Just one race this time, Mallory Park is a funny wee place. The paddock is in the middle of the circuit but there is no bridge for vehicles to gain access. You drive (the wrong way) round the circuit to get into the paddock. And once you're in, you're in. It's also a very short circuit compared to Snetterton, short enough that there were too many entrants to run in one grid so there was a heat and final. Very good value for me, as long as I qualified for both!
Qualifying
Qualifying went very well, I've been to Mallory Park once before for a track day last year so the place wasn't completely alien to me. The car also felt much better after re-jetting. One of the other novices noticed without me telling him
Great fun, practising under race rules - got a chance to practice drafting/close following etc with the other competitors without the outcome mattering too much. I did have to remind myself that it didn't matter when I saw the car I was drafting's bonnet flap about in the wind shortly before it came off sending him into a spin when it suddenly went dark for him. I made one *tiny* mistake when I accidentally selected 2nd gear instead of 4th sending the revs sky high and locking up the rear wheels (thankfully, it probably saved the engine). It hoofed a load of oil out into the catch tank which then overflowed and pitched it over the side of the car but other than doing a dramatic slide the car was fine and I'd not dropped any oil onto the track. Strong engine!My lap timer said I'd done a 59second lap, I assumed it was wrong as I didn't think I could but when the results came out things were looking very good indeed. I had indeed done a 59.52 lap which put me 27th out of 35 in qualifying. A huge improvement on Snetterton's qualifying. As Mallory Park is so small, the top 6 go direct to the final and the remaining 29 of us run in the heat. The top 25 of the heat will then go through to race in the final. This result put me on the 11th row of the grid for the heat. I desperately wanted to make the final, so finishing at least 25th was a must.
Heat
Here I am, 8th from the back. This is a much more scary place to be starting than right at the back as I was at Snetterton:
(clickable)The start went well but nerves got the better of me and I lost the advantage of my position on the grid. I had a great race getting lots of overtaking particularly with car 26, my nemesis from the first race at Snetterton. I even managed to lap someone, not really sure how that happened. I finished the heat with no contact and no car issues in 23rd place. I'd made the final. Actually everyone who finished the race did, even the guy I lapped as there 5 cars that didn't. If I'd known that I might have taken it easier
In between the heat and final all Locost drivers were called in for a row^H^H^Hmandatory briefing. According to an observer, every single one of us had ignored a yellow flag where a car had left the track. Fair enough, I will include myself in that - I knew exactly what she was talking about. By the time I arrived at the scene the car in question was already in the tyre wall, well off the circuit and no people milling about. I was in control of my car, no way was I going to fly off the circuit and crash too but I was also doing what everyone else was doing and staying at full pace but without overtaking. Obviously this isn't good enough and we were to remember this.
Final
Although I started from the second last row, the final was fantastic. Best bit of racing I've had yet. A bunch of us were racing at the back for what seemed like 1st to 5th positions.
Here's me, second from the front of the pack in the first picture chasing car 38 (all clickable):
I had set my sights on car 38, he was just a little bit faster than I was comfortable with but he wasn't losing me. We had a few great moments, passed each other a couple of times and had a long side by side moment around Gerards bend where I kept telling myself not to look sideways, I'll only panic. It was great seeing him constantly checking his shoulders to see where I was but I did get past him. A few laps later the front runners caught us and a yellow flag went out for an incident near-simulataneously. Suddenly everyone, remembering the "talk" earlier, got very polite. The front runners were let through and car 38 cheekily passed me in the train and then car 91 who I'd lapped in the previous race as well! Cheeky!
Car 91 had a go at passing 38 but hesitated when he saw me trying to get past in his mirrors. "That's a bit polite" I thought, passed both of them and closed the door as we all headed up to the hairpin. Car 38 sadly suffered a steamy head gasket failure and retired from the race so I never did get the chance to beat him properly. Fantastic race though, I finished 22nd of 30 starters (and 25 finishers) and got my best time down to 59.21 seconds.
Brands Hatch is next . . .
Simon
Respect.
Poor wee car is all I can say! Glad you're having fun and making progress! Katie expressed an interest in doing something motorsporty once the kids have moved on ... so who knows, 10 years from now I might be joining you at the back of the pack (though by then you'll be at the front 
