The penultimate rounds of the 2014 Super Mighty Minis Championship were held at a rather damp Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.

After the visit to the tyre wall in qually at Castle Combe, that saw the car being retired after 2 laps of the 1st race, our man, Alex Comis, was keen for some good results at Cadwell. Cadwell, however, is the most demanding of tracks in the try, let alone wet or even worse, damp conditions.

With no testing since the car had been repaired, Comis was taking it easy in the opening laps of Qualifying. With the sort of drizzle that just seems to hang in the air, the conditions were not improving, but buy the end of the session, Comis was pushing with a car that looked unsettled.

“5th row is far from what I wanted” Explained Comis back in the paddock:

“I didn’t have confidence in the back end [of the car] on entry in to corners. We’ll make some adjustments to the rear and hope the weather improves for the race”

Though the clouds remained a perfectly uniform dull grey, the drizzle had ceased and a dry racing line appeared.

With the start procedure under way, the crescendo of growling Mini
engines peaked as the lights signified the start. Comis made an electrifying start and was attacking in to the Eau Rouge-esque Coppice corner. By the end of lap 1, Comis has made up an astounding 5 places! Things were looking good until an incident lead to the first of 2 safety car periods.

Once the race was back underway, Comis again was threatening the leading pack. A late dive up the inside of old sparing partner, Dave Rees, had to be aborted as the door was firmly shut. It was only a matter of time: As they exited Barn, they were greeted by another incident and in avoiding this, lost out two places. With the Safety car deployed again, it would be a one-lap sprint to the flag where Comis crossed the line in a respectable 6th place.

“That was a frustrating race but glad that all drivers are ok. 4th, maybe even a podium, was on the cards but the safety car periods made any further progress difficult. Still, I’m on pole for race 2 [reverse grids] so I’ll have to see what I can do!”

Alas, as the cars lined up on the grid for the 2nd race, the drizzle returned and the track was soon soaked. Again Comis made a solid start and held the lead on to Park straight. He was soon under pressure from the championship leaders. Still in contention, Comis stuck with them as best he could, though it was obvious he was still struggling with rear end grip. With more incidents that required cat like reflexes and taking to the wet grass at 100mph, Comis lost out to yet more places that he struggled to get back. By the flag, he crossed the line in 8th.

“The rear was still a bit loose on entry and by the time I got used to it, it was a little too late. I was lucky not to be collected in the incident on Park straight, but unlucky in that it was those just a bit further back that benefited. It’s been a bit of a role coaster weekend, but we should be much stronger at Donnington.”

The final 2 rounds of the 2014 Super Might Minis Championship take place on the 18th and 19th October at the epic Donnington Park.