The come down after the Spa weekend was abrupt and for a week I felt little enthusiasm to even determine what had to be done, let alone start doing it! Fortunately my mood lightened, and with a week to go before the Silverstone Championship round I got down to it. Well, to be honest I took the car down to Altered Images on the Sunday afternoon, and Peter Vickers cast his diagnostic eye over the car. The front subframe and steering rack were the principle areas of concern, or at least that's were After an hour of pushing and pulling, a simple look was all I needed from Peter. He never uttered the words 'it needs a new front subframe' but we both knew it did.

On Monday morning I had a horrible looking but dead straight used frame, by Monday evening it was strengthened, weakened and looking beautiful in fresh two pack black! I did all the donkey work, cleaning, cutting holes to strategically weaken the frame (to create a crumple zone effect in an accident to save the shell) and preparing metal strengthening plates to be welded in. At Altered Images my bits were welded in and then Peter gave it the coat of paint to transform the image.

We had fitted a new rack for Spa and this was now displaying an alarming amount of play on the accident damaged side. Peter made short work of eliminating all the play. I immediately set about rebuilding the front end, and there were few major problems I'm pleased to say.

It was all change on the engine front. My Longman engine, now five races old was heading back for a rebuild, and now with a proud record of three poles, and a win and a lap record at Spa, it would be heading east to a Japanese customer. Sanwa Trading, my long-time sponsor agreed to supply another engine, this time coming from Swiftune. Component lead times meant that for Silverstone I'd be using my Vickers motor affectionately known as 'Old Nail'! Now it may be old, but that just means its had plenty of loving attention over the years!

The car was ready to go with a full day to spare and we pitched up at Silverstone knowing that the scheduling of the programme meant that anyone suffering a problem is qualifying would struggle to be ready for the race. One lap into the Q session I knew that we had done the right thing changing the subframe. The handling was razor sharp, absolutely perfect, and once clear of the traffic I was bang on the pace. With my penultimate lap I equalled the pole time as things stood to take a front row berth. My last lap with was 0.04 seconds quicker, making it four pole positions in a row!

So, with less than two hours prep time, the challenge was to cool the engine and gearbox down. Three water changes shed most of the heat from the block and head, and apart from adjusting the clutch there was nothing more to be done.

The starter held the lights on red for a long time. The left leg was twitching, but the getaway was good and I held the lead into the first corner. Initially I had Kelly Rogers in the rear view mirror, and he was clearly defending hard. It gave me a little breathing space and for a lap or so I felt comfortable. Then James Hall moved into 2nd place and immediately the pressure was cranked up. However, the car was on song. Old Nail was feeling strong and a massive battle was developing. This was motor racing at its very best, the ultimate in sporting combat. I was loving every second of it. James was pushing me to the limit, but we were giving each other enough space to race.

The penultimate lap was the toughest of the race, and I was expecting more on the final tour. I knew where I had to be quick and where I had to be careful not to brake too late and throw the door open. It went perfectly, the only moment for concern came when the chequered flag was a little slow to appear. I watched as it was hurriedly raised, unfurled, and waved. How chuffed was I? Well two days later my voice is still recovering! It's a private moment, but the joy of victory after such enormous pressure calls for a little more than simply punching the air. With a full harness you can't physically move, so shouting is the only option!

Brands Hatch is next, and it's a double header too before the mid summer break. There's a new engine to look forward to, but we'll tuck Old Nail away with care!

Bill Sollis 27.6.06