Qualifying

I felt well prepared. Lots of work on the car. Testing at Mallory on the previous Wednesday with consistent laps within half a second of my best. I got going promptly in qualifying on new tyres. As arranged with Ian Megson I came in after "a few" laps to check tyre pressures. By the time I got out again the chequered flag was out. Dohhh. The "few" laps had been 10 or so. But my time was passable, for 11 the on the grid.

Race

I was carrying the camera for the race, so nothing in my scary adventure was left unrecorded. Busy start as usual in the company of Russell Munns and Stefan Mumm ("mum's" the word, definitely, although there is no secret that they were quicker than me) and John Kelly ahead. My start was good so I was tucked in behind John Kelly and ready to challenge at the hairpin first time round. I was alongside him on his right in the pit straight as we approached the ultra-quick entry to Gerards for the second time. I outbraked John, or rather I trailed the throttle less, and was ahead of him on the inside as we turned right.... 
 

... when, the split seconds which every driver dreads. Alan Webb, who had reduced downforce after qualifying (some would say foolishly, given his status and experience) lost the back end at 120 mph (picture 1). He initially spun to the inside, i.e. to the right, but then as is often the case, started spinning back left across the track (picture 2). A hundredth of a second later I have taken the decision to leave the track and take to the grass to avoid T-boning Alan (picture 3). I held it straight as I went off (picture 4) and starting turning back to the track when the speed had decayed (picture 5). But in this last picture you can see my fibre-glass nosecone buckling up under the impact with the rough infield. John Kelly and Russell Munns followed me off the road and recovered (although Russell emails me 2 days later saying "Even though I was involved in Alan's spin I was able to stay on the road! I was very close to t-boning him and missed the front of his car by inches".)   Nick Bailey followed us off and ended up on the barrier, although I must check if this was a related incident. The pack roared through unabated.

It was a miracle the race officials did not notice the shattered nose cone as I raced on. Downforce at the front was reduced, so I had a couple of moments at the Esses, but otherwise the car felt okay. From the pits it sounded like a jet powered road sweeper apparently.

Two more bits of fun to pump adrenaline round a feeble and already-inflated heart...

As I picked up speed, down in 12th or 13th, I started catching Paul Freeman, so that was motivating enough to go faster. We cam to lap rookie Alex Osborne together. As Paul tried him round the outside of Gerards I had to slow to a feathered throttle to avoid ramming them up the backside. Paul overtook him on the left, the outside and I followed through. Alex omitted to look in his mirrors after Paul went through and starting moving back to the left as he went down the straight. There was a big bang (audible on the video tape) as our wheels clashed, but mercifully we both stayed on the track. Two Tasmins were wiped out against the barriers here earlier in the day.

Everything held together and I set off after Paul, knowing that we must be nearing the end of the race. Suddenly I got blue flags at every marshal's post, and sure enough here comes steam train Slinn to lap me. I was fifty metres behind Paul on the back straight when I gave Matthew a good hand signal (for which he thanked me afterwards) to overtake on the inside, lifted briefly. slipped in behind him and floored it again. Unlike the Osborne incident it worked perfectly. Paul the Gentleman Freeman let Slinn go through on the inside of the right-hand part of the Esses and I followed through with Matthew as one. Gone. Cheeky but effective.

I finished the race with the nose cone trailing, fixing pins disjointed, smashed right front wheel rim, smoke from burning grass in both wheels, and 100 degrees of water because of grass in the radiator. But I finished, 11th. It was a shame to have been the object of Alan's spin because I would have finished 6th or 7th with Russell Munns. That would have been my highest ever finished but it was Rookie Russell who avoided the flying cars and took an excellent result. Well done.
 

Statistics: Qualifying

Circuit	Mallory Park	Fastest test lap	49.17
Conditions	Dry 23°	Previous personal best	48.706 in 2002 qualifying
Fastest qualifying lap	49.132	Qualified in position	11 out of 20

Statistics: Race

Finishing position	11	Number of cars at start	19
Average speed	92.91 mph	Number of cars finished	16
Conditions	Dry 26°	Fastest race lap	50.160
Number of laps behind	1		Nearly wiped out by Alan Webb's spin. Lucky to finish

Paddock Chat

Good business with the Matthew Slinn Croix video on DVD. E-mail me at marcus@bicknell.com to order a copy, or enquire about the Mallory video.
 

Official Race Report

Championship table