2000, Round 14, Oulton Park

As we lined up on the grid, I could see that the patch of oil we had been warned about was in fact right in front of my grid slot, so just before the start, I backed up, and came back into my grid slot aiming further left to try to avoid the oil. The start went well, I did not gain any places, but I noted that several of the runners on the oily side of the track lost places, so to stay static was a good start. It was all very close at the first bend, I was on the inside, so my speed was limited to that of the cars in front, as I was boxed in, which meant I lost two places, but rather that than be on the outside, as I saw 2 cars off the track at this point. At Druids, despite the fact that the field had begun to string out there were several cars going sideways after being caught out. There seemed less grip here than elsewhere on the track.

I had a fairly uneventful couple of laps before the red flag was brought out because Darren Clayton had hit the barriers just at the entry to Druids. They also took the opportunity presented by the stoppage to recover Tony Scarlett's very squashed 106 from the tyre wall, also at Druids, but in an unconnected incident.

At the restart I was to start from 12th, the outside of the track this time, and got a good start again, making sure I moved right across to the inside to ensure I didn't have to worry about running wide and off the track at the first bend. I gained one place, but lost two. I lost another at Druids as Jason Watkins dived up the inside. I left him room, hoping he had too much speed on the way in to get a good line out, but he held it well. When the black and yellow quartered flag came out, we all slowed and bunched up. The last time this happened, the green flag was not shown until the leader was RIGHT on the startline, allowing those further back to get a jump on the front runners. I hung back and thought I would do the same this time. It didn't work, the green flag was clearly visible as the leaders approached the line, and all I had done was leave myself further behind the car in front. I gained two more places by the end of the race at the expense of Matt Potter and Anthony Ridd both taking the scenic route at different times. Matt obvioulsy liked this so much he did it again, and then forgot to finish, which is a really sad end considering he was leading before the initial red flag.

By normal standards, that was a fairly uneventful race for me, but then again, since the car is FOR SALE, maybe that is a good thing! I could not have gained any championship places unless some of those ahead of me failed to finish, so there was no point risking a failure to finish myself for the sake of a point. So, 8th overall, and the top XR2. I am very happy with that. Jay Frost won the championship in his Suzuki Swift. In fact he had enough points to win it with one race to spare, but he elected not to race that last race, as to do so would allow the theoretical possibility that he be disqualified, which due to the scoring mechanism used, would have re-opened the championship.

Several people have some VERY serious repair work needed over the winter. As for me, I am selling the XR2 now. What will I be doing next? I don't actually know for sure. You can bet the answer appears on this site as soon as I do know though, and I will definately keep up with the action of Stock Hatch in 2001, whether I compete or not.