So, Rounds 12 & 13 of the Nippon took place at Mallory Park on Sunday and the little Civic Orange once again made an appearance. As always the only modifications done between races (apart from the care, love and attention from Richy) was some spit and polish. The tyres however were a bit shot so Drmikey kindly leant me 2 of his part worn ones which got me out of a pickle, only to find out later he had sabotaged them with some nails and small fire crackers which were controlled by a small remote he had taped to the side of his crash helmet......friends hey

After the usual pre-race Beers, Burgers, farting and usual Male bonding, it was Sunday and time for Qualifying.
There was no Dixon this time but instead we had a new DC2 over from Ireland to try the Nippon and this mixed with 6 other Hondas meant it would be great for the spectators, and even better for us Drivers.


Qualifying.............

I managed to get out 1st for Qualifying but a crash on the 2nd lap meant the red flag came out and we came back into the pits which landed me further back down the line. Even so, with 20 minutes track time, I still managed to find space to put in 2 or 3 hot laps, then trundle around to cool the car down before putting in another few laps. My 19th and final lap was my best putting me 4th on the grid and 1st in GT250, with the J's racing teg from Ireland (Barry Rabbit) right behind me and Drmikey in 6th less than half a second behind. With less than a second seperating 6 or 7 cars it was going to a close battle, and the extended 20 minute race meant it wasnt going to be easy.


Race 1.....................


I had a great start but not as good as Vaughan in the Scooby who was quickly up the inside. I went slightly wide into Gerrads which unsettled the car slightly and the J's Teg was quicky passed so I tucked in behind in the hope to regain my place going into the esses. This wasnt the case as Barry could obviously pedal the Teg so I concentrated on staying with Vaughan and watching the pack closing in from behind. I could see that behind me was Anthony in the Black EP3 (GT300), Andy in the crazy Swift (Super GT) and Drmikey in the K20 Civic (GT250) so my aim was to keep 2 cars between me and Mike so GT250 would be in the bag. Having not raced Anthony before, I didnt think he would be a problem for me, but 2 laps later he was sat on my bumper and I found myself defending every corner and only just staying ahead. It wasnt long before some late braking meant he was up the outside going into the esses and not wanting to trade paint, he was through and teaching me a lesson or 2 in defensive driving. I was hoping that I could relax a little but looking in my mirrors destroyed that thought as Andy was now sitting on my bumper and pushing me hard in the hope I would make a mistake. I held him off the 3 or 4 laps but the Civic was starting to suffer from understeer and the tyres were starting to feel really bad. Because of this Gerrards was proving to be my downfall as I just couldnt keep the power down and it wasnt long before Andy sailed passed on the outside at over 90mph.
With Andy passed I looked in my Mirror only to find Mike now sat on my bumper and waiting for his moment to pass. Had this been a normnal 15 minute race it would of been all over by now but it wasnt and I was being made to fight hard for my position. The next 2 laps were spent with Mike either on my bumper or side by side with me but I made sure I had the right line for every corner and just tried to make his life as hard as possible. The back markers played a huge part throughout and on the last lap I squeezed through several cars going into the Esses which gave me a slight lead on Mike and thankfully as I rounded the downhill left hander onto the pit straight the Flag came down and it was all over................6th Overall and 1st in GT250, with Mike tkaing 2nd in class and lee Bennet Neal taking 3rd in his DC2.

Had it been another lap longer I think Mike would have passed me for sure so race 2 was going to be just as bloody hard. Engine problems for both Anthony and Andy meant they didnt start race 2 so me and Mike were going to have a space just for us......so the battle was on!



Race 2............................

On the green flag lap the tyres still felt a bit crap and the small vibrations I felt at the end of race 1 where still there, but I put this down to rubber picked up on the cool down lap so put it to the back of my mind.

Another great start but Barry in the DC2 was off and the speed he carried through Gerrads on cold tyres was just crazy and he was 6-7 car lengths in front after just one corner. Mike was hot on my heels and as hard as I tried I couldnt hold him off. The Civic just didnt feel right and the vibrations through the steering made me think there was something wrong with the tyres that we had missed inbetween the races. A big lockup spotted by Mikes in-car camera didnt help matters and a lap later he was passed. I thought this would be the time to try and push him into a mistake but the understeer out of the hairpin meant he was off and out of reach. I tried for a further lap to make up ground but the noises from the tyres meant I had to make a decision. Either keep pushing but risk a blow out and going off at over 100mph, or crawl round and take 3rd in class and an undamaged car. I went for option 2 and trundled round for a grueling 15 minutes being lapped time after time by everyman and his dog. Although it didnt look very good from the outside, I still finished the race, got a trophy and scord points in our non-championship championship type thing.
Mike rightfully took his 1st class win of the season and a well deserved one at that so hats off to him, and Lee Bennet Neal taking 2nd place so a great day for the Hondas in GT250
Once back in the paddock it was clear what the problem had been, but the tyres had seen plenty of use so only myself to blame for this really........




So there we have it, another 2 finishes and some great results from the Performance Autoworks team yet again so all in all a very successfull weekend

Was great to see and meet a load of Honda peeps from the various forums and the support on the day was second to none.......thanks guys

Huge thanks to Richy at PAW for his usual high standard of race support, bad jokes and highly amusing man farts at 3am which make the weekends unforgettable

And as always a Big thanks to my other sponsors who have been a great help throughout 2009...................


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Thanks for reading


Kris!



Heres a few pics courtesy of Lance Whittenburg...............

awesome man i love reading these posts.

so what spec is the civic then seems bloody quick for a little thing. gt250? is that the max amount of power it can have?

cheers

well done

frank

Nice one and good call on the tyres

Shame i couldn't be there, but i really had to spend the time on my car otherwise i'd of shown up

Is that the end of the Nippon cup for this year or is there one more round?


PS - had to edit your grammar, sorry, it was bugging me