The trip started with me dropping nicola at AndyG's Gaff and picking up his spare stuff. Fair swap i thought
We had an uneventful run down the A702 then the M6. Pretty well behaved, keeping the pace below 90 tuts, in a last ditch attempt to save my wheel bearings. Turns out it didnt help 
. Arrived at the vom-otel after last orders, couple of beers and then off to bed. The pub didnt want to serve us, and i was in no mood to argue, as i had a cough/cold coming on. Went to bed hoping it wouldnt amount to
anything.
FRIDAY
Test day. Me and Andy arrived at the circuit in plenty of time, had
a blether with everyone, and unpacked the cars. Aim for the day was to learn track in morning, then tweak car in afternoon. I had driven Oulton Park once before, on the trip where the vom-otel was first named
. A consequence of that was that i was massively hung over, and i broke Robin's shed, so my experience of OP was approx 45 mins, whilst still under the influence. So, new track to learn then 
First session went ok, got used to the track and got back into the correct overtaking mentality. This is harder than you think after years of trackdays, and i am still far too polite, but at least there is room for improvement. Had a variable brake pedal going from left to right handers, and the car was massively oversteery, so i knew I had a lot to work on.
As luck would have it, Robin and Tom arrived as we pulled into the paddock, and they sprang into life with hardly any chance to say hello. Front wheel bearing was diagnosed as buggered, so hub was off, bearing was offered from Russ Treasure (thanks again dude) and we were stood in the OP garage in no time, pressing out the old bearing and the new one back in. I joked that my next session was starting now, as Robin and i walked back to the car, But he and Tom took the bait and threw my car back together. I started my engine and roared off out the paddock, only to be sent back by the marshall as the next group were already forming. Arse. Never mind, good work by the pit crew and i am as grateful as always.
The 2 afternoon sessions went better. I had a real problem with the back end, most probably due to me changing the spring rates and not revalving the damper to save time. I struggled with rear grip, and after a few lairy moments, i struggled with coinfidence too. I think my best time in testing was a 1.57, with consistent 1.58's. I had no idea if that was going to be enough, so didnt worry about it.
SATURDAY
Awoke at 6.30am feeling crap. Coughed a lung up in the shower, which didnt really help much. Loaded myself up with cough/cold medicine and went to meet Team Scottish Elises in the bus for the short drive to the circuit. The morning passed quite quickly. Drivers breifing first, then sign on, then scruitineering, then get changed then head to assembly area. I seem to be quite good at controlling the nerves, but i still do the usual racer thing of going for about 4 pee breaks an hour
Anyway, after what seems like an hour, we get the instruction to get into the cars and start engines for Qually. Off i head, with a slightly less oversteery car due to chief engineer Robin's help yesterday. I still dont have much confidence in the rear end, and the tyres do seem to everheat before my 20 minutes are up, but i head out with a slightly more positive outlook than the day before.
Qually flies by. Manage 8 laps, none of them were clear. I had dropped the pace in the middle to let the tyres come back to me, and also to find some space. Managed to find andyG on track whilst doing my slow lap, and just before he tripped up on me i gunned it to go again. Last lap of the session and i finally got it all right. I still had traffic, but better than before, so was quite chuffed. Turns out i helped Andy too, as he followed me through a couple of quick corners before i dissappeared, and got his best time too. I didnt think i had bettered my testing time from the previous day, but on getting the timing sheet, i had posted a 1.55.9, a whole 1 second quicker than the day before. Chuffed with that, and also chuffed i was 3rd in class, behind the SC honda of Scott Fitzgerald, and the Duratec of Steve Williams. Set myself a target of 3rd again in the 1st race, as i ws too far off the front 2 to really make an impact. I would still try though.
There is a break of hours before the First race. I have a total low point again from cold/cough, so just sit about chatting to people, trying to save energy.
http://gallery.seloc.org/albums/userpic ... /Race1.jpg
Race 1 is after lunch. Get back into the assembly area, need another pee. Head out onto the circuit for a warm up lap, then form on the grid, then do the green flag lap. Its all quite boring to be honest, as its such a long lap round OP. Line up on the grid, light go red, then out, and were off. I get a good start. up a couple of places as we brake for the first corner. I go to cover the inside, as i lost out at Snett by trying the outside. I brake with everyone else, and watch skeggsy just drive round the outside of me. Arse. Have to defend into the next 2 corners, but after tha, have made enough of a gap to start hassling skeggsy. The next 20 minutes are a bit of a blur, but the highlights, from what i can remember are, fending off david harvey in his 340R and nick kaye in his SC honda, whilst still battling with skeggsy for 3rd place. He did a phenomenal job of keeping me behind, and i really couldnt see a way past, as he could outdrag me comfortably in a straight line. I could see he was struggling with his brakes, as was i, but he seemed to be having a harder time of it, so when i got a run on him up and over hilltop, he defended the inside line into knickerbrook chicane. i moved to the outside, braked later, but didnt get clear in front, and as i glanced across, i saw skeggsy struggling to slow down and on a collision course with me. Decided that this manouvere would be better done later in the day, as i didnt want to go home yet, so made my exit up the escape road. Made sure i dropped back as i didnt want to be seen to gain an advanatage, so i dropped back behind skeggsy and the 340R, just infront of Nick. A lap later, i was at the back on the 4 car train, and had a good view of Nick tapping Skeggsy whilst trying a similar move. A lap after that, i was a good bit back from skeggsy on the run to the same chicane, but this time, he obviously thought i was too far back, so moved to take his line, and i just stuffed it up the inside. Job done, move stuck, and just got my head down for the rest of the race. It finished 1 lap later, and i practically fell out of the car in parc ferme. I was choked with the cold, and had just done the hardest workout i had done for a long time. Went and shook skeggsy's hand, he congratulated me, and i thanked him for such a fair race. It just seems so much nicer that were all friendly on the grid, and you can have a good bit of banter about it afterwards. My best lap time was within 0.1 of a second of my qually time, as i had spent so long battling with skeggsy that we didnt get a chance to set any clear times.
Race 2 is the handicap race. I looked to have a favourable starting position, and all i had to do was beat Christian in the other honda into the first corner, then set about making up the 40 second gap to the leaders. I got a better start, but just about binned it straight away, as i went to change down to 4th gear, realised i was already in 4th gear, lifted clutch, and went sideways. arse. The rest of the race was a bit boring to be honest. I caught the class A cars, scuffham caught me. I tried to fend off nick kaye but he was able to just outdrag me in a straight line. After that i was just wishing the chequered flag to come up. I was feeling exhausted and just wanted to go and cough up a lung. Finally the flag came out, i was exstatic, and was punching the air. Seems a bit over the top reaction now, but at the time, i was just caught up in the moment. Best lap time improved by 1.1 seconds to 1.54.7 and i was well chuffed. Had managed to get the car handling better, and as i was on my own for most of the race, i was able to stick in lots of fast laps, and not have to battle anybody for too long.
http://www.pbase.com/grays/image/79087410
The drive home was nice. 250 miles, with the roof off, and the walkman on, able to think over how the weekend had gone. Gave me plenty of time to think about all the thanks i owe:
Russ T for the wheel bearing
Paul for organising the whole event so well
All the SE crew for turning up to cheer me and Andy on
everyone else who offered good luck or congratulations
And mainly Robin (and Tom) who helped keep my shed on the track, and left me to concentrate on the driving bit. Really cant thank you guys enough
