So, last week was the last meeting of the season. Like the September meeting, this was a double header again so a very busy day was in the offing.
For the first heat of the morning round, some low cloud had brought some light rain so I'd taken it pretty easy in the warm up. I (terrifyingly) drew pole for this one... When we got underway I mostly tippy-toed my way back through the field as the track was in greasy mode and it was very treacherous. With a handful of laps to go Murray Ford exacted revenge on me for the September crash which lost him a wheel by steaming into the side of me through McIntyres/Scotsman - totally accidental as he'd tried a move and just understeered wide into me. We banged wheels and both spun, me ending up in the gravel and Murray broadside on the track. We both got going again but I finished last having crawled to the finish in case of damage.
The second heat was mostly me checking that the car was ok (we'd had a look to check the rear half-shaft was ok and so on) and there were no heroics to speak of. Car felt fine though so I was ready for the final, which I was on pole for again!
The final wasn't my finest hour. I was down at the back from the fourth lap onwards and I just drifted backwards, well over a second a lap slower than the next cars. As Dave Newsham had taken off at the start of the race he had an easy run and set ten quick laps, lapping me on the last lap which gave me a kick in the head a bit to pick it up in the afternoon.
The first heat of the afternoon round wasn't anything much to write home about, though I did have a fun battle to the end with Sandford Imrie and Murray, actually managing what was apparently (I was told from trackside) a grandstand overtaking manouver on Murray at the hairpin. Turned out he had a few issues with his steering and so on but I claim the victory. :p Most important, in this race the track was finally bone-dry and so the line was fully available for quick laps. I finally got my 64 second lap in this race with a best of 64.624!
The second heat was fairly uneventful, after ending up towards the back again I had another fight with Murray, passing him before being repassed myself then we both got by Chris Hynds when he spun late on.
The final was the best race of the year by far as agreed by almost everyone. The entire field was involved in some sort of battle and the lead fight towards the end was apparently breathtaking (I'll have to wait for the Motors TV coverage to see it!)
For my own part, I was involved in a fantastic fight with five or six other cars for most of the race but I'll come to that after mentioning the start... I had finished lowest of the "regular" runners in the the first two heats so was on pole again alongside Mark Spiers who was back after a while away. Indeed, the really quick guys were quite far back. So when the lights went out to signal the start, I just thought "Last race to make an impression" and utterly went for it. Sure enough, I managed to get the inside line into Duffus and led down the hill! Mark jinked out to the right and got me into McIntyres but I floored it as best I could on the line and managed to get through the chicane (I think) in second - apparently the circuit commentator thought this was a really bizarre turn of events... By memory I think Jason Ogg got me into Clark with Ben Mason and Ali Gauld on the run down to and through the hairpin with Rory Bryant getting by on the pit straight but I finished the lap in 6th. Lost my nerve slightly on the next lap and lost a few spots to cross the line in 14th, followed by 16th the next time by. By this time the big fight I mentioned was underway - Chris Hynds and James Willis ahead of me, Frank Ogg, Scott Hynds, Rich Crozier, Imrie and Ford behind me. Hynds and Willis collided with James going off and I was slightly held up behind Chris as he blocked the line with his slightly damaged car, losing a handful of places myself. The group fought like tigers for the next few laps and although I ended up at the back of the bunch, it was amazing fun all the way.
Results
So it was a fantastic day's racing. Somewhat bizarrely it was probably the worst set of results I've had, despite being a good bit quicker! Think it shows the quality of the field in the series... After the presentations of race and Championship awards, Gordon Mann, Rory and myself all stepped forward to present Aly with a bottle of whisky with the label I've attached a picture of below to say thanks for the scholarship. Gordon had also written some comedy Burns-style poetry!
I'll write some final thoughts on my year here later, along with early predictions of what I may be doing next season!
