Desperate to race...

I’m desperate to race again now.   It seems like ‘forever’ since I last drove a National and I’m itching to get back out there and have another go.   Things are on target here and a good day on the car should see it ready to go.   All the panels are painted and ready to bolt back on, the wheels are all repaired (again) and everything else is falling into place nicely.    Saturday will be here before I know it and I’ll be back doing what I love.

Last weekend saw another trip away for me.  I headed straight off to Gavin’s house after work.   Gav and Mel were having a barbeque and had kindly invited me to stay with them for the weekend and go racing with them at Yarmouth on Sunday.   It was a very leisurely trip across for me, stopping firstly at Jay’s house to collect some National Hot Rod merchandise for Garry Staines then stopping again to visit my friends Nicole and Emma for an hour before taking what can only be described as the scenic route to Gav’s - the mirrors of my truck were touching the hedges on both sides of the narrow country lanes in some places!    Really the last thing in the world I wanted to meet was a tractor, and when I did, it felt as if I had to reverse for miles before there was a gateway I could just about squeeze into to let him past.

I was the last person to arrive and Gav was already busy cooking when I got there, and as usual in true Murray style I was greeted with some kind of insult.   Mr ‘bank manager of the quarter’ Shaun Taylor, his wife Carrie,  Mel, Gav’s mechanic Rob and his partner Faye, Chris Haird’s legendary mechanic Scott and myself completed the guest list.   It was a really chilled out night with a few beers and a lot of laughs.   Gavin’s barbequing was definitely up to scratch and no-one has come down with any weird illness from a bad sausage - not that I know of, anyway!

As it started to get cold we headed into the house and put a film on to watch - now Gav and I being hardcore as we are both promptly fell asleep.   It’s a tiring old job being a scrapman!   Sunday morning was very chilled until approximately 12 o’clock when we headed off to the race track.

To date my only experience of Yarmouth was the soaking wet affair from last year when I managed to have a small head-on with Gav in the final, one lap from the finish, so it’s fair to say I hadn’t set my standards for the place very high.  However, when we arrived I was pleasantly surprised.   As far as spectator facilities go it’s probably the best track I’ve been to - the bar and the stand are certainly impressive.   Although the track is small, the cars seemed to go round alright with everyone being very respectful of the post and wires around the edge!

It wasn’t the best racing I’ve ever seen but I think everyone out there drove with their heads and kept it cool.   They seemed to be giving each other some respect and no-one ended up with their car wrapped around a post.   Gavin had another good night, and considering he started last car every race and overtaking was challenging he did well picking up two 8th places and a 13th.

I stayed at Gavin’s on Sunday night, then snuck off the following morning at 4am and drove straight to work.  Doing it that way meant I could enjoy the racing and have a couple of beers at the bar.   As much as it was nice not having to worry about my own car, it felt very strange not actually racing.  It was a great chance to catch up with people and have a chat - and with my friend Steph heading off to university in a couple of weeks it was my last chance to have a drink with her before she goes.  Racing definitely won’t be the same without you!

As a lot of you will know Jason and I are possibly the world’s biggest ‘Inbetweeners’ fans and we finally managed to go and watch it at the cinema this week.   We had our drinks and popcorn - and the back row of the cinema to ourselves . . . it was a real little man date . . . one where we insulted each other a lot (nothing unusual there then).  It was a brilliant film and luckily for you, neither of us can remember any of the jokes from it, so you’re all saved the pleasure of us quoting it all the time!

Saturday can’t come quickly enough for me now – I’m almost counting the hours until I’m back out there.   I just want to say a really big thanks to Gavin and all his team.   You really helped me get back into it and we’ve certainly had some laughs these last few weeks!

Thanks as ever for reading.

I’ll see you all Saturday.

Mikey