Snetterton 30th April 2007

So we ring the changes and arrive at Snetterton late Friday night to the new team and a very welcome beer, always a prerequisite after a 185mile drive in a 30 foot long seven tonne motor home.

Fresh and alert on Saturday morning the car looked immaculate and quick in the awning amongst my three other team mates identical examples. With Radical Biduro's one gets a half hour free practice, a 20 minute qualifying and two twenty minute races. We bolted on some new scrubbed rubber and three laps in I posted a 1 minute 9 sec lap, considering the lap record is 1.5 seconds slower than this there was much wonderment and jaw dropping from all concerned, particularly me!

Having set the world alight when it didn't matter I then went into qualifying and was pretty dismal, the car had changed, as had the track conditions and we struggled to fourth and third qualifying positions on round one and two respectively. Had it not been for that flash of brilliance in free practice I would have been moderately satisfied, ho hum...

There is a particular way of getting the Radical off the line and I conclusively didn't achieve it in race one dropping down to eighth by the end of the first lap. The race was a lot of fun as several people ahead of me were victims of various maladies including a too heavy right foot to a collapsing rear wing on dear Roger Bromiley's brand new machine. I watched it fold then observed him turn into the next corner unaware of his predicament oh and no rear down force. Well held - he managed to miss the apex by a mere 20 feet and the grass by 20mm. Undeterred and, I think unaware he then cranked it up to 130mph on the straight and actually managed to pass me (well think of the lack of drag, difficult when thinking about Roger) before braking down to 40mph for the chicane. Well I was hard on the brakes and waited for the accident, which mercifully was limited to plenty of arm twirling from the pilot and a small dust tornado as he headed off toward the main circuit gates.

Plenty of stern defending from Terence Woodward - more of which later held us up in fifth until an ill starred attack around the outside of Riches lost me a place to Chris Stoney and there I stayed.

In race two I got a much better start and was third with my quick team mate Toby Newton behind. That man Woodward had put in a good start and was second with round one winner John Hewitt leading again. I erred slightly at Sear on the second lap and Toby went by as he had decided to take off some wing to improve his straight line speed - a good decision, I didn't as we were trying to cure a tricky oversteer that had hampered our first race. I was in fourth and easily keeping pace as Mr Woodward started his robust defending once more, only this time much more aggressively. I don't like defending and think its ugly to watch and rather defeatist in nature. After much hard charging Toby did very well to get through and I attempted to follow only to loose a place to Roger B once more! He was rather too keen though and I managed to slip by on the last lap to finish fourth.

In all an very enjoyable weekend with good weather, good racing and the team were very professional - thank you Xero Competition, we will be back at Oulton Park with a little more experience...