Anglesey covers all the angles

Well, what a weekend that was! Not 5 minutes after the car had been readied for the journey North and we found ourselves driving up the M1, onto the M6 and then west-ward bound towards Anglesey. Weather in Anglesey is unpredictable at best, wet and windy at worst and so it was with great anticipation that we awoke on the Friday test morning to a glorious day. Des and JB headed off early from the very comfortable caravan in which we were staying (a big thanks to Mel's mum and dad) to put the final finishing touches on the car before I arrived, chauffeured by Mel a little later on. We had four 25-minute sessions in which to check out the car after the mammoth amount of work that had just been completed, to learn the circuit which I had never been to before and finally to set the car up to get the best out of it for the racing.

The first session revealed arm-fulls amount of understeer and the engine running slightly hot. So whilst JB set to enlarging the ducting exit from the bonnet with various drills and files, Des tweeked the front dampers to try to dial out the understeer. The second session showed the understeer still present and so spring changes were the order of the day. We quickly realised though that a new set of spings were required from Demon Tweeks which Suzanne picked up on her way across. By the end of the day, my lap times had just dipped below 1m 18s.

After some nosh in a local pub and a couple of drinks, we were quickly off to sleep with the promise of a great day's racing the next day.

Saturday was to be another glorious day weather-wise, with hardly a cloud in the sky. A minor wiring issue had to be fixed before we were allowed through scrutineering which then quickly led to qualifying. I managed to settle in pretty quickly in practice, with the new rear springs having sorted the handling and wheel-spin better than I'd hoped for. I found some good space in which to set some fast lap times and when the grid was published, I had qualified 4th in class (6th on the grid) for both races 1 and 3. Race 2 was the Lydden re-run and I was 8th on the grid for that.

I made a great start in the first race, and quickly made it up to 5th place, then back down to 6th but the red flags were shown after about 6 laps. So back to the grid for the re-start. Following another good start I then lost a couple of places and found myself back in 8th overall. I had a close race with the two cars in front but just could not find a way through and so by the end of the race, I was in 8th place, which was 5th in class. Not too bad.

The 2nd race was the Lydden re-run (after it was snowed-off in April). It turned out to be basically a re-run of the first race (but no red flag), with more close racing and so after an exhausting 20 minutes of racing, I finished in 7th place (4th in class).

A good night's sleep on the Saturday and a review of the video with my coach a.k.a. Des allowed me to fully concentrate on where I needed to improve on my lines and race craft for my third and final race. A quick check over of the car showed no issues and so to the grid for the race. After a green flag lap it was quickly to the countdown and away again. Another good start saw me battling with cars from the two classes above, with lots of hussling for position and my lap times had improved again. After another hot and tiring 20 minutes bumper to bumper racing, I again finished 5th in class (8th overall).

The whole weekend had been a great success with fantastic reliability from the car and great support from Des and JB in keeping the car running and for Suz, Mel, Liz and Des' mum and dad for their encouragement and more along the way. The circuit turned out to be quite challenging with a tricky fast section leading to a heavy braking zone and into a twisty hilly section. Great fun in a fantastic setting.

Next out in our car is Al on Saturday June 21st for a double-header at Brands Hatch. Hope to see you there.