Back in the driver's seat

SCOTTISH COOPER CUP
www.scottishmotorracingclub.co.uk

ROUND 1 RACE REPORT
Mentally tough race weekend..

Since my crash in September, I didn’t really think it had affected me... Let’s face it, I’ve crashed plenty of times in my race career, picked myself back up, dusted myself off and got back in the car again and again as if nothing had happened… Unfortunately this last one appears to have done something to my subconscious as I now seem to have a bit of a mental block on the approach to Duffus Dip. What happened to the days where I’d fearlessly follow my old teammate and multiple Mini champ Kenny Thirlwall down there flying on two wheels?! 

As disappointed as I am in my loss of pace, I know it won’t be permanent. I won’t let it be. I know I will get over this blip and it’s good to know there’s only one problem so we can put all our focus onto fixing it ASAP… At least I know I’ve still got it everywhere else!

With the above in mind, here is how my day went..

Quali: 9th – Really disappointing for me but at least it’s single figures.

Race 1: Average race start, ended up behind my new teammate/old karting friend Michael Weddell but managed to get past and finish in 8th.

Race 2: Fairly uneventful for me, started 8th, finished 8th… I did however get off to a great start holding it for as long as I could on the outside line in battle side by side with my teammate John Duncan. We raced all the way to the chicane where he just had the legs on me and took the lead out of us two. After that, quite a lonely race really.

Race 3: Good start, was determined to fix my Duffus problems. I found myself in between two packs and as I felt I could’ve caught up and got stuck in with the front pack, Lola decided she was having none of it. The gearbox jumped out of 3rd gear twice in one lap.. After that, I dropped to 9th and it was a case of physically holding the gear lever in place in an attempt to prevent it from jumping back out but this meant I’d lost some pace again and found myself defending against the pack behind. By the end of the race I finished 7th due to an incident between two cars ahead.
 

Onwards and upwards… My first aim for the weekend was to finish all three races and that’s what I did (albeit in lower positions than I’d hoped). Now it’s time to get quick again and focus on re-learning the dreaded Duffus in time for Qualifying at Round 2. Remember, it’s only round 1 and a long season ahead, the fast competitive Hannah will be back. 

A MASSIVE THANKS TO MY BRILLIANT SPONSORS:
RAM Tubulars Scotland Ltd
Nexus24
Sightmast Enterprises
Ajmal Steel
Whitehaul Ltd