The Slough track just west of London hosted the 2003 Euros, and once again the organisers had prepared the track into top condition. The Xray team like all the others had raced there a few weeks back at the Apex GP, so all knew what to expect. After taking the win at Round 6, Jon Hazlewood was confidant at this track as over the past few years he had won the last 4 from 5 nationals at the venue. Practice ran well with the track starting to grove up. We started by having the same set up from round 6. Again the XB8 jumped well, had good grip, but had a little bit of understeer coming out of fast corners. A slight change was made to the rear toe-in help cure the understeer, together with understanding that the track would get gripper.
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Round 1 went very well with Jon setting a good time of 8 laps in 24 seconds, although one mistake did loose 5 seconds during the run. This time was actually faster than any previous time on this current track layout, so we knew it was going to take some beating. No one got closer than a 29, so Jon took the round win. Going into round 2, we now knew Jon had the upper hand and a clear run would secure pole position for the main final. That was exactly what happened and the result was an unbeatable 8 laps in 21. I was really pleased with the car and as such had made no more changes after practice. For the final qualifying round we had the luxury of being able to test a harder wearing tyre. The tyre was more consistent and again Jon made TQ in the round to dominate the qualifying event.
For the main final, the car was carefully checked with the shocks and rear diff re oiled and the clutch maintained. The 30 minute final was going to be tough on the cars so everything had to be prefect, especially as world championship places where to be decided on the outcome of this final race. Jon led from the start, but coming over the last combination jumps, the car got sideways and off line. Jon recovered to be 3rd after lap one and quickly got passed into 2nd place. 2 laps later the leader made an error allowing Jon into the lead. Tommy Chung was now in a close 2nd and applied some pressure for about 5 minutes. Jon was patient and before long Tommy dropped back after a mistake. From there onwards Jon held a 10 second lead for most of the race with only Dave Crompton getting close due to off set fuel stops. It was a controlled race by Jon and his XB8, which finished off another good end to the year. Jon finished up 2nd overall in the UK national championship, recording 3 national A final wins (more than any other racer) and one TQ.
Final results of round 7: 1. Jon Hazlewood XRAY XB8EC
2. David Crompton
3. Elliott Boots
4. Graham Alsop
5. Bruce Thompson
6. Tommy Chung
7. Sam Taylor
8. Dave Bailey
9. John Holmes
10.Karl Jackson
UK National Championship Results
1. Neil Cragg 2. Jon Hazlewood XRAY XB8EC UK Vice-Champion
3. David Crompton
