Thruxton - Car Mats UK Race Car

Car Mats UK Race Car Season Summary - Part 2

Another hot day greeted the competitors of the CSCC Tin Tops when they visited Thruxton in August. This is the fastest circuit in the UK and is very hard on tyres and drivers alike. Andrew qualified in 5th again after a hair raising spin at Church corner, which flat spotted his front tyres, but was aiming for the podium finish in Class A. 

The pack left the line and immediately were jostling for position with Andrew dropping into 5th place. from that frantic start came the first incident of the day as Peter Parkin in his Peugeot 306 went off and the safety car was deployed so he and his car could be recovered. 

On the restart, an over anxious Tom Mensley jumped the start from behind Andrew and lept into 3rd place. Andrew picked up the pace immediately and managed to snatch 4th from Colin Simpson in the Peugeot 206. As the pack rounded Church corner, Andrew got a run on Mensley and dragged past him into 3rd position overall. Then, as Russel Hird came into the pits for his Pit Stop, Andrew took over 2nd position! After a few laps it was the Hondas turn to come into the pits for the compulsory stop which happened to be at the same time as the Chase Racing Clio that lead the race. After a quick pitstop, Andrew and the Honda emerged from the pits in 1st place as the Clio had been delayed due to not re starting immediately. Andrew settled into the lead of the race but was being caught by the quicker cars following their pit stops. A combination of nerves, a very hot day and by this time, very worn tyres following the qualifying incident, Andrew had another huge spin exiting Church corner at over 100mph. This dropped him down the order, but Andrew managed to regain control and pressed on regardless. 

A few laps later and under pressure from a similar Honda, the Carmats-UK car succumbed to another slide coming out of Church and took to the grass at high speed. Andrew fought for control and eventually coaxed the Honda back onto the circuit, but dropped down the order. By the end, the Honda was back into 7th position but was missing its front spoiler and the front bumper was also hanging off the car. 

 See the footage for all the action: