Qualifying at Silverstone

Woke up Saturday to blue skies and viciously cold wind.

Noel was up bright and early to do those things that always have to be done prior to racing. Qualifying was at 9am.

Overnight, the Gemini had been leaking oil! So the back comes off and Noel is working on the car again! This is the part of motor racing that drives me crazy!

He only just got the back on again in time to follow the last man out to the grid. Just as well as it was a long way and he didn't know where he was going. Then there was a wait until each car was checked and tested for noise. (I asked Duncan about this as I wanted to know what they did with F1 cars when we all had to race with mufflers. He answered that Silverstone had days with different noise level allowances.)

Noel was at the back and started out cautiously. Immediately, two cars spun out on oil and everyone was under yellow flag at that corner, which was right in front of where Duncan and I were sitting.

I could see Noel gaining in confidence with every lap. His best lap could have been the second to last, but he came in too fast to the corner and instead went straight ahead. The good thing about Silverstone is that there is plenty of run off. He found it and recovered before he hit the kitty litter and was on his way again.

He qualified 14th out of a field of 40, so very good for a beginner.