Mike can take great pride from his two performances this weekend despite not coming away with two wins. Firstly he managed to break the old lap record within his 10 laps of qualifying, having never practice there before. Then as a result of those times he was in pole for both the heats on Saturday and Sunday.
In the Saturday heat, Mike was third off the line and into Paddock bend, before making second at the hairpin and then after a further lap, took first. Unfortunately the race was red flagged, so Mike sat tensely in pole for 10 minutes while car 55 was cleared away. On the re-start, Mike grabbed second from a quick 106 driven by Dan Summers. The lead was taken by Mike more than once, but on the last two laps he suffered from fuel starvation. The extra delay with the red flag had caused the level to drop too low for the pick up. Mike was frustrated with the 5th place, but realised that such mechanical problems can be overcome with a swirl pot. For a few laps Mike held the new lap record, but was unable to participate in the later race. Parts 1 & 2.
On Sunday with the car brimmed, Mike was confident of a win. In the end, Mike and Dan tangled on the entry to the Paddock straight, which allowed the eventual winner to catch them both. Mike regained the lead, but was tapped from behind on entering paddock bend, causing him to travel 200 yds at 100mph sideways, but catching it to the applause of the crowd and retaining 3rd place by the end. Unfortunately the impact broke a fuel return line, so once again, Mike couldn't take part in the final race.
On this form, with a new fuel line and tank, Mike should do well at Mallory Park in six weeks time. Between now and then he needs to get the bodywork sorted and some testing in.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment