Woodford Glen - Canterbury Championship
28 Jan 2017
Tonight it was just Pam and I heading
out to the Glen and this time for the Canterbury Super Saloon Championships.
As soon as I looked at the track I reminded Trevor Elliott how we both nearly
broke the lap record around this time last season when the track conditions
appeared identical. I guess that just put me in a good mindset too cos on
track for our first heat I passed several cars to advance from seventh to
third. It's not often I get to pass Ray & Richie so it was a good feeling
to have 811 moving forward thru the pack. On the last lap Trevor managed
to snatch third place from me but still wrapt with 4th in the classy thirteen
car field. The format was two more heat races to decide grids for the 20
lap championship deciding feature.
After suggesting he put on one of our team shirts, we were privileged to
have Adam from the BRT crew join us tonight and he got stuck into making
necessary setup changes to the car. Heat two had 811 leaving from the front
row on grid one. The track had definitely changed but still looked favourable
for us. The changes we made to the car felt good, I felt confident however
I lost the start due to not wanting to get caught out for jumping early
by the officials. I just haven't had many front row starts recently and
it seems I just gotta get going and launch quicker without worrying about
the grid two car so much. Although I dropped back to third earlier in the
race it wasn't long before I was dicing with Ian Burson for the lead. Now
this is new territory for myself and 811 as well, I fought a good battle
and even passed Ian to gain the lead. Just when it looked like 811 was heading
for a win, a late caution and re-start gave both Ian and Trevor the opportunity
to press through on the last lap. Still stoked to be up near the front and
I'll take that heats third place thanks and I was very pleased with how
Adam and I had virtually nailed the setup on that one.
Last heat had us leaving from the rear of the field thirteenth on the grid.
Mid race Campbell McManaway and I had a nose to tail when he braked hard
mid-turn to avoid another car. This resulted in a puncture for Campbell
and re-arranged front bodywork on 811 but for a change, no mechanical damage
which saw us continue in the race. I managed to make a few passes and the
result was a credible 8th.
After the points tally 811 was currently 5th overall so grid five it was
for the 20 lap feature. Now these one feature race deals to decide championships
have never favoured us in the past but having said that I'm normally starting
further back in the grid and had we only done the three heat championship
format, 5th overall in the champs is all we would have got anyhow.
So Adam & I set about getting the car right for a slick track and I decided
to drive the low line as straight and fast as possible. We battled away
just behind the leaders and although I passed Richie earlier on and then
Ian it looked like we would have to settle for 4th overall. At this stage
Trevor was leading, Richie was 2nd after getting by me again and Gavin Hill
was running 3rd. I struggled to keep in touch at times but was happy to
find out afterwards that there was daylight behind me as well without any
serious challengers. Now this is all new territory especially in recent
times but I will definitely take it. Glen, Steve, Ian, Casey, Pam, we have
all worked bloody hard on 811 often for very little reward other than the
fun and to participate. So on the last corner of the last lap when Gavin
spun and I shot through to grab 3rd place podium in the Canterbury Championship
it was a very deserving reward for the whole team. Disappointing somewhat
for Gavin I'm sure but very encouraging for myself after so much effort
to keep 811 reliable and on track.
It's also very humbling to have the likes of Dennis Bolt, Richie, Ian etc
congratulating us on the result and I'm sure it's welcome reward for the
many businesses who support our racing too so I can't thank them enough.
Where to from here? It's rounds 3 & 4 of the Vertex Super Cup this weekend
at Central Motor Speedway in Cromwell. Pam, Casey and Adam are all "keen
as" so hopefully we can try that little bit harder and not be Tailend Charlie
down there.
