Over the winter we did some work on the car and got some more modifications to bring it up to the latest spec for the
BMW customer entry that brought us onto a level playing field with Team RAC. I think we had proven in pre-season testing that we had found some pace over the winter, and to take that forward into
Brands Hatch was good.
The weekend went well. Obviously it was good to start with pole position the first one for both myself in the championship and also for the team that was a great start to the season.
We got a good start to that race and were leading for about 15 laps I think, and then it started to spit with rain. When that happens the rear wheel-drive cars really tend to struggle with the level of grip, and we started to lose a bit of time. I think thats where Fabrizio Giovanardi caught and got past us. Then towards the end of the race in the last three laps, the rain eased off a bit and we could mount a challenge back on Fabrizio again, but still, finishing second was pleasing nonetheless.
It was a bit frustrating not to have won it would have been really nice to have won the opening race but it was early days and second place was still good for the championship hunt. To come out of the meeting sitting in the same position in the points table was good too. It was expected in a way I suppose; we knew that if we could match the pace wed had in pre-season testing we could have some good results.
We struggled in qualifying in the next round at Rockingham. Obviously we were carrying 36 kilos of success ballast, but still we out-qualified Fabrizio by one place on the grid.
Carrying the success ballast does make a difference. Over a whole lap it drags you down, in terms of the brakes, the power and cornering. The more weight you carry, its going to work the tyres and brakes harder and sap a load more power as well. Its over the whole lap really you just lose those vital few tenths.
