
I gave the crowd a big wave and headed back to the start line, at which point they said "Hurry up and turn round, you're running against Tony for 3rd"
Totally unprepared against a really good driver in a really good car I though "What the heck, I've got 4th, I cant do any worse" and just went for it !!!
His car is well known for being a rocket off the start and sure enough he put the hammer down to gap me into the first turn, but for once I used full throttle myself and pulled him back in !!! WOW !!!!
I tipped it in, follwed him down really cloe and we both went through.
My run in front and I knew I didnt want to spin, but didnt want to try and go in fast either as that gave him the advantage, I came in alot slower, rode it all the way down Duffus and Tony was still there on my tail - oh well I reckon he will have got that for my slow entry I thought !!! I played up to the crowd big time, banging my roof revving the car and doing a 2nd gear rolling burnout back up Duffus waving out the window - I admit I milked it, but I was also saying thanks to the crowds for staying there til the end, for me I thought it was now over///////
Nope...................."One more time"
So we did it all again, exactly the same as last time, he blasted off, I matched him held a perfect line and held it together
I led off slower, he matched me, we both held our nerve...........surely this time I've been beaten (the old psychology still needs work for the positive as you can see !!!).......I played to the crowd some more, just to enjoy the moment really !!!!
"One more time"
I was so knackered mentally more than anything at this point I couldnt even spin the car round 180* at the startline !!!!
We ran again, Tony went very fast, I was forced to match him, certain that I was going to spin out, but I guiess I fundamentally can actually drive, because without nerves or brain I did pretty well !!!!! I matched him very closely, and then on my run I shift locked in 3rd as well as a touch of handbrake to slow a tad extra at the start of the corner but without him being able to see, this gave me the advantage down the hill and Tony was forced wide to maintain the drioft on power which gave me the win !!! It sounds simple typing it here, but at the time it was the only thing I could think of to try something dofferent, I didnt know if it would work or not, I didnt expect to win, but I did. I got back to the startline expecting to be 4th - I hadnt actually seen Tony go wide - to find Glen happier than ever and a bit choked up - he said "You've fuckin done it mate, Im so chuffed for ya" "What do ya mean" I replied - "You're 3rd mate, you beat him, you done it" said Glen we were both pretty emotional, he gave me a hug and a kiss and I must say we were both choked, I welled up a bit but managed not to cry. Tony is an absolute sportsman I must say, he was as excited for me as if it had been his own win - "That was fuckin awesome mate, phenomenal driving, you're so bloody smooth, I just couldnt match you" he said. For me it was just relief, like I had just run a marathon or something, and I was all over the place, but sure enough a few moments later Mark binned it againt Mark Johnston in the Westons car we got told to go down there and say hello to the crowds.
I went down parked up after a little burnout and got interviewed by Maz
I was just really chuffed for Mark buckle as well, he drove out of his skin with 3 reruns against Maciej Polody from Poland who one at Silverstone the other day.
The world was suddenly a very good place !!!!!
We went back to the pits, I had to get up on the podium and it was all a bit surreal to be honest, in fact I cant remember a great deal about it !!!
Duncans face will always be remembered, he looked like my Dad, he was so proud, and I have seen the photo on the other thread which I am so pleased came out it did. I havent been that happy for a couple of years, I feel like a weight has been lifted and now I just hope I can start to repeat this kind of driving which everyone else has said I can do and I have just not believed myself.
Sorry again for the length of this thread, but it really has been a very long journey for me to get to this point and I wanted to share it with those I consider my pals on here.
Cheers,
James.
as good as a stuart entry. Well done again - made up for you.