During the year, the UK has one 2 day national race as part of its championship and it is run over the May bank holiday weekend. This race is one of the highlights of the UK calendar which all drivers look forward to. Unfortunatly for this year event the weather was to play a major part in the outcome with rain coming down for a solid 48 hours.
On Sunday morning we arrived to a wet track, but as it was a flat grass track it was possible to run, so we had a go. The track surface was draining very well and the track was very driveable throughout the day. Championship leader and Xray team driver, Jon Hazlewood was the first of the top drivers to hit the track and set a marker for all. The run was good, except for a grip roll type mistake. In the next heat, 3 drivers managed to just beat Jon's time showing how critical the mistake was.
For round 2, Jon was again first out and set a faster time than before, but again had a problem. The cold and damp conditions had effected the engine, which ran too cold with water splashing onto it, resulting in a poor acceleration performance. World champ and championship rival Neil Cragg again just beat Jon's time in round 2. Neil was now looking good for TQ and the only direct placing into the main final.
Relentlessly the rain came down and somehow the track was holding on, but the pits were now starting to flood and the speaker system had failed. The race committee decided to make round 3 the last, instead of running the planned 5 rounds of qualifying. They also shortened the track in round 3 so to take out a bumpy section to make it easier to marshel. Neil Cragg was first to run this time and set a good time which pretty much made TQ secure for him. Jon still needed a high position to get up the grid for the semi final and would run last in the worst of the conditions. The run was not great and we left the track for the hotel soaked, cold and a little disapointed as TQ should have been made in rounds 1 & 2.
(click to enlarge)
It was still raining the next day and as such the track and pits were flooded. The cars had done well during qualifying, so it was decided by the organisers to cancel the finals and take the points for the championship on qualifying only. We then found that Jon had placed 2nd overall!!! which was nice!! The result was fair with all of the championship rivals placed in high positions.
1 Neil Cragg 2 Jon Hazlewood XRAY XB8 EC
3 David Crompton
4 Dave Bailey
5 Paul Bradby
6 Adrian Svensson
7 Graham Alsop
8 Jamie Booth
9 Kevin Brunsden
10 Simon Willetts
11 Darren Cole
12 Stewart Wilcox
13 Karl Jackson 14 Brennan Ralls XRAY XB8 EC
The next round is at David Crompton home track, where many changes have taken place for 2007. We hope for kinder weather at the next race, but it always rains up north??
