4th pace for Gavin's Return to Aldershot
Saturday 14th May marked Gavin's return to Aldershot Raceway for the first time in 4 years and also the penultimate round in the 2016/17 World Qualifying Series.
The team had worked hard on the #95 charger after the previous meeting at Hednesford to restore some balance in the setup and it appeared to pay off.
Aldershot is the shortest track on the National Hot Rod calender. Its a narrow track which produces very little overtaking opportunities and often results in lots of accidents. Fortunately we finished the meeting in good shape and picked up a good haul of points along the way, however the team did have to deal with a couple of mechanical gremlins.
Due to the size of the track the races were split into 3 heats of 2/3rds cars, meaning Gavin started 14th. A fairly uneventful race for Gavin, picking off a few places along the way and crossing the line 9th.
The team done their usual checks between the races before sending Gavin on his way to the grid for race 2. Disaster struck and the #95 machine would not fire up. It was soon diagnosed as a fault with the starter motor and we organised a bump start to get Gavin going. Another race where Gavin kept his nose clean and bought the car home in 9th place.
Upon returning to the pits it became apparent that that we had developed an issue with the left rear wheel. The driveshaft was leaking oil onto the tyre and affecting the handling. A sterling effort by the team saw the axle get stripped down, new seals installed and re-assembled all in super quick time ready for the final.
Gavin got another bump start to get going for the final and lined up on the grid 15th. After getting off to a flying start it was a chaotic race with Gavin making up a few positions and also a few drivers dropping out. A mid race caution amongst the drama surprised the team when Gavin lined up 4th for the restart. The order remained the same for the top 5 over the final 10 laps where Gavin had a couple of moves against 3rd place but couldn’t make anything stick, eventually rounding out the day with a 4th place finish.
The team are now looking forward to the final world qualifying round on Saturday 20th May at Northampton International Raceway. The points standings see Gavin sitting 5th however after the dropped rounds which are to be deducted after the weekend, Gavin is lying 3rd.
