Brands Hatch 11th & 12th September 2004

Friday 10th We arrived in the iggy camper on Friday evening; the paddock was a little emptier than recently, must be getting towards the end of the season. We parked up and had something to eat. After a chat with Colin and Pete who explained all changes they had made to the outfit we went for a wander around the paddock to see who was about. After mending the Herne Bay Motorcycles awning light we ventured back to the camper and went to bed.

Saturday 11th We got up about eight, I put my lenses in and made a cup of tea. After putting my leathers on Colin and I went up to scrutineering. No problems all checked and with stickers on we went into the office and signed on with Tracey while Bernie plaited my hair for me, as Fran and Alan would not be arriving until a little later. Back at the van I finished my cup of tea while waiting for our practice session, after the obligatory toilet dash before hand, we were called to the collecting area.

Practice We went out for our practice and the whole outfit felt quite different, and it was not a struggle for me to move about as it had been at the last couple of meetings. We completed five or six laps before the chequered flag came out. Back in the paddock Colin was quite pleased I think, but did think that it could do with a couple more pounds of pressure in the chair wheel to stop it digging in. So all the hard work, re-aligning and phone calls to Tony Baker had paid off, I know I was a lot more confident of good results than I was before practice

Race One After a few stoppages in the early races things soon got back on schedule and we were called before dinner. As we made out way to the collecting area there was one dark cloud hovering above us. Colin had left his watch on so had to do a quick dash to leave it with Big Bird before we were sent to the grid. Row 6 on the left was our position, good oh, not the wall side! On our sighting lap there were a couple of tiny spots of rain, not enough to worry us though. In position and watching the light, out they went and away we went. Jason and Rob also got a good start next to us; we tucked in behind them and followed closely for the first lap. Second time around we made a move around the outside at Druids as Jason got boxed in on the inside by the F1 outfit of Tony Green. With Tony between us we edged away. Just as we came through Surtees and round Clearways it started to rain, it was large heavy drops of rain and we were on slicks. We kept going and Jason and Rob fell back a little. Next lap it was dry through Surtees, but as we made our way along the start finish straight the rain was now coming down over Paddock Hill Bend, we caught up with Shaun McVaigh here. We then followed him, not able to pass, he was holding us up a little and Jason and Rob made the most of the situation. By now we were also mixing with the back markers. With yellow flags waving from Graham Hill Bend, right round to Clearways, Colin backed off a little. An F1 had turned over at the end of the Cooper straight. At this point Jason and Rob have had better luck with the back markers. They were now closing in, we made our way along the start finish straight and as we headed into Paddock Hill another back marker was in the middle of the track. Colin had decided to go around the outside; at the same time Jason decided to go through on the inside. The back marker must have heard us coming and moved to the right, but then saw the nose of Jason and so then moved back across to the left, we had to ease up a little but we did not touch, very close though. It was now very close around Druids. Jason made his move on us into the left of Graham Hill Bend, there was nothing we could do about it, and he took a wide sweeping line, chopping our nose off nearly. All we could do was follow them through Surtees past another couple of back markers to take a good second position, with Matt Dix and Lee Watson finishing a second behind us in third position.

Race Two After a couple of short sharp showers during the afternoon it was dry again as we made our way up to the collecting area. We were a little early and Big Bird was not ready. She came running over with pen poised, and wrote 3L on the fairing. The sighting lap passed without incident and we took up position in Row 3 on the left. Jeff pointed his red flag towards the lights, as the red lights went out we were off again. We took to the left and went round the outside of Mike Dommett as we rounded Paddock Hill. Managing to use the outside line again at Druids all was going well until Tony Green, with Mark Cox in the chair also moved to the outside. As the grass was nearing Colin backed off and tucked in behind. We did manage to get out to the front of the F2’s with Jason chasing hard, coming around Druids on the next lap and then heading down the hill still behind Tony, he ran a little wide and overshot the corner, ending up on the grass, we made a quick dash past him. Jason and Rob were not so lucky and Tony returned to the hard stuff in front of him. We were now chasing Shaun Mcvaigh once again, but were not able to get close enough to make a move on him. Jason crept back up to us and again the back markers played their part. We were headed towards Surtees with one back marker ahead, Colin chose the outside line just as Jason went to take the inside, but the back marker closed the door on him so he dived across our nose once more to change to the outside and made his way around the outside. We stayed on their tail across the line and showed our nose at Paddock and Druids. In the end another safe second was what was in order so we settled down for the last quarter of lap and took another 20 points.

