Some Festive Partying!

What a wild couple of weekends I’ve just had.   As it was my birthday and with Christmas rapidly approaching, we felt the need to party. . . . something we did in pretty impressive style.

Along with my friends John, Jay, Sarah, Gav, Mel and their little girl Imogen we booked a house not far from Skegness for a few days rest and relaxation.    Looking back now I can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday and we had a really great time.   When we headed out on the Saturday it was freezing cold with ice everywhere so we decided to do what anyone sensible would avoid - and go Go-Karting.   Not surprisingly we were the only ones there!   The track was like one sheet of ice and the karts left a lot to be desired with wheels and bits of bodywork pointing off at all sorts of obscure angles.   If I’m honest I did get bullied a little bit . . .  I wasn’t safe unless I had the entire track to myself and every corner someone would fire me out.   At the end of our session there were dead karts strewn all over the infield - I even managed to snap a chain on one.   I managed to follow this up by coming last ten-pin bowling as well . . . luck obviously wasn’t on my side!

It wouldn’t be a birthday without a night out, so we headed into Skegness for a few vodkas on the Saturday night.  Gavin had been feeling ill all day and headed back in after a few drinks leaving John, Jay and myself to do the drinking.   After drinking enough vodka and Red Bull to fund the F1 team for next season, we headed back too.   Another great night with some great people.

This last weekend saw us heading out again to give our livers another beating and after driving up to Ipswich to sort some work stuff out with Jay we headed out into Ipswich town for a couple of Christmas beverages!    Gavin wasn’t going to be calling it off early this time though, and along with Shaun Taylor, Jay, the legend that is Joe Palmer, and Mr Cattermoles of Ipswich - Andrew Bigmore - we headed out into town.    It was one of those nights where you could fill a book with all the events but most of them are stories for another day, several certainly not suitable to be told here at all!

I spent the next day shopping with Steph and Emma before heading back to reality and work on Monday morning.  The girls and I obviously have a completely different view on shopping.   They wander round looking at everything before buying something they have thought long and hard about  -  I buy the first thing that fits and won’t show any oil stains from the racing car!

I’m sure some of you will read this blog and think two things – firstly, that I have a drink problem (I don’t) and secondly that all this doesn’t have anything to do with racing at all.   You’re probably right but to me it backs up what I have said all year about just how much I do love the social side to it as well as the serious bit of doing the car and actually racing.   I think I am in a very lucky position to have such great friends and without the Hot Rod I wouldn’t know any of them  . . . . .  and certainly wouldn’t have these stories to tell!

This will be my last entry before Christmas but I will be back before New Year and will bring you right up to date with the rebuild – it’s coming along nicely now and we’ll all be able to have a few days off over Christmas with no work, no racing cars and time to relax!   Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this every week and a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to you.   I hope all your wishes come true.

Happy Holidays!

Mikey

Twenty-Eleven Part 2

After the success of the first half of the season, the second got itself off to a pretty poor start and continued to head downhill for a few weeks to follow.   After a month off from racing it was time for the National Weekend.    This is always my favourite meeting of the year but this year literally nothing went my way!   From the second we arrived things started going wrong.   I think everything on the truck stopped working and the racing was a disaster - the final straw being the damage I received in the Grand National when the car refused to move itself from the line at the start.    Nonetheless it was still a top weekend with all my friends and you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Things were only going to get worse at the next meeting with an accident in every race and a rather impressive falling out in the pits with my Dad to go with it - I’m still hearing different versions of this story from people now and I will just clarify that we certainly weren’t rolling round the pits fighting as so many people seem to believe!   On a more serious note it was probably the worst meeting in my whole racing career and I felt pretty terrible about ‘all things racing’ for a few weeks afterwards.

Really I have Gavin to thank for helping me find my enthusiasm again with what can only be described as a truly epic trip to Northern Ireland.    It was arguably the weekend of the year for me and I really hope I can get out there and race next year especially if the new track is going to be as good as everyone says!    I think Gav was really unlucky not to win the British.   As a lot of you will know, I don’t watch racing, but I stood in the pouring rain literally hanging on the fence shouting as loud as I could for him like a proper crazed fan!

When we were back I couldn’t wait to race again myself, and after another meeting in team Sole Bay at Yarmouth it was straight back out onto the track in my own car at Ipswich.    I can honestly say it never felt so good to drive a Hot Rod.   It was a very average meeting but I loved every second . . .   I had only been away six weeks but it was great to be back!

