Qualifying

With new uprated brakes for the Pembrey event Gary was feeling confident that the car would perform well. 30 degrees and the hottest day of the year was going to be difficult to overcome, but the relatively low grid for the event meant we Gary found plenty of space and was able to find the limits of the new brakes at the hairpin, giving 3rd place for the first race.

Race 1

Making a fantastic start from 3rd place, Gary chased Ryan Bensley and Adrian Churchill for the first few laps, even managing to get past Ryan briefly, but the car was suffering under steer and gear selection issues, slowing progress and allowing the pack to catch up behind.

Eventually it was damage limitation, trying to stop the ever present Stuart Clarkes Astra VXR from stealing 3rd place, but he eventually got past as Gary struggled to find a gear out of the hairpin.

4th place, just missing out on the podium, we needed to do better for race 2.

It was scorching for race 2, with Gary starting in 4th place, he made a great start, diving into 2nd just behind Churchill into the hairpin. Gary retained 2nd for the following few laps, when the race was stopped after Jordan Witt had a high speed accident o the main straight, damaging the barrier and his BMW 1 series quite badly. Jordan was fine, but he would not get back on for the weekend in the car.

The race was restarted with Gary in 2nd place, but he was unable to out drag Adrian into the hairpin and instead had to concentrate on preventing the pack from grabbing 2nd from him. After a few laps a gap had developed between Gary and Adrian Churchill in front, and the pack behind, with Gary unable to close down on Adrian he was managing to keep the pack at bay to bring the car home in 2nd place.

The car gear selection issues now resolved and under steer improved, things were looking good for race 3.

With the reverse grid based on a draw system to mirror the British Touring Car system, Adrian Churchill selected number 7, meaning Gary would start 6th in the 3rd race.

Another lightning start saw Gary dive around the outside at the hairpin and into 3rd place, tucking in behind the 2 Nissan 370’s. These were going well though, with the gremlins that caused their retirement in the first races now seemingly gone it would be tricky to catch them.

Worse than that was the under steer issues that plagued the car in race 1 had resurfaced, making it very difficult to carry speed through the high speed corners and allowing Stuart Clarke to challenge for 3rd place. Stuart made a move just after the fast right hander on the outer part of the circuit and tucked past Gary, but overshot the corner, giving Gary the place back.

This allowed the ever rapid Adrian Churchill to tuck in behind Gary for 4th place, pressing Gary through the faster corners and getting ever closer.

Eventually Adrian appeared to out brake himself and tapped Gary on the entry to the right hand hairpin, pushing him wide and allowing Clarke and Bensley through to demote Gary from 3rd to 6th in one move. Gary tucked back in just in front of the other Seat leon in the field of Dan Malone and started to regroup t catch the front runners again.

Making good progress, he braked for the first corner hairpin and was accidentally hit from behind from Dan, forcing the bumper fitting into the rear tyre and causing a retirement.

Not a great end to the weekend, but a lot learnt from the car and things certainly moving the right way, so onwards to Caste Combe for that elusive first win!