Birmingham - Round 3 01/05/2010

After a 6 weeks lay off and a missed Birmingham Wheels meeting because of a wedding I was back! The enforced absence giving me chance to sort out a more powerful battery that would hopefully resolve the starting issues we'd experienced at Hednesford, as well as a tow car (a 1999 Disco II to be precise)

My first venture back out on track was to be in practice and things didn't go too well, a spin onto the rumble strips on the inside of the track forced me onto the infield and from where the car refused to start, displaying the same symptons as we'd experienced at Hednesford. After a push back to the pits and much head scratching amongst the pit crew we removed the body to find......no battery! A vital piece of equipment for any car. The rumble strips had caught the bottom of the car, ripping the battery straight out along with all the connections

Thankfully (thanks to the very helpful marshalls at Brum!) we recovered the slightly battered battery and got it back on the car, patching it up with gaffer tape, cable ties and borrowed replaced leads (thanks Gary!). By this time however, we'd missed Heat 1 which was won by #22 Steve Stanford

Out for Heat 2 though which was quickly halted following a huge accident for #31 Pete Gould and #99 Steve Dakin. I struggled for pace at first, not having had any practice or raced for 6 weeks but recorded a sub-17 second lap time and finished only a single lap down. #01 Richie Wilkes won this one

Shortly before the Final the heavens opened, torrential doesn't quite cover the downfall so our first tyre change to wets was in order. Stirling work from the pit crew in horrendous conditions, we were struggling for time but just about ready. However, once in the car and suited up I realised I couldn't see a thing, the rain combined with the cold causing my glasses to steam up! With the heavy rain and the lack of vision I had to sit this one out as well, the race was won by #01 Richie Wilkes again

So all in all, a stressful meeting for me and all the crew but lots of lessons were learned. The steep learning curve continues!