10 August 2004

KNOCKHILL RACE REPORT

With the weather being unusually warm for north of the border the TOCA tour enjoyed an excellent weekend of sunshine. Having never seen or driven Knockhill circuit before it was certainly an eye-opener to drive around the steep gradients and sweeping curves of this very unique track.

Testing was productive and we ended up fourth overall although this was not repeated in qualifying, where I only managed 11th and sixth for rounds 13 and 14 respectively. No excuses but being two-tenths off the pace put me outside of the top 10, such was the level of competition.

A great dice in the first race, which was action all the way. The conditions were very hot and in the car you had to be fit to survive, many were wilting towards the end both mechanically and physically and I was satisfied with my race which put me up to sixth at the flag having netted the fastest lap of the race on the way.

Sunday's race was delayed due to early morning fog and when this cleared it unmasked the biggest and most appreciative crowd I have ever seen at a BTCC meeting. It was a pleasure to race in front of this type of audience and made the weekend that much more enjoyable. Starting sixth, I went around the outside of Jim Edwards Jnr at the first corner and was fifth up until the first safety car period. At the restart Richard Williams put in a daft lunge at Clark which saw him leap off the kerb, collect me and send me right through the gravel trap, just missing the barrier. although he later apologised for the incident he managed to ruin both our races.

Restarting 15th I then put my head down to recover as best I could and passed car after car until I came to Mark Davies, who gave me a tremendous scrap for lap after lap. We were side by side for much of the time and I would get past him only for him to recover and get back past again. It was great racing, throughout we were only inches apart and in credit to him at no time did the cars make any contact whatsoever - full marks for skill and entertainment.

Eventually I made a move stick and managed to reel in the next group, managing to squeeze past Michael Simpson at the hairpin to get back to sixth at the flag fall. Not the result I wanted, or expected. but I have to say the racing was great fun and capped an enjoyable weekend - thank you Scotland.