Gavin left frustrated at the Hot-Rod European Championship
Murray & Meede Motorsport took the long journey north into Scotland to compete in the European Championship at Lochgelly Raceway. Lochgelly is a fantastic venue with great facilities with a unique track and it was the track that turned out to be Gavin's main rival over the weekend.
The team arrived early and took the advantage of free practice on the Friday. Lochgelly is a track that Gavin has only competed at once in the past so it was an opportunity to re-familiarise himself with the track. Its a track unlike many other tracks that are on the National Hot Rod calender with 2 very different bends. Turns one and two are fast and very flowing where as turns three and four are tighter and slower. Many tweaks to the set-up were made during the practice session and we finished up where we thought we needed to be in readiness for the racing on Saturday.
As with most championships, the qualifying heats were drawn out of the hat and due to the large field of cars it was decided to run the 2/3rds format meaning each driver would race in 2 out of 3 qualifying heats. Gavins grid slot was B5 so he started 10th in heat one and 15th in heat 2.
Lochgelly is a narrow track and over taking round the outside is tricky. Gavin finished his heats in 8th and 9th. Ongoing adjustments were being made throughout the night in the search of a better balanced race car but we were struggling to find the pace we have been used to. Two average finishes in the heats put Gavin 11th on the grid for the European Championship and by now struggling with the set-up only managed to bag a 9th place finish.
Sunday was a new day and another chance to have a crack at another championship. This time is was the Scottish Open Championship. The team had carried out a major transmission change over night in an attempt to lower Gavin's lap times. As with Saturdays races the grids were drawn at random and Gavin would line up 22nd in heat 1 and 3rd in heat 3. It was a bit too little to late with the gear change as Gavin had used up the best of his tyres on Saturday trying to over drive the #95 machine. Gavin managed an 11th and 4th in his heats respectively The Scottish Open Championship saw Gavin line up 10th and dropping back in the early stages just had nothing left to give lapping the track on tyres with no life left in them. This resulted in Gavin pulling off the circuit and recording a DNF.
The team will learn from the experience and come back fighting for the European Championship next year.