Sunday 12th Colin and Pete were both happy with the bike and did not make any changes to it over night. I was quite happy with the way it was feeling so we decided not to go out in practice. We then had a chance to watch some of the others for a change. We did see one peculiar incident, on the back of novice driver Bruce Munro was a relatively experienced passenger nicknamed ‘Basher’. Bruce had some help the night before with the cleaning of his outfit, and I think some polishing went on. As they made their way round on the first out lap, heading into Surtees all was fine. Then ‘Basher’ had to do the quick change from left to right. As he transferred across the platform and landed on the back of the fairing, instead of stopping he kept on going. With feet high in the air and almost head butting the tarmac he struggled and stayed in. As mentioned, some polishing had taken place, and because of this the back of the fairing was very shiny, not something us passenger peeps like very much, do we Pete?!! Well done for hanging on though ‘Basher’ and 8 out of 10 for the handstand, you didn’t point your toes.

Race One Once again we were called to the collecting area before lunch. This time Big Bird was waiting for us with pen poised, but our grid position was the same as yesterday so she did not have to change the 3L that was already on the fairing. From there we were soon called to the grid, a nod to Tony, Marie, and Angie, the start-line officials, as we took up position. Jeff sent us off on the sighting lap, we then all bunched up as we came round Clearways ready to slot back into position Row 3 on the left again. The red lights come on, the red lights went out and we were off. Another good start, the new clutch has really made a difference. Matt Dix and Lee Watson tried to go underneath us at Paddock but we just went round the outside of them. Heading up into Druids hairpin with Jason in front we both dived to the inside and this time we both dived down the inside of Tony Green. The chase was on and with Jason on an intermediate rear tyre he was leaving some black lines and puffs of smoke as he made his way round Graham Hill bend. We both had a couple of quick laps and pulled slightly away from Matt and Lee. Then having caught up with Shaun McVaigh, not his usual self this weekend, we were held up for a little while. Jason tried to dive down the inside of Shaun at Druids but he shut the door and we both had to brake hard to avoid a collision. On the next lap we came out of Clearways right on the tail of Jason and dived down the inside at Paddock for a change but they got better drive up the hill and took the lead back into Druids. We both then passed Shaun on the following lap and then pulled away slightly. With a couple of laps to go Matt had closed up on us and as we went into Surtees we over ran slightly and had to brake which opened the door for Matt & Lee to shoot past. We then watched as they tried to close in on Jason and Rob, getting a little ragged in places. Although the win would be nice it was a safer bet to finish in a comfortable third and avoid the risk of not finishing at all. Jason and Rob crossed the line ahead of Matt and Lee and we were only seven hundredths of a second behind them.

Race Two With some very dark clouds hanging around we made our way, for the final time today, up to the collecting area. Big Bird was there once again waiting for us with a beaming smile. She wrote on the fairing 4M. When we lined up on the grid there was a nice big gap in front of us, with Tony Green a row ahead over to the left and Shaun McVaigh well over to the right hand side. When we returned after the sighting lap the big gap was still there, much to the dislike of Matt who was to our left and right behind Tony, he would now have to go around them. As the lights went out we made an excellent start but still ended up behind both Jason and Matt on the first lap. Coming past them both of them along the start finish straight and out-braking them into Paddock Hill. Jason slipped back up the inside towards Druids but we drove around the outside of him. By putting Tony between us we were then on a mission to get clear. Even when pushing hard today, the outfit felt much more like it’s old self and was a lot smoother than of late. It was coming back together nicely and flowing as before. We completed our second lap with a comfortable lead. Yellow flags were being waved at the start of lap three over Paddock Hill and a blue F2 outfit was parked in a very dodgy position, at the point of entrance to the kitty litter if you got it wrong exiting Paddock Hill. We were cautious but did not ease off as much as before, so as not to let anyone following gain too much. We were now in control and flying and it felt very comfortable. We were chasing the leading F1 outfit but in no way enough to worry them. On lap 6 the red flags came out and because the race had run two thirds it was classed a result so we were back in top form and finished the day with a win. With Matt and Lee finishing in second position in front of an engine troubled Jason and Rob it had cancelled out the points that Jason had gained on us in the morning’s race. So, all in all, a good weekend, and to top it we were rewarded with the fastest F2 lap of the weekend, a 53.1, not quite on our lap record pace, but then we all know what happened next!