Just the one race at the Wiltshire circuit this year but it's no less popular, with 49 cars heading out to qualilfy. I'm pleased to get a clear lap in early on, which I'm then unable to better, but I'm pleased to be able to keep Rob Smith behind me. Back in the paddock I discover that I held pole position until the very last lap when Rob pipped me to it by 16-hundredths of a second! I've very rarely secured pole positions in the past and I'm gutted to have missed out by such a small margin. However, I'm very pleased to have good pace and it promises a good result.
Despite a decent start I'm unable to do anything about Rob off the line and settle into second place. I can keep in touch with him but there's no opportunity to make a pass. Meantime, behind me, Tim Wilson is keeping me honest. A mistake at Quarry corner at half distance allows him to stick his nose up the inside into the Esses and demote me back to third. I do my best to contain my frustration and hang on as best I can. As our tyres start to go off towards the end of the race I get a sniff of a pass into Quarry but get the braking all wrong and give Tim a slight tap on his rear bumper. A less gentlemanly driver would have kept his foot in and forced his way past but that's not my style and I let Tim recover.
Finishing third is tainted with disappointment but it's a good result and I'm further rewarded by being presented with the "driver of the day" award. The good news is that I retain my second position in the championship standings but I've allowed Rob Smith to extend his lead.
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