With the fine race performance of Silverstone still fresh in the mind of the Mini Spares driver, Alex Comis was keen for greater things for rounds 2 and 3 at Snetterton.

Comis was looking strong in the early part of qualifying, but after only 5 laps he was in the pit lane and it wasn’t because he had put in an untouchable pole time.

Back in the paddock the car was off the ground as Alex explained the situation:-

“Well I was on my 1st real flying lap and I lost 4th gear into the Bomb Hole [corner], I just couldn’t select it. It’s a little disappointing as my fastest lap to that point was 7th without trying. Still, it looks like we may have a fix so I’ll have to see how it goes for the race this afternoon”

The fantastic weather carried on and the threat of showers didn’t materialise as the cars all waited for the red lights to go out. The usual synchronous explosion of energy from 17 cars as they launched off the line was quite a sight, but by the 1st corner, some suspiciously unnatural darting suggested all was not going to plan. At the end of the 1st lap, Comis’s problem seemed not to be fixed. Stuck in 4th he was not going to give up keen to grab as many points as possible. Alas though his lap times were equal to the back markers, it was not the performance he’d hoped for. Back in the paddock again with the car off the ground Alex describe his afternoons work;-

“That was a little scary, all gears were working fine on the warm-up lap, but at the start, I couldn’t get 4th again. Luckily I didn’t get collected, but that was more due to the quick thinking and driving of the 10 cars behind me. Once I did get 4th gear, I left it there and just did what I could. I’ll be changing the entire gear linkage for tomorrow, hopefully that will help but I think it’s something more fundamental.”

The weather for the Bank holiday Monday could not have been better. Comis (lining up dead last based on yesterdays finishing order) was making progress. The guys at the back of the field were fighting just as hard as the leaders and Comis was in the thick of it until…At half distance he all his hard work on and off the track came undone. As he exited the chicane, stuck in 4th gear again, another last place was staring him in the face. The frustration was visible has he did all he could to maintain momentum in one gear.

“I was fighting the car all the way. It started jumping out of 3rd, then I couldn’t select 4th again. I’m happy I did all I could to drive consistently and pick up whatever points I could, but there was little I could do. Roll on Angelsey!”

It’s a sure thing that with a re-built gearbox, Comis will be flying at the North Wales track for rounds 4 and 5 on the 24th and 25th May.

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).