Twice Lucky

According to the Laws of Probability the chances of drawing pole for the support races and the Best in Britain are 1000 to 1 so it’s fair to say that I certainly had luck on my side when I made my draw each day.

I can’t believe Spedeweekend has been and gone again - it feels like only yesterday that I was getting ready for my first one in the Saxo!  It’s going to be National Weekend before we know it and then the season will be underway again.

Although I didn’t qualify for the ‘big one’ it was still my best Spedeweekend to date.  We got the car all tidied up and I even plucked up the courage to run my Compomotives - a decision I now regret as the brake dust has turned them from brilliant white to a sort of dirty looking grey and no matter what I do it doesn’t seem to want to budge.  I’m willing to look past this though as everything else went so well.

Rather than head up to Ipswich on Friday night after work we got everything loaded up, grabbed a few hours sleep and then headed off straight to the track early on Saturday morning.   We got up at 3am, arrived at the track at 7am, and the first race wasn’t until 2pm . . .  so we’d almost done a full day by the time I even set a tyre on the track!

After the drivers meeting we did the draw for the grid and I managed to pull pole and in an instant it went from a weekend having a bit of fun to something I really desperately wanted to win.  As I pulled round to line up for the first heat and saw the yellow 41 machine looming only two rows behind me I really thought my chances of victory were dead and buried.  But somehow I managed to hang on to the lead for the entire race, eventually crossing the line still in first place after what felt like days of racing the car.   Leading a race is the hardest thing you will ever do in a race car - when there are cars in front you focus on trying to catch them but when there’s no one to catch you start looking behind and that’s generally when the mistakes happen.

Winning a race always feels good but doing it in front of a big crowd at Spedeweekend felt amazing, easily my best moment in racing. After starting from the front there was of course the challenge of starting last on the grid for the next race and although I didn’t create any miracles I made up a few places and managed to qualify 6th for the final on Saturday night.  The final was another great race and I didn’t make or lose any places crossing the line still in 6th after 30 pretty intense laps of racing.

As I’m sure you know I’m not really the biggest fan of watching racing but I can safely say the 2.0L Hot Rod British on Saturday night was the best race I have ever seen, all credit to Shane Murray - his balls on the outside were brilliant and to see him make it stick was great.  The whole stadium was fixed on him for the entire race and it was one of those times when the atmosphere was electric.

Saturday night was very calm for me with only a couple of pints and a chat before heading off to bed . . . .  saying that, it was still well past 2am when I did retire for the night, only to be woken again several hours later by the rain beating against the hotel windows.

In all honestly the thought of a wet Spedeweekend was pretty bleak and those first few hours trudging around the pits were grim!  I’ll even go as far as to say I was pleased to be standing inside our tent as the cars made their way out for the first ‘national power boat world championship’ at Foxhall.  I can’t take anything from Glenn though and in a race that is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons people seem to be forgetting what a brilliant drive it was!  Starting twelfth and winning is a feat in any National race these days - let alone the world final.  It was a faultless drive and Glenn a worthy world champion  . . . . . maybe it will convince you to stay now Dinger?  It would be rude to forget the main man Gavin Murray with his second place, starting what I’m sure he won’t mind me saying has been a pretty ‘special’ couple of weeks for him and his family!

Now what happened after the world final has completely restored my faith in the lucky purple wet-suit - not only did it stop raining the second I put it on but I pulled pole once again for the Best in Britain. Like I said earlier the chances of that are like 1000 to 1 so chances are I’ll never pull pole again!  I can honestly say I have never been so nervous as I lined up on the grid, I was almost shaking as the warm up laps started. The fact that the ‘Murray Missile’ was lined up behind me didn’t help the old nerves much either!  Considering the amount of rain we’d had over the weekend it’s a miracle that the track was dry.  Murray was soon gone into the distance on his way to his first championship win with Graeme Callender disappearing as well.  I managed to cling on to third place although I think Billy Bonnar had other plans about that had there been a few more laps.

I know it wasn’t a win but to get a place in a championship and have the chance to stand on the podium was a great experience and the trophy is pretty impressive to say the least.  It was great to see Gavin win too especially after all the hard work he puts into his racing.

So another Spedeweekend gone, a straight car and a big smile on my face and it’s now time to look forward to National Weekend where I hope I can actually make the grid for the first time.   I did get a booking today so that’s a start!

I’ll be back next week with some epic tales from a wedding, an update on the car and news of another very special race I’ll be taking part in.

Thanks as ever for reading and thanks to all the people who came over for a chat and say they read this blog- it really is greatly appreciated and nice to know people enjoy it!

Until next time.

Mikey

The party continues

It’s amazing how much you can do in such a small space of time.  In little over a week I have raced the Thunder 500, I’ve had an amazing time at the Skegness Speed Weekend and almost got the Hot Rod ready for the support races at Ipswich this coming weekend.

I said this after Northampton but once again I can say I have never enjoyed my racing as much as I did at the Thunder 500.  The whole ‘no pressure for points’ is great, plus the fact that the car is going so well just made it into a really great meeting.  I certainly wasn’t one of the quickest cars but I was pleased with how the meeting turned out.

The first race was by far the best one of the night and ended with me crossing the line in third - it’s not really that long ago that I would have been lapped in a race like that so I was pleased with the result. This was followed in the second race by a sixteenth starting from the back and again it felt as though I was on the pace.

When we were lining up for the final I was pleasantly surprised at how far forward I had qualified - it was somewhere in the middle and there were certainly as many cars starting behind as there were in front.   I think it was a great race and I enjoyed being out there.    I was surprised how quickly 50 laps flew by.   In terms of positions I didn’t set the world alight but crossed the line in tenth - it’s the first championship race I have ever finished so I was pleased with that.

As well as finishing the race the car survived the meeting which meant there wasn’t too much work needed to get it ready for Spedeweekend.  I had new panels ready to bolt on and apart from all the usual little jobs I didn’t have that much else to do.    When the panels were fitted it went to the painters to have the bottom half touched up, then Jay and Sarah came and did the stickers.   It looks smart again after I’d let it go a little over the last few months.

As much as I would have given anything to be on the grid on Sunday the advantages to not qualifying are the time and money that I have saved!   Any of the boys out there will confirm how much it costs and a little part of me is relieved that this year I have been spared all that . . .  and it’s not as if I don’t get to race at all.

Seeing as there wasn’t much to do over the weekend and Ashalee had invited me to stay with her at the Skeggy weekend  I decided to enjoy a few days of Stock Car action.   I’d heard it was mad but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be as mental as it was!    Friday night in the Boat House (nightclub) was literally insane.  It was packed wall to wall with racing folk.   I started out knowing very few people and by the time we left I think I’d spoken to nearly everyone in there . . . I’d had a drink with most of them too!

The events of Saturday evening are frankly weird and a bit blurred so it’s probably best we don’t dwell on them too long - but it was another quality night topped off with me having a little snooze on a table.   All in all another brilliant weekend with some great people, and one I’ll definitely be adding to my calendar next year.

I’ve always said I’m not really a fan of watching racing but I must say I enjoyed watching the Stock Cars.  Mick Sworder is pure brilliance in an F1 and I absolutely love the Saloons.   I don’t have the balls to race one but they are superb to watch.

This week is going to see me finish the car off and weather permitting take it to the local Motor Show on Thursday night.   Hopefully I can load it up after that and not unload it again until I get to Ipswich on Saturday.   I can’t wait for all my friends to be in the same place at once and it should be a great weekend.   Hopefully one of my friends will walk away with the gold roof too.

I’ll see you all there, thanks as ever for reading.

Mikey