With just two races left for Miss Daisy to conquer the MGCC PBIC (A), it was always going to be a tall order at Snetterton, particularly as 29 other competitors had entered, to include Mr Piggott, who somehow got there on time, despite his resident gig on Friday night with Jonathan Ross. If you don’t believe me, he’s the one in the middle.

Being a lady of leisure, Miss Daisy is never too keen on early rises. Scrutineering at the unearthly hour of 9.00 a.m. proved to be too much of a demand with a triumphant fail, although this was entirely due to man handling and rather overzealous inspection of periphery items such as emergency cut off switches and the like. Our protests that we never went fast enough to use such emergency measures were ignored and with just 10 minutes to go to qualifying, the only ticket that Miss Daisy looked like securing was for parking. However, when in the Fenlands, it is always best to ask for local advice (particularly when there are people on hand to translate) and we are indebted to Mr Patrick Fenn for the supply of a replacement pull cord which was fitted by this knight in shining armour, ably assisted by Jonesey Senior and Team Neaves Racing.

Taking up our customary last place in the holding area, to be greeted by a marshall’s comment “I remember when that car was good!”, qualifying went well. Well when we say it went well, we got round. That was until, still protesting at having being pulled into action before mid-day, Miss Daisy threw another tantrum by illuminating the one warning light that still works.  We cut short qualifying just before we completed our “hot” (for that read warmish) lap, and retreated to the paddock in order that we could be ready to ambush Mr Fenn again when he had completed his qualifying and before he could relocate to another part of the paddock. 

The source of the problem seemed to be loss of oil (which seemed surprising considering we had only put some in a few months ago) but inspector Fenn, through a process of elimination concluded it could be an oil sensor switch, having explained to us what an oil sensor switch was and where it might be located.  Using his network of local contacts, Mr Fenn despatched us to a shed in deepest Norfolk where for the princely sum of £4.98 the appropriate part was obtained. Once fitted, Daisy was back in business and ready to take up her obligatory position of second last on the grid. Still, it all adds variety doesn’t it?

Prior to the race, there had been much talk about Miss Daisy’s health check and as soon as the lights went out, all 140 horse brake power were unleashed as we rapidly made our way past slower starters. Indeed, first place seemed within reach, save for the fact that we didn’t get past the first bend. The road to Riches Corner was certainly not paved with gold for us. We got into a “slight” spin, and practically ended up back in the paddock, such was Miss Daisy’s desire not to go racing.

Fortunately, we were able to rejoin and as we turned into Sear Corner, the pack, to include Michael Piggott, who had somehow overcome his hysterical laughter, was reaching the Esses.  We set off in pursuit and after two laps had risen from 30th place (last) to 29th place.  On lap 5 we finally passed Mr Piggott through gritting our teeth and closing our eyes. With just 27 cars to overtake before victory was assured, Miss Daisy decided that this would be the ideal opportunity to develop an intermittent misfire (it would have been nice if she had done this on the rolling road) and within a lap, Mr P had retrieved his place and it was all we could do to secure a finish in 28th position.

Knowing that the full resources of the team would be available for the second race on Sunday, we remained quietly confident that our problems would be overcome as we drowned our sorrows in the comfort of Holly’s Restaurant.

There is a saying in Snetterton (in fact there are many but this is not the forum for them) that if you can see the church spire from the track, it is about to rain. If you cannot see the spire, it is raining. We did not even see the church for the next 24 hours. Team Miss Daisy returned the following morning (complete with our very fetching waterproofs) and spent an hour switching to our wet weather Perelli Ditch Finder Cross Plys. We were totally prepared for our wet weather race but sadly the monsoon conditions were too much for some of the more fragile cars and it was decided that there would be no further racing despite the fact we had now got both our windscreen wipers working. As a result, the season, the relay race and our championship hopes were washed away, leaving us with no option but to retire to the local pub, The Hungry Horski in nearby Theftfordski.

So, it’s congratulations and a high six, as the locals would say, to Group A winner, James Walpole. James finished so far ahead of us in most races, we didn’t even know he was competing in the same series. Likewise, we tip our hat to overall champion David Brooke who beat the tricologically challenged James by a hairsbreadth .

Whilst competing at Snetterton, the selection of music on the in-car 8 track included:

1. I should’a done something with my life – Matisse and Carrots
2. Lettuce cheer the weary traveller – John W Work
3. A hard rain’s a-gonna fall - Bob Dylan
4. Stranger in a Strange Land - Iron Maiden

Race Results

Fastest Lap: Simon Cripps 1:25:007, 82.66 mph

Class A Results

Fastest Lap: James Walpole

Download:
Snetterton Race Booklet

Championship Standings

Class A Standings

Videos on YouTube

Author: montegoracing Author: burchillracing Author: burchillracing

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