2003 Stock Hatch Round 6, Oulton Park

Early morning and on to the serious stuff. Paul McMillan looked positively cautious at Lodge, braking early, turning in slower - but it certainly paid off as he took pole. Grass Tracker Blumson found the grass not to his liking on this occasion when was forced off the track by a slower runner, and ended the session buried in the tyres. With help from Dave Wright, the car was mostly the right length again, with a new radiator and plenty of cable ties to take the race start.

In the first heat it was Martin Boon that took the early lead in the Fiesta Zetec from Simon Hunt, Tony Taylor, Richard Kingsnorth and Darren Blumson. This lead group began to build a sizeable gap to the rest of the field, and despite a few changes of places through the race, they ultimately end up in the same order at the chequered flag.

In the second heat it was pole man Steve Forster in his new Saxo with the worst start, letting Lewis and Hemming through by the first corner. By lap 2, Forster had found his way back up again, and would soon find himself leading as Matt Lewis was forced into retirement with mechanical problems. The three way battle for 2nd between Hemming, Cody and Howlett could have gone either way. In the end, Forster won, Cody finally found a way past Hemming, with Howlett and Roughton in 4th and 5th.

In the final Gordon Macmillan got the jump on Paul McMillan, as they headed into old hall with Morgan, Taylor, Shepherd, Townend and Wright in tow. By the second lap, Craig Shepherd was pushing hard to find a way past the now defensive PaulTaylor for 4th. Peter Felix took a dive at the hairpin to pass Stokes for 8th, and Paul Taylor suddenly slowed up, letting the whole field through. He kept that car running, to pick up points for last place, but his challenge was over. Paul McMillan looked to be playing kiss chase with Gordon Macmillan's back bumper as he pushed ever harder, but would not find a way past. Finally Carl Townend got past Morgan just before the end. It finished with a win for Gordon Macmillan, from Paul McMillan, Townend, Morgan, Wright, Felix, Stokes, Shepherd, Hunt, and Blumson completed the top ten - though you'd think he won from the enthusiastic waves to the crowd!

Finally, just to cap the day off, my wife's diesel MPV that I was using for the weekend snapped the crankshaft (!!!) on the A34 on the way home. My thanks to the Scott Racing & Imágika Sports team in Newbury for lending me a van and trailer at zero notice to recover the vehicle, and my brother and Dad for assistance throughout the night as I got it recovered....