Hi Guys

I’ve never raced at Thruxton before, so it was going to be quite an experience – as it’s the fastest race track in the country!

The weather was a mixture of cloudy and sunshine with a strong breeze and a couple of short showers, though not enough to affect the racing. Leofric also decided he was going to come along to another race meeting.

Qualifying: Position: 21st of 22; Best Lap Time: 1:53.553
The Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship were joined by the Classic and Modern Motorsport Club – making for quite a large grid of 22 cars – most of them being very fast.
It had briefly rained about hour before our session, but the track was dry by the time we went out.
I slowly built up my speed, learning the lines and gaining some confidence in being able to push in the high speed areas. I had a small moment out the back of the circuit, but managed to hold it together as the car’s grip was good.
I wasn’t expecting a particularly quick lap time, but keeping the car in one piece and running was a good start.


Leofric looking at the Qualifying Times

Race 1: Position: 19th; Best Lap Time: 1:52.602
It clouded over a little bit, but stayed dry throughout the whole race, the sun did try to come out periodically as well.
The start was ok, though the front of the grid did start racing before the lights had gone out, leaving those of us at the back still coming around the last chicane not much of a chance to make up any positions. Not that it would have made much of a difference to me as I’m was very much the slowest car on the grid, as was seen by how quickly I was left behind at the start. It didn’t really take long before the leaders caught me up to lap, and it always seemed to be at the awkward parts of the track.
I went a little quicker, as I was able to pushed a bit harder – still some improvements to make though. I didn’t have any squirmy moments in the race, so that was good and will hopefully help me keep improving in the second race – as long as it stays dry.

Leofric jumped into my race car after I got back from Race 1, as he wanted to have a go, I told him that he couldn’t, as he 1. Hasn’t got a licence; 2. Not big enough.

Between the sessions I spent some time reading my book – and enjoying a refreshing drink.

Race 2: Position: 16th; Best Lap Time: 1:51.536
Just before Race 2, while we were lining up in the assembly area, I got interviewed – a filmed interview! It was so unexpected, that I was off-guard and didn’t have time to even try to formulate any answers, not sure how well it came across, but hopefully I managed to do ok and not make too much of a mess of it. The guy interviewing me did help in making it feel more of a chilled out chat.

The start of Race 2 was a bit messy with having 3 green flag laps! During the first green flag lap, a car had stopped on track near the start/finish line, so ended up doing a second, and partway round the red flag came out, so we all had to line up again and start the whole start process again. Though once we got racing I got a pretty good start staying a bit more insight of the others for a bit longer. I also managed to go quicker again – 2 seconds quicker than qualifying, I was certainly building up my confidence levels to push harder and carry more speed round the corners, though there is still room for improvement.
As the leaders came through, I ended up on the marbles and had a bit of a moment, nothing big, but enough to unsettle me for the next couple of bends, as I was then not on the right line.

After Race 2, while being held in Parc Fermé before being allowed out into the Paddock, I had a very brief chat with Rod Birley – who I raced against back in 2006 when I was racing in a Proton – it was lovely to met up again.

Overall an enjoyable day. Thruxton is definitely a circuit, which once you have started to get the feel of the flow and rhyme of it, it starts to become quite enjoyable to race on. Came home with two trophies – both 1st in Class. The weather behaved itself by staying dry for most of the day.

Leofric is loving the two new shiny things – my trophies, that he had to have his photo taken with both of them. Plus he help me collect them and was honourably mentioned.

That’s all for now, hoping to have enough funds to do Silverstone in August.

Take Care and God Bless
Vez