We arrived at Teesside Friday evening slightly later than planned due to some traffic hold ups but it was still light and not raining so we unloaded the car and set up our pits ready for Saturday before heading to the hotel for some much needed food and rest. Saturday morning we were at the track early for briefing as we were out first for practice. The first session started dry and everything was going good and then it rained causing a few drivers to struggle and a number of red flags resulting in me only getting 2 runs before the end of the session.
After the session I checked the car over and all seemed fine, even the tyres as they had only done a couple of runs so still had plenty of life left in them. The second session rolled round pretty quick so a few minutes before it was due to start, I started the car to get it warm and ready. I switched the fan on just as I was about to leave the pits and after a minute smoke started coming out from behind the dash. As much as I like smoke I prefer it to be coming off the rear tyres and not the dash. I turned the car off and dived in the passenger foot well to find what the problem was.
I found a loose wire on the back of the fan switch that had got that hot it had melted the inside of the switch. It was then a rush against the clock to source another switch and get it running so I could get out for practice. I missed the start by a few minutes but got a good few runs in with no further problems. There was more rain at the end of practice which gave everywhere a soaking but this pasted and the track was drying out as qualifying started.
The track was looking tricky so a steady first run to guarantee a score from the judges was needed. The second run was a bit more aggressive but I made a couple of mistakes as the track was still very greasy in patches. For my final run I lowered the tyre pressures and the car felt a lot more stable and this was my highest scored run which was enough for me to qualify in ninth place.
Sunday morning we got to the track and prepped ready for the top 32 battles. My battle was against Jody Fletcher from Lassa Tyres. A quick fluids check and a change of rear wheels and we we’re ready to go. After the Semi-Pros and Pros top 32 battles were done we get the call to go and line up ready for our battles. The first run was just a practice run and the car appeared fine and we lined up for first judged run. All was going well until the last section of the track where the car momentarily lost all power which caused me to slow and straighten. I stayed offline allowing Jody to finish his run.
Back to the start line for my chase run, knowing Jody has a massive advantage I just put the car as close to his as I could get it and hoped for a mistake from Jody but he didn’t make one and knocked me out the competition.
There are a couple of electrical issues to sort out before the next round at Lydden Hill where we will go and have some fun again. A big thank you to all my sponsors for their continued support this year, Steelmate Automotive, Huxley Motorsport, SRB Power, Garage Whifbitz, EverythingDrift, RBPhotography and Utopia Signs.
