9th April

After the successful outing at Brands Hatch I am looking forward to getting back to Castle Combe and see how the car feels compared to last year. The Thursday before the race I have booked a test day at Combe so I can remember which way the tracks goes and just as importantly get the car setup ready for Monday’s meeting. Justin has taken the day off work to come along to help and offer general abuse when I am driving like an old woman. Neil Cox from Corinium Motorsport is also on hand to help with car setup and advice. The morning is spent going over the car once more making sure everything is ok before we venture out on track. The test day is very busy so track time is going to be at a premium today so we setup camp in the pit lane which enables us to do any work required and jump into the queue again. First session was spent settling back into driving at Combe and seeing how quick the car is….and blimey it is a bit nippy to say the least.

After 10 mins of tracktime I come back to the pits to check tyre pressures etc and have a chat with Neil. The times are the same as my quickest times from last year 1:09.7’s. This was a good starting point and I am happy with that. The car is handling well but the track seems a lot bumpier than last year, particularly out of Old Paddock where you are hard on the power and the car is bouncing all over the place. The next session I get my head down but the session is cut short by a red flag however the times have improved to low 1:09’s so we are on the right path. Out on track again and the times are identical, Neil isn’t happy as I seem to be stuck in a rut. He makes some subtle chances to the aerodynamics and sends me out again. The times drop to low 1:08’s, the feeling of lapping Combe that one second faster is hard to explain….well I say hard when it can be covered in one word – scary! I have so much respect to the guys that lap the track in 60’s. So the test has gone to plan and we are ready for the race.

It’s the morning of the race and we are lucky enough to have been invited by Tilling Motorsport to share their awning. So with a nice working environment and plenty of banter with Simon and Steve from Tilling Motorsport the day was going well. The car was all setup from the test day so there wasn’t much to do before qualifying. For the first time in a long time the GT’s are fully subscribed, there are 6 reserves which all get the opportunity to qualify. We get called up to the holding area for qualifying and in no time at all we are being ushered out on track. It took a while to get out of the holding area and onto the track so I lost a couple of laps. The track was very busy and I didn’t manage to get a clear lap. Just to add to the frustration the session was ended a few minutes early due to a stricken car at Camp. So not the best qualifying session I’ve had and my best time was a 1:10.3 which put me a disappointing 10^th on the grid. Ok there were another 19 cars behind me but I was expecting to be further up the grid.

This year Castle Combe have scraped the rolling starts and returned to a standing start. This was going to be interesting, as I am still new to these starts. I am sat on the grid looking at the back of Simon’s Radical. Just to add to the fun Combe have lowered the start lights so seeing them is a real nightmare. After the formation lap I had to position the car so I could see over the car to my lefts rear wing. So here we go then…the red lights come on and I increase the rpm. They go out and I drop the clutch and get a great start, Simon in front is making alsorts of shapes as he gets the power down and soon we are rocketing upto Avon Rise. I make 4 places by the time I get to Quarry and things are looking good. I glue myself to the back of Simon’s Radical who in turn is chasing down Marcus Pye’s Jade. By half distance I was with in spitting distance of Simon and Marcus and really enjoying the race. The car was going well and I was feeling really confident. We are cutting through the back markers, most of whom are making racing room for us as we pile through. Coming out of Camp we start bearing down on a gaggle of Ferrari 360’s. I manage to get past the first into the entry to the Esses, one down two to go. I get the second one going through Hammerdown and tried to get the third going into Tower. However he doesn’t see me the lack of blues doesn’t alert him and I almost loose my nose. I’m now stuck behind this 360 trying to find a way though, at the same time Simon and Marcus are disappearing into the distance. I have to force a move on the 360 going into Camp, he still hasn’t seen me and almost turns in on me again! By this time I’ve lost a lot of time on the two infront. I keep my foot in and get caught out again by a back marker going into the Esses, that’s my last chance of trying to keep up with Simon and co. gone. The next laps are very lonely and dare I say it a bit boring, on the penultimate lap the leader has an altercation with a back marker, which puts him out of the race. Then on the last lap the 2^nd place man, Louis Davidson, has a mechanical failure so I am prompted to 4^th. This is the position I cross the line in with a 3^rd in class and my first pot. So in result terms it was a good one, however I was so frustrated with the race and missing out on having a good battle.

The next meeting is on the 7^th May and I have a few changes to the car to try and improve the lap times a bit. More on this next time.