We were supposed to be racing at Donington Park this weekend but that got cancelled when work started (and then stopped) on the F1 improvements. Instead, MSVR and the various series organisers managed to move the meeting to Silverstone over the course of the preceeding weekend!
I don't much like the Silverstone National circuit but I'm just happy to be racing at all. I've never gone well here. Today we have two races but just one qualifying session. So that will set the grid for race one, the results of which will set the grid for race two. And it's another popular meeting with 43 cars out to qualify which makes it extremely difficult to find a clear lap. Yet again, my best is only good enough for 7th on the grid which is a tough place to start from if I'm to score some decent points today.
As race one gets underway I make a good start to pass Lawrie Dunster off the line and then also pass Alan Wileman on lap one to take 5th place. However, Alan comes back past me on the next lap so I'm back to 6th. A couple of laps later, Tim Wilson drops it at Brooklands which inherits me 5th place again. Over the next few laps, Alan and I trade places three more times, and I ultimately get the upper hand to finish a rewarding 4th. Not bad from 7th and puts me in a good position to fight for a podium position in race two.
Away from the line in race two, I make up a place and am tucked up behind the two leaders as we approach Maggots. Race one winner Len Colley gets it all wrong under braking and ends up tagging Rob Smith. I'm gifted the lead but Rob is knocked back to 6th. I could take a win here! I take it relatively easy, as the last thing I want to do is make a mistake to throw away the lead but I can see that Rob is recovering well and making his way back up the order. I manage to build up a lead of 2 seconds from Alan Wileman but by lap 6 Rob has made it into second place and his greater speed is clear to see. Within 4 laps he's all over me and I'm defenceless down the pit straight as his 6-cylinder power outdrags my 4-cylinder motor. Rob goes on to pull out a 1.5 second lead himself (what a comeback!) but I'm secure in second and delighted to have turned a 7th place qualifying position into another podium finish.
An added bonus is that a 4th and 2nd place finish was enough to vault me up to 2nd place overall in the championship standings.
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