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Silverstone Night Race 29 September |
The last race of the season and a return to Silverstone......this time in the dark! We would be back in my car again not the FIA car used at Brands and we would not have the full resource of the factory as they were away racing in Spain. Nevertheless we knew that the car performed well around Silverstone although we both had some concerns about "lighting" and we both determined to seal our title with another win.
Friday's official test was slightly shorter than usual as time also had to be allocated to qualifying. I was not entirely happy with the balance but had to make do - further adjustments were promised before the night session. It was the turn of the GTO cars to take the first ten minutes - it was still twilight as they took to the circuit so they were able to post some respectable times before the gloom descended. The first couple of laps in the combined session also allowed the GT cars to use this light and Mike went second quickest. We needed to be two ahead of the Viper to take the Team title and for this session we were. I took the last few minutes of the session and found the lack of visibility disconcerting!! Yes I have raced at Le Mans and at Daytona but I could always see the track..... We made some adjustments during the time before the next session which we were sure would improve our predicament. Mike posted another good time but the Viper managed to leapfrog the TVR and the Stealth crept onto pole (its time from the first session being disallowed.) The team award would go to the Viper .
I remained unhappy about the lighting and our concerns were echoed by other teams. By the time of the race we were informed that extra illumination had been provided around the circuit. I picked up on this on my out lap and was pleased to see that a couple of the problem corners were now slightly visible.... I did not make a particularly good start and was swamped by the more powerful cars behind. I was rather hoping they were illuminate my way!! I dropped to fifth but once my tyres were "in", I closed in on the Viper and took fourth. I then ran the same times as the TVR but we were unable to hold onto the front two. Cue the first safety car.... Dan called me in after a few frantic dialogues over timing. We were not on our own as the pit lane filled rapidly. Another great stop by our guys though gave us the advantage and Mike went into the lead. A couple of laps went by and the next safety car period was called......This clarified the running order as back markers were waved through and Mike held first from the TVR and both Vipers. It would be an entertaining run to the flag. My partner relished this dealing easily with the back markers and bringing the Storm home for our seventh win of the year.
My thanks to the factory and the team for all their efforts, to Michelin and my sponsors and of course to Mike for his unerring support throughout a fantastic season!
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