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Brands Hatch Race 8th July |
| Brands Hatch remains one of my favourite tracks and we proved again through the test day and in Qualifying how good the car is around the sweeps of the GP circuit. We were not going to be allowed however to display this over a race distance.... We were joined by JC-W for the test and with a few minor suspension adjustments we all felt really confident about our prospects for the weekend. The only question was over the weather as the forecast was not particularly good ......quelle surprise!!
Qualifying was dry however on Saturday afternoon and Mike hit the top of the list immediately. The Viper demoted us temporarily but we managed to usurp them again. Provisional pole was ours. I posted a 1.268 which was a second off the pole time so we were looking pretty good. For second Qualifying we wanted to protect our position but look after our tyres. We also wanted to try a few race set-up ideas. Despite this Mike decided to stamp our authority by going even quicker! 10.00 am on the Sunday, a fine drizzle and a new 15 minute Warm-up. I took the honours and went second quickest. We continued to be optimistic.......
The weather brightened a little as I rolled onto the grid although a few spots on the windscreen told me that rain was still in the air. Being on pole at Brands leaves you with more of a hill to climb and that is what I did when the lights changed. I made a clean start and hugged the inside into Paddock. I was aware of the Viper pulling alongside me but he must have misjudged where I was on the track because he started to turn in. I squeezed my brakes but it was too late.....the inevitable contact happened which caused both cars to spin down the hill. I considered myself to be quite fortunate at this point. My back wheels were in the gravel but I knew I could get out. I went down the box into 1st and then looked up and thought...."Oh £$&@! Cars were going everywhere and I knew I was in trouble. I did not know which one hit me but I know it hurt both me and my car! Race over.
My thanks to the medical crew for doing such a professional job. I'm still on the painkillers but we'll be back for Donington next week......... Qualifying
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