It was time to strip both front brake calipers completely and re-seal them to stop the irritating leaks. So that's exactly what I did using the new sets of seals I bought from KAD instead of the standard AP Lockheed seals. The AP ones look fine, but obviously something is causing them to relax or deteriorate in race use. With the calipers re-built and re-fitted I bled the system up with my Gunsons Easi-Bleed one-man brake bleeding kit. Everything seemed cool there except possibly the conditi

It seemed pointless fitting new pads in for one race as I had plans to up-grade the brakes over the winter which would include a new set of a different type. I then decided to try and track down where the damned oil was coming from that was on the inner wing and under the clutch cover/transfer gear housing and now on the underside of the gearbox at the sump plug end. After some 15 minutes or so of investigation I found it – it was coming from the oil separator/breather cannister on top of the transfer gear housing. These are two-part components, the upper cannister section being brazed on to the lower tube – the cannister had fractured around the edge of the braze. So I simply brazed it up again, re-painted it and re-fitted it. Aside from a quick nut-and-bolt check-over, nothing else showed to need attention. The trashed front left tyre needed replacing – and again as it was the last race of the season I wasn't going to fit a brand new tyre. Particularly as there was speculation that we may move to Toyo tyres next year. After examining what tyres I had, I had two one swapped round from a right to left rotation and fitted that to the left front, then fitted an old-ish part worn to the right front.

The other thing I did was to replace the top front damper mounting brackets. The standard MSC modified competition ones didn't seem to be allowing enough bump travel on my car. The tie-wraps I have fitted to the damper rods to show damper travel in use were constantly hard up against the small bump stops I have fitted to them (actually standard tie rod rubbers). I used some brackets I had made years ago for another set-up that gave me an extra 3/4-inch bump travel.

I have not really attacked Oulton Park with great pace for years since my previous couple of visits in previous seasons were made with a car that was not handling well – the first time the bottom arm pin fell out in the collecting area before the race and the second my roller tip rockers were falling apart after practise. So this was going to be another steep learning curve.

The first two laps of practise were seriously attention-getting. My senses were over-loaded; the car was all over the place in corners and under braking. I couldn't work out if it was tyres, whether I'd screwed up the damper performance with the raised top mounts, or the brakes were doing weird things – including leaking badly. Not at all confidence inspiring. After three laps the car suddenly settled down and started performing well. On with the job in hand then... three laps later the brake pedal suddenly got very long and spongy... uh-oh, not seal trouble or air locks surely... I finished practise taking it very easy in the braking areas. There is also a wicked double-apex right-hander that you attack flat out in top, hard dab on the brakes, change down to third then nail it... Let's just say I wasn't going through this fully committed. In parc ferme after practise I mentioned my brake issues to other drivers who all said the same thing – Oulton Park is notorious for heavy brake usage and consequently big brake fade. Shame nobody told me before I went out there! So – starting 13th , or '12A' as they have it numbered in the collecting area and on the grid slots!

Back in the paddock – a quick check of the brakes showed no leaks, fluid level fine and only a small amount of wear on the pads. OK – so I know what to expect in the race then, and I need to deeply consider the brake set-up for next year. These aluminium calipers with aluminium pistons may well be light, but I think there is way too much heat being transferred into the fluid because of this. May be I'll go to stainless steel pistons and make some stainless steel pad shims and heat reflectors. No oil leaks, no oil loss, no coolant loss – splendid. A tyre pressure check and re-fuel and we were ready to race.

Once again the threatened rain didn't happen so it was going to be a dry race. I was determined to make one of my usual demon starts this time. Green flag warm up lap, re-form on the grid, red lights on, then off – and... damned thing jumped out of first gear! Obviously my fault – I can't have had it in gear properly. So – everybody flew past me and left me there. Grabbing first then second quickly I roared off after the pack. Uncharacteristically for me I made a wild banzai attack on the first corner, determined to make up lost ground. The car got very sideways one way, then the other, but I caught it both times, kept my foot in it and hurled down the track to catch up to the tail of the pack down in to the second corner. Some spirited driving by me for the first couple of laps got me past a couple of cars (BIG black MK1 Jaguar), RS2000 Escort, Mk2 Lotus Cortina (who then lost it on the first corner and stuck it in the armco in a bid to catch me up again). I was then chasing down my sparring partner in the Hillman Avenger. Well into the groove now I hauled him in round the very fast parts of the circuit – especially that nasty double apex section. I was giving it full loud into there each lap, nicking third gear and then scrabbling through on the throttle. Very cool! And that's where I got the Avenger – coming through and out of there. Next was another RS2000 – but by now my brakes were shot. I gapped the Avenger a-ways then just drove the car home for the last two laps. I was very pleased with my driving for the last half of the race. Had the brakes been good I'd have caught that RS2000. The engine performed very well again, no oil leaks, just no brakes!

My winter over-haul will start in earnest next month once I have moved all my work in to my new unit. The race car will be at home and I will have plenty of space to work on it. I am going to strip the car completely – check the shell for 'square' then build it back up again changing all those things that have niggled me since the first build. I may even change the colour scheme...