1/8th National Round 2

Towards 40 drivers turned out for what was forecast to be a dry Saturday practice and a wet race day on Sunday.  Unusually, the forecast was correct - a small shower on Saturday morning gave way to a warm and sunny afternoon with temperatures in the high teens.  There were many cars lapping in the 15 second bracket after lunch, with the top drivers running tyres down obviously willing a dry Sunday. 

All the hard work on set-up was in vain as Sunday dawned with heavy rain.  With the drivers briefing carried out over the tannoy at 9am, drivers could see the rain coming down, but no standing water on the track.  This is something that most of us are having to get used to - damp tyres during heavy rain, work quite well.  Any other track and full wets would have been the order of the day, with huge puddles swamping the cars and killing the engines.  Another benefit of the new porous surface, for the mechanics, is that the cars stay relatively dry and clean. 

With the rain on and off all morning, it was difficult for everyone as when the rain stopped, the damps would get shredded in one heat.  The first final was won by Merv 'the swerve', and the C by Chris Daft.  Young Jason Frost drove a steady race to win the B in style, three laps up on John Carr.  For the A, polesitter Mark Green led the field away, but soon ran into tyre problems with the drying surface.  Tim Wood, with smooth control managed the race on one set and came home two laps up on Mark with Pete Hastings in third. 

For some of us, a massive gamble that the track would dry quickly did not pay off, as dry tyres led to an evil handling car and several places lost - but some you win, some you lose!

Chris Edwards