From Rockingham Motor Speedway, rounds 5 and 6 of the Super Mighty Minis Championship were held at the Mini Festival at the historic Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.
Saturday was graced with clear blue skies and the unusual sight of the sun. Qualifying saw our man, Alex Comis, post an out of character 14th place though this was just over a second off the pole time. Back in the paddock, Comis seemed positive for race 1:
“We made some front end changes to improve the balance. It’s made quite a change to the initial turn-in grip so it took me a while to get used to it. I was also taking it easy on new brakes. Clearly I wanted to be higher up [the grid] but I hope to be able to get towards the sharp end in the race. With the mercury continuing to rise, along with the humidity, so did the engine notes as the light sequence signalled the start of the 1st race."
Comis made an electric start and was amongst the mid pack by the infamous Paddock Hill Bend. Up to Druids and Comis was continuing to pick off other cars. By quarter distance he was up to 10th. By half distance 7th. By now the field was spread out though Comis was still closing steadily on the lead pack. As the chequered flag dropped, Comis crossed the line in 7th. An epic result from 14th!
“That was a good race and some fantastically close battles. I really had to put in some moves to make up positions. Epic, clean driving from all though.”
The Sunday saw the humidity remain, but the clouds rolled in with some afternoon rain. Comis found himself on pole due to the reverse top 7 grid. A position he relishes, though not necessarily in such changeable conditions. On the warm up laps, Comis was working hard to get heat into the tyres. At the start, Comis got a solid start but it wasn’t good enough to claim the lead at Paddock Hill as he and Steve Maxted battled it out, door handle to door handle, for the first half lap: This was precision driving from the pair. An incident in to Graham Hill bend saw Comis gain an advantage over the pack, alas this was short lived as Nev Kirkpatrick used the slipstream to make a move two laps later. Soon Comis was battling to hold on to 5th place but managed to use the slipstream to his advantage on the last lap to get past Ant Ford in to Paddock Hill……or so he thought. As he turned in, the two made contact putting them both in to a slide through a corner that has claimed many a car. Comis kept his foot in and got the car back. At the flag a solid 4th place would be Comis’ reward.
“That was another great race and I’m reasonably happy with 4th considering where I qualified yesterday. Steve and I really went at it at the start and when I saw contact in my mirrors, I just tried to settle down in to some fast laps to capitalise. The top 3 had more pace coming off the last corner on to the straight; I think there’s more to be had from some more set-up changes for the next round.”
Rounds 7 and 8 move on to the idyllic Wiltshire country side as the Championship battles it out once again at Castle Combe. Be sure to be there for more of the closest racing around!