Today is the day where I get to see the times that everyone else is doing around the infamously fast Snetterton. We had three 45 minute sessions throughout the day to do as much as we could to get the car ready for the race on Saturday.
We went out in the first session and this one was really to get back to the feel of Snetterton and get back up to the times we should have been at. In the second session we played around with the suspension and tire pressures until we were happy with our times. And then in the third session it was all about just pushing harder and going faster which of course I managed to do.
Here we were again, Race day for the second time in the season and I was feeling in the mood for another good finish and when I asked the car so was she.
I went out in free practice and I can't really remember where I came I just remember that it was in the top five where I aimed for and I was happy enough with that as I started fifth at Donnington and still finished second in the race.
Qualifying, this was where I started to feel the pressure on my shoulders from everyone as seen as I had all my family there, touring car drivers watching me and I also had the press from Performance Tuner snapping me all day long, so I couldn't make an idiot of myself now. We all lined up in the assembly area waiting to go out onto the circuit.
When the barrier was lifted we all roared out onto the circuit ready for 15 minutes of hard pushing after the second lap I was on pole and remained on pole for three laps, when I next came round I was on third and I wasn't happy so I pushed harder and regained pole position and held it for two laps and on the last lap the pit board said P3 and that was it, my starting position confirmed.
Here we are again back on the grid. Once all the cars had lined up in their starting positions the green flag was waved and we were off on our green flag lap which allowed us to get heat into everything and get to feel the track. We got back to the grid and when we were all back in position the 5 second board was raised and all the engines started revving and the lights were on and we're off.
I got a good start and got along side the two front guys and almost got second but we all fell into single file when we got to the first corner and cement was blown up into the sky where oil had been dropped not allowing us to use the outside of the corner. I managed to hang on to third for a few laps and then I ran wide at Russell chicane which allowed another competitor to slip down the side which put me back in fourth place. The next lap I was right behind 3rd place and sitting in his slipstream for a few laps which meant my engine couldn't get any air which resulted in my temperature going up to 128 degrees which slowed me down a lot.
I lost about 4 seconds of the front 3 but at least my engine was getting air and cooling down, once the temperature had dropped I was faster than ever and caught up with the pack. On this lap the leader was black flagged for corner cutting which automatically put me in third place, but I still wasn't happy with that and continued to push harder. This was it all or nothing now five corners to go and I had to drive them perfectly if I wanted second place. With two corners to go I managed to just get the front wheels of my car along with the back of second place and into the final chicane on the final lap I managed to shoot down the inside out of the corner and across the line to another second place.
After the race we celebrated and I carried on with the interview with the press and then when we eventually left the circuit I slept all the way home.