Brands Hatch 4th June 

I always have enjoyed the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch.  It was where I scored my very first podium in the Junior Porsche Series and my very first win in Senior Racing.  That was again back in 1990 against the likes of Bob Berridge and Steve Kevlin in my trusty 944 which took me to the title in 1991.

It’s still advisable to test there though, because it is a technical circuit and very easy to lose time if you are "over-zealous."  Work commitments kept me away from the official test day but we did manage to run on the Thursday before the race.

The good news when I arrived at Brands was that the guys had managed to find and cure the “misfire” that we have suffered with all season long.  “Smiffy” had been pulling his hair out all week changing everything step by step to find the cause of the problem and a rogue wire was eventually found to be the culprit.

Jamie went out first and posted a low 1.27 and latterly moved into the 1.26’s.  My last race here was last season after a serious ankle injury and I languished then in the 1.30’s. I was therefore pleased to go straight into the 1.28’s and then the 1.27’s.  Rob has the lap record at 1.268 with 2 restrictor sizes bigger so I felt pretty good until I tried Dingle Dell with a little more exuberance than I should have done.  Now Dingle Dell is not a place to lose any race car let alone a GT car and my heart was in my month as I swapped ends approaching the barrier at 90 mph.  How I stopped I’m not quite sure but I did ….... just!!

I was a little more cautious than I really needed to be in proper qualifying as I approached this section again …… Jamie held pole for the first session with a mid 1.26.  With the weather looking a bit “iffy”, this might have been enough particularly as problems throughout the afternoon delayed us so much that the second session was nearly run in the dark!! (excuse the hyperbole!)

“Golden Boy” managed to go a bit quicker in the GT only session and handed the car to me to go and play “find the space with the GTO cars”.  It was absolute bedlam out there and I was getting very frustrated particularly as the rain started …. It was only a brief shower though and I managed a few reasonable times.  The bad news was that we would start from 4^th, behind the two Marcos’ and the TVR.

The race was again delayed due to incidents throughout the afternoon but the weather remained fine.  As we rolled onto the grid I considered my options.  The "number two"  drivers were starting  for the cars in front  and the "number one" drivers behind.  As the lights changed I made a really stupid mistake.  I moved to the outside to attempt to go around the NCK Marcos into Paddock.  The sad fact was that I did not have enough “grunt”.  This opened the door for the "world and his wife" to come through as I was blocked behind Andy Purvis.  Another blinding start Warnock!! From 4^th to 8^th in the first lap …….. Again.

I did not want to stay stuck behind the two yellow Marcos’ for long and found my way past them into Druids.  I then set after the Lotus.  I reeled him in but he had the legs down the straights.  The good thing was I could see the front four ahead of the Lotus and  they weren’t pulling away.  I knew that if I could run at this pace then Jamie would have a good chance.

In fact I did a 1.282 which was quicker than my qualifying time so I was pleased as I entered the pits to hand over to J C W.

As I rolled to a stop I tried to locate neutral but it kept jumping out.  I should have just switched off the engine but it stalled anyway as I dived out.  Precious seconds had been lost but the car fired up again, spluttered and then was on its way.

When all the pit stop changes had worked themselves out, we were in second place about 12 seconds down on the TVR with a comfortable cushion over Cor Euser’s Marcos.  Jamie was lapping at least a second quicker than the TVR and caught the “Blue Beast” quite easily.

Getting past however looked a different proposition.  All of the cars, bar none now, are faster in a straight line and every time JC-W caught him in the corners, he pulled away down the straights.  Very frustrating…..

And then out came the safety car following an incident at Surtees.  This allowed the Marcos to catch up although three or four Marcos GTO's provided a small cushion.  So now Jamie had to get past the TVR and keep Euser behind him.  It was a very stressful last ten minutes.

At the restart the Marcos disposed of the slow GTO cars and was rapidly approaching the back of the Lister when Jamie made his move at Surtees.  He dived down the inside of the TVR but obviously compromised his line down to Hawthorns and had an “interesting” drive down the straight!  He managed to pull away after this as the Marcos passed the TVR but a very rapid few laps by Euser over the closing stages (where did they come from!?) meant a very close finish, but fortunately in our favour.

Brilliant drive by Jamie and a great result for the team after the disappointment of Silverstone. I was not pleased with my start but pretty pleased with my driving after that.

Next Stop Donington!!