Not one Tracksport race has gone by this year where I haven’t made a mistake or had some issue or another. Compared to Roadsports, where I had a lot of luck, this year has been tough.

I headed to Silverstone knowing that I had gone well there in the past and had strong hopes to take home some silverware. It would have been a nice end to a difficult season.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to fulfil that ambition – missing out by 1000’th of a second in race 2… however, the season ended on a high note and with a car that felt back on song after a mid season slump.

I started race 1 from 6th on a very close grid and I was able to continue the starting form of Oulton Park, moving into 4th and keeping it near the front over the beginning period of the race.

I then got shuffled backwards a touch, into the clutches of Cedric Bloch, Mike Evans and Max Robinson. Cedric and Mike tend to race moment to moment, rather than looking at the bigger picture. It leads to some opportunistic passes in unusual places but sadly, is not conducive to keeping pace with the front runners.

I eventually broke free of this tussle and the majority of the rest of my race was spent trying to close down on the battle for 3rd place. At one point, I didn’t think I would make it, but with a couple of laps to go, I managed to breach the gap and got to play with the group. I didn’t have enough time to make up spaces though and so I ended up 7th but happy enough with the result.

Race 2 began with a storming start. 7th to 2nd place! I love damp and greasy conditions and generally show good pace when everything gets slippy. But that start was probably my best ever. Early doors I also had great pace but unfortunately, got caught out by Christian being a touch cautious into Stowe. With locked fronts, a horrid closing speed and a touch of luck, I avoided Christian but ended up in the gravel. Not stuck though!

I rejoined in about 14th place and settled in for a long fight back. In the tricky conditions, I was fast. It was drying all the time but remained tricky to the end. I went into the last lap in a strong 3rd place but I completely missed the last lap board.

I didn’t defend a last lap dive-bomb from Richard Ainscough and that dropped me to 5th going onto Hanger Straight.. Going into the last few corners I managed to get past Christian once more and was alongside Richard going over the line. Sadly, I lost out by 1000th of a second. Had I known it was the last lap…. who knows!

Great fun racing. Great to be back up to speed. Good way to end the season.