There were high hopes for Rockingham after the thrilling display that opened the season at Silverstone. Winter had, at long last, seemed to have passed for the 3rd and 4th rounds of the Super Might Minis Championship. With temperatures into double figures and a hitherto rarely seen bright orangey-yellow ball in the sky, qualifying got underway in almost perfect conditions. The perfect nature of the day continued on track with Alex Comis in the Mini Spares Car bagging pole on his 3rd lap! Outstanding. Back in the paddock and out of the car, Comis sounded a little Kimi Raikkonen: “Getting pole is fantastic, but it’s the race that counts. It’s a great start so let's see what we can do in the race.” The first race of the weekend was soon underway. Comis seemed to have an issue at the start and was soon down to 3rd place at the end of the long straight and exit of turn 1. It wasn’t long, however, before he was up into 2nd and on the hunt for current Champion Scott Kendal. By the midpoint of the race, Kendal and Comis had built up quite a gap to the pack though a wily Nev Kirkpatrick had joined the party at the front. Comis and Kirkpatrick looked to be working well together and looked as though all 3 would soon be fighting for the win. With the clock counting down, this was sizing up to be a great race then suddenly, on the exit of turn one, Comis backed off dramatically. Nursing the car around the infield section, this sadly looked terminal. Sure enough, he had to retire the car. Once back in the paddock, the issue was soon diagnosed as a failed rocker, though this was little comfort for Comis. “Apart from the shocking start, that was shaping up to be a fantastic race. It’s the second time the car has acted up at the start as if it’s miss-firing or miss-fuelling, it really didn’t help. As far as the engine failure, I guess I’m lucky that it’s something that can easily be repaired.” From the back of the grid, Sunday’s race promised to be a thriller. A slightly more convincing start saw Comis make up a position off the line. In to turn one, and a hint of caution as the cars funnelled through the hairpin. Comis continued to make progress and was soon on the tail of the lead pack. Mid-distance and there was nothing to chose from the top 6. Comis was well in the thick of things and looking imposing. Two laps to go and there was contact between Kendal and O'Brien. Comis dived up the inside, but was soon blocked by a recovering O'Brien. Out of the chicane for the final time and the top 6 were inseparable. At the flag, just 2 seconds split the top 5 with Comis finishing a strong 5thafter starting last and with fastest lap, by a second! “That was more like it!” Beamed Comis: “I really should have snatched 3rd, but didn’t quite have the positioning to capitalise when Conner [O’Brien] and Scott [Kendal] made contact. Still, 5th isn’t a bad recovery and bagging fastest lap by such a margin is sweet!” This really is shaping up to be a close Championship. The Super Mighty Minis Championship moves on to the stunning village of Castle Combe on the 7th May. Photos courtesy of Marvin Hall MHPic