Qualifying
. I was coming up to speed in qualifying after 4 laps when I came up behind one of the Ferrari 360 Challenge cars, similar to the one in the picture, ha ha. Today he was presently the correct way up (a different driver). He was disinterested in using the mirrors and nearly took the car ahead of me off... and we were not even racing yet. He balked me for two laps then gave me a nudge from the outside of the track as I was going past him at Clearways. Apparently several marshall posts had reported him and he went up afterwards to the clerk of the course's office where I had been at the K Sports meeting for missing the "come in" flag. After that I got a couple of good laps in, one of which at 51.278 was good enough enough for 10th out of 29 on the grid.
    Then the car stopped. It ground to a halt as if it had run out of petrol. After qualifying had ended I got a tow back to the pits and Rohan Bicknell (my nephew from Australian and able mechanic for the day) started to diagnose the problem. 20 minutes with the tester showed that 12 volts was getting to the fuel pump but the pump was not turning. A couple of panic phone calls and the car's owner Russ Leaviss told us to give the pump a bit of a bash. We did that and it sprung to life! The switch contacts in the pump can get dirty and the bash dislodges the dirt. Phew. Time to get ready for the race.

Race 1
    As at Snetterton last weekend there were to be two races, with rolling starts. I got swallowed up by 2 or 3 Global GT Lights into Paddock Hill Bend (not aggressive enough old man) and avoided a couple of spinners. Then I started getting into the groove and managed to get past Dominic Lesniewski (who I had met as a newby at Castle Combe at Easter) and Bill Pritchard. My best lap was 50.209 on the last lap as the tyres and I got on the pace. I finished 8th (later promoted to 7th by Mike Roberts' disqualification).
Sam Allpass, who only started driving the Jade this year (rented from Owen at the factory) won the race although we could never be certain which car he was driving, the 3½ litre car (A Class) in the results sheet or the 2 litre (B Class) car. At the time of writing there is still some doubt about whether he won the Winter Series Sports and GTs Class B Championship because of this. But he's a lovely lad and might come to try a Mallock at the Clubmans Track Day in March. Yee haw. Mike Roberts started from the back because he also changed car after qualifying (with all the drivers' agreement in writing!) and screamed through the field to 2nd only to be disqualified for passing under the yellow. Oops.
    Take no notice of the pictures as they were taken last week at Snetterton in the downpour. But I love this one through the lake at the chicane with No.17 Adrian Lester, No27 Dominic Paul in the Caterham, and No15 Charles de Garston in the Radical (see race 2).

Race 2
   I was now to start 7th on the grid, my result from Race 1, and a rolling start again. I got a better start by tucking my nose behind the guy in front, the Radical of Jim Greenfield. Duncan Williams in the N°5 Radical was foot to the floor and wizzing through the rolling grid way before the lights went green. He avoided a trip to the Clerk of the Course by throwing it away on the first corner, mercifully not taking me and the others with him.
    I was on the tail of the two or three minicars (Global GT Lights) ahead of me although I think Dominic might have got past me in the Paddock melée. Edwin Masson had certainly got past me and it took me 2 or 3 laps to get past him, and the same again to get past Dave Mountain (who had won the wet race at Snetterton). I was able to keep with each target on the corners and if my Clearways was tidy then I would be able to get past at the end of the pit straight into Paddock. I thought I was going to be able to close on Charles de Garston in his Radical but he found some extra speed half way through the race an kept station ahead of me. The race was two laps longer than race 1, so just before the end race leader and series champion elect Sam Allpass came majestically by in the Jade and I was lapped.
    I had tightened up the front roll bar and front shocks to the dry settings, but it was then a bit lurchy at the back. Although I thought at the time from my own lap timer that I had got under 50 seconds it was not the case. My race 2 best of 50.575 was in fact slower than my race 1 time of 50.209... so back to the drawing board with the car set-up figures. My K Sports best was 50.925 in September, so I should have expected more from the 2 litre car. Maybe it would be better at Castle Combe with the straights and fast sweeping corners.
    The car was tremendous fun in both races though. The extra power over my 1600 is fun. The extra weight emphasises grip. The car is pretty physical, especially in the steering, given the extra weight. And the wash at Clearways seemed to go on for ever with the changed settings. But fun. It stayed dry, but maybe in the second race it was beginning to get damp. That would certainly have affected the times, and looking at the leader board I see many other drivers were slower in race 2. Certainly by the time we started loading the car it was drizzling, and at the awards ceremony it was raining.

Statistics: Qualifying

Circuit	Brands Hatch Indy	Fastest test lap	no testing
Conditions	Dry 10°	Previous personal best	50.925 seconds, K Sports, 22nd September 2002
Fastest qualifying lap	51.278 secs (86.08 mph)	Qualified in position	10 out of 29

    Russ: roll bar 1, front shocks 3, tyres 16 16 17 17 before and 19 18 20 19 after.

Statistics: Race 1

Finishing position	7	Number of cars at start	28
Average speed	85.50 mph	Number of cars finished	25
Conditions	Dry 10°	Fastest race lap	50.209 seconds
Number of laps behind	same lap		Kept out of trouble, car felt good, overtook two on the track

    Russ: roll bar 1, front shocks 3, tyres 16 16 17 17 before and 19 18 23 21 after. I reduced the left rear (23) by 2 psi for the 2nd race and the right rear (21) by 1 psi. 12 racing laps plus a pace car lap and a slowing down lap, used 8½ litres.

Statistics: Race 2

Finishing position	7	Number of cars at start	26
Average speed	85.37 mph	Number of cars finished	24
Conditions	Dry track, wet fog 9°	Fastest race lap	50.575 seconds
Number of laps behind	1		Expected the car to be faster

    Russ: roll bar 4, front shocks 9, tyres 16 16 15 16 before and 20½ 19 19½ 20 afterwards (almost perfect). 14 racing laps plus a pace car lap and a slowing down lap, used 10 litres with just 1 litre remaining in the tank.

Paddock chat
    Wot, no more this year? The race suite has been through the washing machine and is hung up in the upstairs cupboard. What a great year. See you all at the Clubmans Track Day at Mallory Park on Thursday 27th March