A Chance of
a Lifetime.
I
t’s that time of the year again as
we approach the business end of
the season. September onwards
is such a busy time to be a stock
car driver and often your season is
made or broken in that month. The
biggest event in the stock car
calendar takes place at the Norfolk
Arena, Kings Lynn on September
21st - and Yes, of course I am
referring to the BriSCA F1 World
Final.
I’m really looking forward to the big
race this year. I’ll be starting on the
second row, inside, with current
World Champion Lee Fairhurst #1 in
front of me. Outside front row is Ryan
Harrison #197 and next to me on row
two is Tom Harris #84. Already,
before you even get onto rows four
and five, you have the prospect of a
blinding race. The foreign entrants
will line up on row three with Dan
Johnson #4 and Mick Sworder #150
lining up on row four. Craig Finnikin
#55 and Mark Gilbank #21 complete
row five. You could predict that
anyone of these drivers would win.
They are all quick on shale and have
gained excellent experience at Kings
Lynn and in a big race situation.
Further down the grid there are yet
more quality drivers with the potential
to come through and take the
chequered flag. It really is a close
race to call and I’m sure, if you spoke
to fans, there would be several
different drivers predicted as the
winner.
My semi-final was a good
race for me. When
I first
arrived, half of the Sheffield shale
oval was underwater. If I’m honest, I
didn’t even think the race would go
ahead because it was that bad.
Luckily however, the track staff and
Frankie Wainman SNR were on hand
to save the day. The grid was as
tough as I can ever remember. In my
opinion , there was a potential winner
from front row all the way back to row
six, therefore making a top five finish
a big achievement for me on the day.
As the green flag dropped, I
meandered through the first few laps’
worth of carnage to find myself in
second place. I was clearly very
happy to be there but I also knew
there would be a lot of fast
aggressive drivers behind me - ready
to poke me into the infamous
Sheffield fence given the chance.
When the yellow flags came out on
lap five, my goal at that point was to
get away from the pack as quickly as
possible. I was in second place with
Ryan Harrison #197 in front of me
and I knew Ryan was quick. I made
the conscious decision to stick as
close as I could to the #197 car for
the next 10 laps but not to get into a
battle with him.
For me it was important not to lose
second place and I knew me and
Ryan were quick enough to get away
if we raced with ea