Sunday at Silverstone

An early race this morning and very cold.

I was at the assembly point with Howden and he invited me to join him and Joy in the BRDC to watch the race. A great vantage point. It didn't take long for Noel to catch up with Sir John. I said to Howden that Noel really wanted to catch him but passing could be a different matter. Next lap when he passed in front of us he came down the straight well ahead. Yes! we chorused.  A few seconds later, he went through the tight loop in front of us, Luffield, he spun out on the grass, facing the other way. By the time the immediate field had gone through, he had lost several places. He got back on the track well behind that group.

He seemed to get slower and we realised something was wrong. Finally he raised his hand and came in. He didn't realise that the race was finished. As a consequence, he did finish the race in 15th position, still 2nd in class behind Sir John.

It turned out that his oil leak had affected the stability of his left back tyre, which was slipping and sliding out of control.

Mark Woodhouse had been running in second place all the way. At the last moment he also had a problem and had to drop back.

We packed the car into the trailer and then had a lovely lunch at the BRDC with Howden and Joy. Quite a treat. Lovely people.

There were so many cars, trucks and trailers, it was very difficult to get out of our parking space. As soon as we left a gap, someone filled it. Finally, we got underway just after 4pm, headed to a camping ground near Milton Keynes where we will try to recover. This stuff is all very tiring!

The sun is shining and the temperatures are rising!