The next time we were at Ipswich it was anything but average.   Starting off the front row it felt great to take a win in the first heat, followed by two third places in the next races.   It seemed to make the few rough months worthwhile and was just a great confidence boost.    It’s always good to race at Foxhall under the lights and I know a lot of people moaned about the track but it was just a pleasure to be there at what is I think is the ultimate Hot Rod track.

There was no time to rest though and almost as soon as we were back from Foxhall it was time to meet Gav and set off on the long journey to Tipperary.   Racing at Tipperary has been something of a dream for me for a long time and it was great this year to go out there and do it.   The racing didn’t go to plan but once again it was another quality weekend.   It is a seriously fast track and one I’ll definitely be going back to.  Racing weekends with Gav and his team are always a laugh and this lived up to all the expectations - thanks again to Gav for taking me and putting up with my incompetence.

The last two meetings weren’t as successful as they could have been and Hednesford certainly was a bit of a let down - the fireworks were great though, and no matter what happens at Birmingham I can’t help but love the place.   More meetings there please Mr Wood!

So that was it, the 2011 racing season over and to say it has been a rollercoaster would be a massive understatement, but I think it has been my best season to date.   When I sit down and think about it we did the two things I always wanted to do - World Final and race in Ireland - and I’ve had some really good times with the best people out there.

A lot of you keep asking me what my plans are now and the answer is to keep doing exactly what I’m doing . . . . enjoying my racing and using the experience from every lap to try to get a bit quicker.  The priority is getting the car sorted and back together for the NEC when all the action begins again!

I’m just back from a top weekend away for my birthday which I’ll tell you all about next week and bring you up to date with the rebuild.

Thanks as ever for reading.

Until next time.

Mikey

Twenty-Eleven Part 1

I still can’t get my head round the fact that the racing for 2011 has finished.    I don’t know how a year can possibly go by as quickly as this one did.   It’s been another mixed year with some obvious highs and some pretty dramatic lows.    It’s still fair to say that I’ve loved every second though - I completely live for my racing and every spare minute and pound all goes towards it.   While I’m young and in the position to enjoy it I’m going to make the most of every opportunity I can.

The year began with me participating in the live action arena at the Autosport show.   I have been to the show every year as long as I can remember and it’s been great to be involved with it for the last couple of years.    Racing in there under the lights is a completely different experience to what you get normally and the atmosphere is brilliant, and as for the nights out - well they could be a blog all on their own . . .

I was lucky enough to spend the entire second half of the 2011 season in the top twenty of the points and although I loved all the meetings there were a couple that really stood out to me as being good  ones. The first of these was the Aldershot meeting.   It all looked set to be a day to forget with the bonnet coming off during the first lap of practice and every car on the track running over it.   We did a very elegant repair with aluminium and tape only for me to bend an axle in the first race.  With the help of team Kew and a very hung-over Ross we changed that and got it out for the second race. It made all the effort worthwhile as I finished second and had a really good race with Dave Brooks.  The final then turned out to be one of my favourite races of the year and saw me finish with another second.    Just goes to show that you can’t give up on a bad day!

The other meeting that really stood out for me was the annual trip to Skegness.   Although it’s the furthest track away from us I really enjoy our trip there.   I think it’s a great little track and the car always seems to go well there.   We have a laugh on the way up there too stopping for breakfast and just making it a good day out.    The racing was good with me getting an 8th, a 3rd and a 14th in the final.    I remember kicking myself after the final for not giving it my best shot but still a great day none the less.

After the points had finished we were lucky enough to have qualified for the ‘big race’ and we had a busy month stripping the car down and rebuilding it in readiness.    Jay once again did a top job with the graphics and in my opinion the car looked stunning when we rolled it out of the garage ready to load into the trailer.  I’m sure some of you will be aware that we have been working closely with Sonny Howard at SHP to develop the car this year and I just want to take the opportunity to thank Sonny for all the help and support he has given me throughout the year.   The car gets better every time I drive it and a lot of this is down to Sonny’s vast knowledge on everything Hot Rod. 

Although I love every meeting I know nothing will ever come close to the experience of this year’s world final.  I had dreamed of doing it since I was a kid and the atmosphere on the parade lap and as you’re sat there on the grid is just brilliant.   Unfortunately I didn’t get to finish the race but just being there was amazing and probably one of the best days of my life to date.  

Rather than try and cram the whole year into one week I’ll leave it here for this week and then pick up with the second half of the year next week.

Thanks as ever for reading.

Until next week

Mikey