Our one and only weekend double-header meeting of the year brings us to Norfolk. Snettertin is not a favourite circuit of mine but I've had some good results here.
Qualifying reminds me why I don't get on here when despite feeling comfortable with the car I only manage to secure 6th position on the grid.
Race one gets off to a better start when I get up to 5th off the line and then pass Tim Wilson for 4th. I then start putting Tony Smith under pressure for 3rd and get a good run on him on the exit of Coram and get alongside him on the run down to the Russell chicane. In my pursuit of third place, I don't notice the yellow flags waving at the chicane and wonder why Tony doesn't relinquish the place to me. He's wondering why I'm trying to overtake under yellow flags! Consequently, we pass through the chicane side by side which spits me out very wide onto the grass and stones on the outside.
Half a lap later on the Revet straight, I notice the battery light on the dash and suspect that the bumping off-track has dislodged the battery or alternator wiring. I don't think through all the possibilities far enough to realise that what's happened is a stone has dislodged the fan belt which has knocked out not only the alternator but the cooling fan and water pump. I carry on unabated but my cooling system cries "enough" and the radiator bursts under the pressure which starts to spit water onto my front tyres. The result of this is that I leave the circuit another two times and I start to get cross at myself for overdriving. A couple of laps later the race is red-flagged for a multiple car incident and we're directed back into the pit lane. It's only then that I notice the smoke/steam from the back of the car and check the temperature gauge!!!
After cooling down the engine in parc fermé and recovering to the paddock, I source a new radiator for the next day and hope the engine hasn't been cooked. But three racing laps without a functioning water pump won't have done it any good! The next morning, fellow competitor Jamie Smith delivers me a new radiator and I set about replacing it, the coolant and engine oil before the day's race. All seems well as I cruise about the paddock and I hope it will hold up OK.
My race one problems had knocked me back to a 6th place finish which is where I would start race two from. Unable to make up a place from the start, the race settled into the leading three cars making a break with the next three battling for 4th place. At the back of this trio, I kept up the pressure on Tim Wilson until he made a mistake at Sear allowing me an easy pass down the Revet straight. Next time around I could see the leaders tangle on the approach to the Esses. As I entered the same corner I was confronted by a track blocked by spinning/recovering cars. As I was picking my way through the chaos, we were all passed by Tim Wilson who appeared to arrive with perfect timing and able to capitalise on the situation. And then two corners later at Russell, Tony Smith and Mike Dugdale tripped up over eachother, allowing me to edge past Mike as we passed the chequered flag.
Having thought I'd finished 5th, penalties dished out post-race for contact and corner cutting saw me promoted to 3rd place. A great result given the dramas of the day before (and the engine was good as ever!). Rob Smith further extends his lead on the championship but I'm still in a solid second.
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