Castle Combe 26th March, 2006

Ive never really liked Castle Combe, there is always the problem of passing the overly stringent noise controls which last season resulted in my carbon fibre floor tray catching fire and the track is dangerous with its lack of reasonable run off areas. Still on the plus side the circuit is situated in a very pleasant part of the country and the events attract a large and supportive crowd/

My old team mate Andy Uttley was back for this event and we tested together on the thursday afternoon. I had a bad test session and for some reason lacked confidence in the car. This doesn't happen very often and its hard to concentrate on setting up the car when at the back of your mind there is a voice screaming 'imminent death and destruction'. I ended the test day 2 seconds off the pace and not feeling very happy with myself.

Qualifying was also disappointing as I had a fuel pump problem on the outlap that stalled the car on the run up the hill out of the pits. I managed to restart the car but by the time I rejoined the circuit I was stuck in traffic and never got in a clean lap. I was actually surprised to find out I was 7th on the grid and couldn't imagine how bad the guys behind me were.

I got another good start when the lights went off but not as good as Jeremy Timms and Geoff Fern who both got away with a jump start. They effectively boxed me in on the run up the hill and so I couldn't make up any places. On lap two Neil Harrison out braked himself at the first chicane and I passed him for 6th. I held this place for the next four laps and then it started raining.

Our car set up was for the dry and as soon as the track became wet I lost all grip. It wasn't long before Neil came past me under braking for Quary and then later on I lost another two places to eventually finish 9th.
A disappointing weekend for me but as Andy won the race, the damage to the points differential between Mark and I was not as bad as it could have been.