Formula Renault Winter Series

Donington Park - 1 & 3 November, 2007

I think we can safely say this weekend was one to put down to experience and then swiftly move on. I went and I started and finished two races - something which a dozen of my fellow competitors failed to do.

Testing on Thursday was the thing nightmares are made of. I completed six laps in the first session and then came in for some advice and set up adjustments. I did another two laps before bringing the car in as it was not running well despite all the gauges giving correct readings, only to find that it had done the head gaskets. As Formula Renault operate a sealed engine policy that meant a trip to the (very nice people at) the Renault shop and an exchange engine. Despite the best efforts of the team we were not able to finish in time to get out again before practise finished at 4.00 pm.

Saturday was an eye opener, the driving behaviour is very different from what I am used to, much more aggressive all the way down the field. I was on the back foot as most of my fellow drivers had spent all day Thursday gaining experience of the track whilst I was relegated to watching. However I was making progress in qualifying until we had a red flag. After we restarted I found it difficult to get back on the pace and hence ended up 30th on the grid.

Race one I had two spins that I managed to recover from without damage but that meant I ended up last, but at least I finished!

Race two was better. I made some progress and finished 23rd overall and 4th in class. Results for the weekend put me joint 3rd (in the BARC class) and so it is off to Croft next weekend to see where that takes me.