This was my first test with my new team and I was eager to get on the pace in the new car - perhaps a little to eager! The track conditions where awful to say the least, it was cold, wet and windy and on the exit of the Foulston Chicane, I ran a little wide, caught the newly painted (and wet) curbs, launched myself across the circuit and ending up going backwards up Hilltop on the left-hand-side of the circuit. Eventually catching the Armco with the rear of the car, the car spun to a standstill with thankfully only minor damage to the rear.
The rest of the day was spent repairing the damage and checking all the geometry, unfortunately we missed the second and final GT test of the day, which was also a wash out. Fortunately the clerk of the course allowed us the run the car in the last session of the day for 10 minutes, this allowed us to confirm that there was no hidden damage to the car and also allowed us to get some dry track time.
The deal for the second driver was done on Saturday night, and I was very keen to see how I would work with Warren Hughes. He had previous experience in the car from Thruxton, when he drove with John Cleland and we where sure that he would go well with the new improvements on the car. The TVR Speed6 was on tremendous form and setting a pace none of the Porsche GT3r's could match in the dry conditions of Sunday morning. The afternoon session was much the same with the final standings for qualifying only changing amongst the Porsche's. The TVR was on pole by half a second in the GTO class, with the Goodwin / Sumpter car just two tenths in front of Warren and myself. Geoff Lister and Terry Rymer where half a second behind us in third and the Fuller / Fothergill car another half second behind in fourth.
The weather for once was in our favor and I was looking forward to a good race.. Because of the pedigree of competitors around me, the idea was to hold station with them for as long as I possibly could, to allow Warren to have as little 'catch-up' as possible when the driver change occurred. At the end of lap one I was at the front of a four car battle for second in GTO (the TVR had shown us a clean pair of heals, but we where banking on the Porsche's reliability to claim that gap back). I'm still not sure what happened on lap one, I remember the Lister breaking down in front of me and I remember a Viper and a Marcos facing one another, where I actually got past Mark Sumpter I'm not quite sure, but I do remember having to fend of Terry Rymer on more than one occasion on lap one. That was really the pattern for the next eight laps, the TVR got further ahead and I had a fantastic battle keeping Rymer / Sumpter / Fothergill at bay. I was struggling with brake balance, either the fronts would lock up, or the rears with the slightest adjustment on the balance, Fothergill was on a charge and had got past Sumpter and Rymer, on the entry to cascades he took a BiG lunge down the inside, which if I had moved to block would have surely meant the end of the race for the two of us. I wasn't to concerned as I was coming to the end of my stint and on my last radio check back to the team before I pitted, I advised them that Warren may want to adjust the brake balance. The pit stop was average, and Warren got back out on track with out to much delay and once all the GTO's had pitted it was Lister to Fuller to Hughes to Goodwin. Warren and Chris where towing one another around and closing on the two PK Sport cars very quickly - 2.5 seconds on Fuller and 1.5 on Lister - within two or three laps they would be all over them and we still had another 30 minutes to go in the race! I guess we will never know what happened next until the TV coverage on GT on 4, but Warren says that he put a clean move on Fuller, who then turned in on him and spun him. Fuller says that Warren bounced of the curbs and into him. The subsequent damage to both cars meant that both had to retire with radiator cooling problems.
What ever way you look at it, it just goes to show that in GT racing you can't go crashing into one another, and to win a race you first have to finish it!!!!
I was really pleased with the way the weekend went and my thanks go out to the team and Warren for all their help and support.
CYA at Donington!