Spencer Wanstall Mini Se7en Round 3-4 Snetterton Weekend Report

After such a negative start to the season we were determined to get things right at Snetterton. KAD spent many hours working on the engine in order to ensure we went to Snetterton with a package with the capability to win. We also went testing at Brands Hatch one Tuesday evening to ensure the car was fixed and had the capability to do a full race distance. Qualifying went reasonably well for me, with the all-important slip stream coming for me on lap 7 bumping me up from 12th to 5th on the grid for race 1, putting me in a good position to get a result. ace 1: a good start saw me with the leaders going into the first corner. Going into the second corner in order to avoid contact I had to move out the way of a competitor, setting me back a few places. The race went on and I was having a great battle with Kieran McDonald and Ashley Davies, swapping places freely. We had just lost the lead group when the safety car came out due to a unfortunate accident by Graeme Davis. This bunched us all back up and enabled me to start to put pressure on fifth place Gareth Hunt. When the safety car came in I did manage to pass Gareth only for the red flags to come out due to another accident happening, meaning I was given 6th place due to the rule on red flags (when they come out, the result is taken from the previous lap). Starting race 2 from P6 also put me in good stead to get a result in the 31 car grid. We set off once again and once again I was battling with current champion Ashley Davies and Kieran McDonald for 4th place. On lap 3 I just lost the back end of the car going underneath the bridge which saw me take to the grass and lose some valuable time and more importantly the tow of the lead group. This put me ahead of former Metro champ Tom Sanderson, Joe Thompson and Ross Billison, and I had to hold them off for the remainder of the race. This was one of the hardest defending races I have ever had and I learnt a lot from the race. On the last lap Tom just nipped me leaving me to take 8th place. A good weekend all round with the car showing great pace. Although I would have liked higher positions it was my first time in a race situation since September last year and time in the car be valuable. Without the few small mistakes I made I am confident I would have been challenging for the podium. Donnington next which is a track I love and have shown good pace at before, so it should be a good weekend! Importation rules regarding vehicles are very specific: Only those over 25 years in age may be brought in to the USA without compilance to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).