It’s been a busy couple of weeks of motorsport. I didn’t plan to compete in this year’s Winton 6-Hour, but Bruno convinced me to enter in one of the Maranello Pur Sang customer teams. At the last minute I got switched into an experienced team ‘Maschi di Alfa’ to replace a driver who could not compete. These guys were taking it seriously, and were quite experienced at the relay having won it in the past.
I went out in the morning for my planned stint – 90 minutes behind the wheel. I had a mixed bag – a few bonus laps and a few penalty laps, in amongst two safety car periods. Not so bad, but nothing to be proud of. I was basically ready to pack up my car just after lunch and watch my team complete the rest of the event, and then one of my team-mates spun an engine bearing and another was having electrical issues. Quick refuel and back on stand-by to do another session in the afternoon. Ended up doing another 40 minutes, straight out into another safety car session as the safety crew recovered a burning (!) sports car. I got a couple more bonuses and breaks in that final session. It was quite a thrill to cross over the finish line at the end of what is a massive endurance event for club level cars. Going back over our hand-recorded timing, we weren’t excited and were all thinking we’d be mid-field at best when the official results were announced.
