I got quite a good start in Heat 1 and was soon amongst the yellow graders. However, the car didn’t feel quite right. I didn’t feel like I had the right gears in, the brakes were playing up and the car was pushing. Basically I was really struggling to get it around! I finished in 10th which I was quite surprised with but unfortunately only the top 8 went through to the final, meaning that I was in the Consolation.
We bled the brakes, to try and get the air out of the brake pipes as this can cause the brakes not to work, we also put different tyres on to try and stop the car from pushing. I didn’t get a good start in the Consolation at all, another blue grader went into the first bend and spun, I had nowhere to go and ended up tangled with his car. When we both managed to get going, I was at the very back and the leader was right behind me. Again, the car didn’t feel great, I finished the race but out of the top 12. I was quite gutted that I hadn’t qualified for the Final but at least I had the National left!
We swapped gears for the National to try and stop the car from pushing around the bends, we also found that one of my brake pipes had come lose so they weren’t working great in the Consolation. With this all fixed I was hoping to get a better result in the National!
Apart from this tangle, it was a good meeting for Danny – third in his Heat, fourth in the Final, and 9th in the GN.
So the national was probably my favourite race this year so far, after about 4 laps I was in the lead! The car felt amazing and I could see that there was nobody behind me, I looked in front of me and see all the superstars, I had actually caught up the superstars! After around 6 laps of being in the lead though, there was a pile up coming out of turn 4, there was nowhere for me to go and I just tried to make my way through it, which I did but I had lost my place! A couple of laps later I got tangled up with Daniel but we both managed to get going again. I finished the race in 11th.. but I was over the moon!
I came off track with the biggest smile on my face and everyone was coming up to me to congratulate me, I know I didn’t win but I genuinely felt like I had!
Now to get ready for Birmingham next weekend!
Phoebe
Thanks as always to Colin Casserley for these pics.
Eighth in his Heat and the Final, and fourth in the GN for Ted.
Dad led the Final until the last bend…. he finished 7th. Plus second in his Heat and 6th in the GN.
