Round 9 & 10 - Oulton Park

 The Oulton Park event was always going to create pressure for the drivers and crews.  Two sixteen lap races of the Island Circuit and the Trucks had not visited the circuit for several years so the whole event concentrated into a one day programme was not easy.

With a dry sunny day forecast everyone was caught out with early morning rain which had diminished in time for Pickup qualifying but left the circuit a little unforgiving when using the tarmac close to the edges.  Phil White was the first casualty touching the grass and then making a quick visit to the tyre wall.  Simon and Damien missed most of qualifying due to having no mechanical grip and engine misfires. The sum result of qualifying was crew chief and team members scratching their heads asking what to do for the races.

The two races after lunch created several situations where drivers were asked to visit race control but overall the Pickups stole the show for entertainment value.

Antony Hawkins was the fastest Truck on the day. Gavin Seager had a big moment but unfortunately didn’t manage to save it to Nic Grindrod’s surprise and consequently eliminated both Trucks from one race.

Five different drivers collected the silverware during the event, Mark Jones being the only driver to visit the podium twice.

A timing paperwork issue required the Championship Stewards to pass judgement and it was five days before the Championship points standing could be published.

Taking the event overall, the general question from the teams seems to be can we come back again in 2010?