The final two championship rounds are already upon us. Oulton Park is quite possibly my favourite UK circuit and we'll be using the full International layout for the first time. The parkland setting looks glorious in the August sunshine but I wouldn't have minded at least one wet race this year!
Sharing a pit garage with Mike Dugdale, who is keen to get out early for qualifying, means that I ended up first in the queue at the end of the pitlane. Rob Smith, the new champion, is behind me. The last time this happened, he followed me around Castle Combe and pipped me to pole by less than a tenth. As the session gets underway I nail it from the off and try to shake Rob off for some isolated laps. The loud clunking from the rear end is a little unnerving for the first few corners before I realise that I've left my son's pushchair in the boot! Putting that to one side and knowing that my tyres will be at their best on lap 2 or 3, getting up to speed quickly is important. I can't lose Rob but nor does he come past me, despite appearing to be a little quicker. Ultimately he goes a tenth quicker to clinch another pole but second is good enough for me and guarantees a front row start in both races.
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