Race Calendar & Results

A cold but dry morning found us at Mallory for the first AMOC meeting of 2009.  The old V8 had been dusted off.  2 races entered, the AMOC Classic Championship and the Intermarque Championship.

Qualifying

I got out early with new brakes and tyres to bed in.  2 easy laps then a bit more speed.  On my fourth lap a misfire - oh no I thought, not problems already!!  Into the pits - nothing obvious so having done 3 laps back to the paddock for a quick investigation before the next qualifying session. 

The problem was identified as a faulty fuel pump - off it came - prodded and banged it appeared to be OK now so back into the car and out for qualifying.  But oh dear, worse than before so 3 laps to qualify for the race on minimal power and back to try and sort it out. 

We were very fortunate that Dave Jacks had a spare fuel pump we could borrow so soon that was fitted and hopefully problem solved!   When we got the time sheets it was almost farcical - pole in the first session with just one quick lap and on the back of the grid for the other!

Race 1 - AMOC Classic Championship

A standing start and a good one too!  Tom Black alongside me on the front row got a bit bogged down and that allowed Darren McWhirter to come through to second going into the first corner.  Bit by bit I managed to pull clear of McWhirter and then after a few laps tail enders were in sight.  The car ran fine and I just had to stay consistent.  At the end of the 20 minutes I was lining up to lap Robert Reave in 4th place but the flag fell to provide a very satisfactory result. 

Race 2 - Intermarque Championship

It had been a while since I had been on the back row of the grid.  This was a rolling start, but the track is quite narrow so I couldn't find any gaps as we crossed the line, but going into the Gerards, the first long bend, I managed to get inside someone and then up the back straight to pick off a couple more. 

As we crossed the line for the first time I thought "this could be quite fun".  I kept working away and after just a handful of laps I saw the 3 leading Ferraris ahead of me.  I hadn't expected to get up to them but I wasn't complaining.  Past one, past two with just the bright yellow one of Graham Reeder in front.  I got alongside him over the line but he had the racing line into Gerards, next lap I stayed on the outside of Gerards but that didn't work, but finally down the start/finish line I had him on lap 10.  He then fell back a bit before overcooking it and parking in the gravel where he was then bashed by Peter Fosters TR who was avoiding a spinning Porsche! 

By the end of this 20 minutes I had lapped everyone up to 7th place, so a surprising but very pleasing result.

Qualifying

Race 1 - pole in 52.992 at 91.71mph (in just 4 laps)

Race 2 - 15th (back row) in 59.524 (just 4 laps) at 81.64mph

Result

Race 1 (AMOC Championship) Result: 1st in 19.47.903 @ 90.00mph

Fastest lap: 52.618 (fastest lap of the race and 1st in class)

Race 2 (Intermarque Championship) Result: 1st in 20.40.127 @ 90.13mph

Fastest lap: 52.629 (fastest lap of the race and 1st in class)