Well, that’s that - the 2013 racing season is over. It’s certainly flown by with all the expected
highs and lows that come along the way.
Overall, the first season with the Duratech has gone well and has left
me in a good position for next year. I
have a few small changes planned for the car over the winter but nothing too
major. Although I am unfortunately
sitting outside of the top twenty at the moment a good meeting when we start
back will put me straight back in the mix of things.
The last two meetings didn’t go to plan at all for me and although nothing went
seriously wrong, nothing seemed to actually go right either! I could look for all sorts of excuses but don’t
really think there are any valid ones - it was just racing and it didn’t work
out!
It was a glorious November day for the Hednesford meeting and although it was
cold it stayed dry all day. The car
carries so much speed round that track and it always feels like you’re going so
fast. It was just one of those meetings
with nothing to report and although I got points in each race with a tenth, an eleventh
and a twelfth it wasn’t anything to write home about! Due to some good organisation by the Incarace
staff we were able to load up and leave straight after the final even though it
meant we missed the fireworks. It’s not
a bad run for us either so we found ourselves back at home nice and early.
With only five days to get the car ready for the last meeting at Birmingham we
were lucky that we didn’t have much to do; a good check over, a diff change, a
quick set up and a general tidy up and we were ready to go again. I’d been complaining that the brakes had been
feeling inconsistent all day though so a deeper investigation was needed into
what was causing that. It didn’t take
long to find the problem - the pads had overheated and started to separate. A quick phone call to SHP soon had this
sorted and a new set of pads arrived next day ready to be fitted.
Birmingham was a disappointment for me.
I love Birmingham and I had talked myself into a good meeting before we
even arrived. The car felt great in
practice but once again when the racing started I couldn’t get it to come
together. Looking back this was down to
the driver more than anything else. I
did manage points in the first two races with a ninth and an eighth but from
where I was starting I wasn’t happy with these results at all. I vowed to make the final count but this plan
was over before it had really begun with me ending up getting spun just a
couple of laps into the race. This put
me last but I kept going and was catching the main pack but still ended up
outside the points, a really disastrous way to end the season.
I came off the track in one of those moods every racing driver has where
everything is for sale and if I ever saw the car again it would be too soon! Of course I’d calmed down again by the
following morning and the car was unloaded and I had all the panels off ready
for its winter rebuild by lunch time!
I’m racing in the NEC again in January 2014 so the next few weeks are going to
be spent getting the car ready for that.
I have some new panels ready to go on and a slight colour change planned
just to make things look a little different.
The paint has very kindly been supplied to me by PC Paints and
Components of Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.
The chassis has all been cleaned off by my neighbour Chris who runs
EasyLife Valeting and we have a couple more little jobs to do before everything
can go back together. The biggest
decision at the moment is what colour I should paint my precious wheels! I’m also in a dilemma as to whether I should
show everyone the car or keep it under wraps until January!
I do just want to stop now and say “Thank You” to everyone who has made my
racing possible; my family, my friends, my sponsors and everyone who supports
me. Without everyone’s help, especially
my dad, the racing wouldn’t happen - simple as that! I also want to thank everyone who picks me up
when I’m feeling down and convinces me to get back out there and do it all
again. I’m very lucky and do appreciate
everything.
I am really determined to have a good go next year. We are so close and I’m going to make that
final big push just to get up to speed with the top boys. I love my racing and one day I am going to
crack it!
Over the coming months I have a few exciting things in the pipeline and I’ll
keep you all informed of what’s going on.
By my calculations we’re getting towards the 100th blog mark now so I’m
thinking of something special for that one.
Thanks to everyone who keeps reading my musings - I still enjoy writing
them so you’re all stuck with me for a while yet!
Finally, before I go I just want to say congratulations to Neil Rowe, the
webmaster himself, on his marriage to Eimear.
Sorry I couldn’t make it to your big day but I have such a lot happening
here at work that I just couldn’t get over.
I wish you all the best though and many happy years together!
Thanks as ever for reading.
Until next time
Mikey
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