After going along to the Snetterton Sprint event earlier in the year to get a feel for what to expect, I wanted to also get to a Race event as well to see if there were any particular differences. I also wanted to watch the racing as a fan!

It was also a great opportunity to meet up with a fellow 2013 Caterham Academy sign up Steve Grubb (Grubby – http://www.sevenracing.co.uk/) to have a natter, get excited and  more importantly, get a lift to the track in his utterly bonkers Caterham.

This very unassuming lime green car looks like any other Caterham of course! Except this one is pretty much an R500 and is utterly, utterly brilliant. It goes so fast, my ears popped from the pressure change in the cockpit!

One thing’s for sure, Grubby will have to get used to less power in the Academy car!

At the track, we met up with a couple of other 2013 participants. Tom (another Tom!), who I’ve not met before, and Pete, who I briefly met at the Caterham Open Day over summer. Meeting other entrants makes everything even more real and also hints that things are slowly getting closer!

There really wasn’t any significant difference to the event setup, apart from the obvious scheduling differences and the change in everyones numbers – from their sprint numbers to their race numbers.

There were more cars queued up for Caterham to issue fixes and repairs as well through the day. Some more serious than others.

So, after initial sign on and scrpteneering, there was a driver briefing, qualification and then the races. Series co-ordinator Jenny keeping everyone under control as much as is humanly possible.

The racing was definitely cleaner than the Donnington event, with some really good close battles taking place through the field.

There were a few bumps and scrapes along the way – with some lost wings and lost exhausts – there were also a couple of mechanicals for people.

When you watch motorsport, all these things are completely par for the course, but when you have to start paying to put things back together, everything becomes far more poignant!

I’m glad I went along to see the setup and meet a few more people. I think that will be the last thing I attend now – up to the first seminar day for the 2013 group! I’ll obviously be keeping a close eye on things though :)

Here’s a great race through the field by Danny Killeen (Group 2, No.7) after his car was found to be under-weight in qualifying.