The Brands weekend held so much promise, and it’s that reason that makes another poor performing weekend such a pain and disappointment.

With the new engine, I really hoped I’d cracked the power issues I’ve been seeing this year. However, that wasn’t to be. Things didn’t get off to a good start with an oil leak on Thursday evening that took all of Friday testing to get fully identified and sorted.

Come qualification, I ended up 15th. Granted, the top 16 were all covered by 0.5s. However, I could tell that the car wasn’t pulling as well as others around me and 15th is my worst qualification ever… by a long way!

Race 1 was in 30 degree heat. And, unfortunately, I had to pull out before the end due to a hot engine and a burning foot. I wasn’t enjoying the race as I was just falling backwards with a lack of power and so the pain in my right foot and left knee from the temperatures in the cockpit were enough to tip me into the pits and out of the race. Others ended the race with heat blisters and burns to their feet, which goes to show just how hot it gets in the footwell.

I therefore started race 2 from the back of the pack. I wanted to get through the pack fast to see if I could latch on to the tail of the front group but sadly, a botched start and a few delayed passes meant there was just too much of a gap by the time I got through the mid field.

I’ve only posted up the beginning part of the second race. It’s all I can bring myself to post. The only other time I haven’t posted full coverage from a weekend is Rockingham in my Academy year, where I threw away my championship chances into the turn 1 tyre wall.

I’m not quite at that low ebb at the moment, but I’m running out of places to go when searching for the missing car performance. I’m driving as hard as ever – but I just can’t keep up in a straight line.

Sad days.