Rollercoaster, Baskerville March 1-2

A HUGE weekend.... and for me an up and down weekend (hence the title!!). Once again things started out bad, got better, then worse, then better. While backing the car out the garage Saturday morning, I had the door open to get out again to close the roller door and I hit the carport. Panic set in and I had to drive to the track with the door roped up cause it wouldn't close. The next hour or so was spent fixing it so it would. Bad start.
Qualifying was better, much better even though we still are having a miss and cutting out problem. We thought it was the battery kill switch playing up again so we used a rubber band to hold it open a little more. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I was 2nd fastest with a 61.27. Missed pole by a bee's you know what!! Pole time was 61.26.
Race 1 was fun but I had a bad start and fell back to 4th and battled hard to move up but had to settle for 4th.
Race 2 I got a better start, made up one position off the line and made it to 2nd a lap or so later. Came 2nd by 1.1 sec and set the fastest lap of 61.44. That was Saturday.
On to Sunday and Race 3 I finished 2nd again on the road but the winner got a minute penalty for going under the min lap time allowed (which is 61 secs). So unbeknowst to me at the time I can proudly say it was my first outright race win (i have won a handicap event and a couple of fun club day races) It feels good, but not as good as it would of been taking the checked flag.

Now, this is where things get messy. I was on pole for the final. It was going to be a close finish as to who would win overall for the day. Since all the Targa class cars were running together, I was on grid 6 (5 Targa A cars in front of me) which meant instead of being on the inside for turn 1 I was on the outside. Into turn one I got hit and went off the track and lost about 8 spots on the road. I pasted 4 cars within a lap and a half and was back up to 4th. That's as far as I could get. The car started overheating (again!!) and sounding off even though I hadnt lost any power. Get back to the pits and the car is smoking badly and there is oil all over the motor, which was from the oil catch can. But the smoke was coming out the exhaust. It is either turbo seals or a piston ring failure. I tried driving home, but I was leaving a trail of oil and a 100 metre smoke screen so I pulled over and got a tow home. Lucky we didnt lose the motor (again!!) So now its to pull the turbo off and see what the problems and damage are. Hopefully not a lot.

So with a 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 2nd and a 4th I finished 3rd overall and received my first trophy. I wanted to say a few words but emotion got the better of me and only managed to thank dad.

Apart from my pain and joy, it was a great 2 days. Thanks goes to the people that have helped me, David Clifford Photography, Benson Motorsport, Caable Mate, W D Bryan Joiner, Dee Jay signs (for the late work) and mostly to my father, whom without his help I would be doing this. And a big thank you to the Hobart Sporting Car Club and all involved.

Race 3 my first win.