Sick

On the Tuesday after the Silverstone race, I managed a 7:46 for a 2000m row at the gym. I felt pretty good, but that night I felt awful, and spent the next week suffering all the symptoms of flu. This was followed by 10 days with a chest infection and feeling like someone had given me a good kicking. So for the first time since I started racing, I had to miss a race (Oulton Park)

The last race of the season was at Snetterton, where I'd had my best results at the start of the season, so despite still feeling a bit knackered, I turned up at the circuit on Saturday morning and promptly had my worst qualifying - ever. I just had no strength and only managed 17th, 4 seconds off the pace I'd managed in March. I considered not racing as I felt as bad as I was when I called off the Oulton Park race 2 weeks earlier, but as it was the last race of the season, I decided to drink lots of water and get some sleep before the race.

I got a decent start and got myself up to 9th, where I then had a race long duel with Pete Belsey, Steve Ough and Steve Glasswell, with each of us slipstreaming the others down the back straight. I'd pretty much settled for 11th but as the fatigue overcame the adrenalin, I lost the car through riches corner at the start of the last lap and dropped to 12th. There was a bit of a scuffle just ahead of me going into the last corner and I ended up back in 11th. My race pace was over 3 seconds a lap quicker than in qualifying, which is where the race was decided for me. I was absolutely shattered at the end of the race, and with hindsight, I shouldn't have raced, but what's done is done.

My first season in Formula V was a real mixture - qualifying ranged from 6th (Brands & Silverstone) to 17th at Snetterton, with 1 DNF and 3 races where I wasn't there (Anglesey x 2 and Oulton Park). So I ended up 12th. Considering I was in a rental car, did no testing and 25% of the season was at a circuit I'd never been at before, it's not too bad, but I'm not happy with it!

So there are a number of decisions to be made for next year - One thing's for sure, I'll be racing, but in what? If it's FV, I'll be buying my own car and doing some testing. But Formula Ford at Knockhill is also in the picture - But theres' no rush :-)

As the season comes to it's end, I'm now preparing for the Monaco Kart cup in mid October, in which Martin Farmer (3rd in FV) will be joining Chris Hyman and myself along with a yet to be named 4th driver in our annual trip to race on the front half of the F1 circuit.

There also the slim chance of a drive in the Dubai 24 hour race in January in a BMW M3 - More later!