Race Report: Pembrey 8/9 October 2022
Wow, if this had been a Boxing match it would have been a rumble in the jungle. Instead, we left blooded and bruised from the beautiful Western delights of Pembrey this weekend just gone where we saw, and experienced, our ‘knock out weekend’ by way of red flags, restarts, panel damage and up-close racing (actually a bit too up-close’).
John’s favourite number this season tends to be ‘3’. We’re not sure why but he likes to qualify there and for the first race, this is where John once again started. But, the 2 drivers in front of John couldn’t be under-estimated and great battles ensued after an early red flag and restart, eventually seeing John finish where he started, in 3rd, but, in one piece.
John came out of the blocks and qualified 2nd fastest in for race 2, but this time making up a place to finish on the top step of the podium. John tells us he likes the view from there.
Race 3 was problematic generally and after 2 stoppages, the race is cancelled. But there was plenty to repair back in the garage, with the trusty welder out to repair both the manifold and the front bumper after a huge hit knocked John off the track.
Race 4 – and John started from towards the back of the grid but…he finished 4th!
Race 5 saw yet another red flag and another restart but a good 2nd place podium from the middle of the pack left John happy and the team satisfied.
Race 3 was then re-run but in many ways we now wish they had never restarted. John was forced off track early in the race and struggled to make the pace up from the back of the grid. During the last lap, another competitor locked up and lost control, coming back on track right in front of John. This left John pretty shook up but thankfully only superficial truck damage, yet again. This did however cause another red flag and saw the end of the race, but John did manage to limp home for the finish at least.
With panel damage, bumper damage, electrical wiring damage and manifold damage, we have a busy few weeks for the last round at Brands Hatch in a little over 3 weeks. Sound familiar?
John is currently sitting 3rd in the championship after this event. We’re not sure if he can make up that many points for the championship, but one thing we can guarantee, is that he won’t make it easy for the front runners…
Thanks as always to our loyal sponsors and extremely hard working team.