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EAST FORTUNE 21/22 July 2007

Hardly time to unpack the lorry and we were off again, this time to the Tom Dickie Trophy meeting at East Fortune. We were feeling quite confident after the good lap times achieved at Knockhill on the previous Sunday. We arrived late and as usual Colin Gibson and Ian Fraser’s support crew rallied round to help put up the awning as the light failed. It was well tied down between our lorry and the one next door.

We were up early, signed on and scrutineered on Saturday morning. Warm up and practice followed. We benefited from having been out the previous weekend and qualified on the second row of the grid alongside Colin and Ian. Then, at 11.00 am it started to rain and forgot to stop! The race went ahead after lunch in dubious conditions. It was very difficult to see the sidecars at the corner ahead even with our red warning lights on. This was our first ever race in wet conditions but there was so much standing water it was difficult to get a feel for what the sidecar was going to do apart from trying to aquaplane. We lapped consistently and finished without incident which felt like an achievement in itself. The second races were cancelled. Leathers, helmets, boots and gloves were left to drip dry as the torrential rain continued through the night. We passed the evening checking the sidecar over a giving it an oil change.

Waiting in the holding area – in the sun! Photo courtesy of ‘Tiggy’

Thankfully the rain stopped at 8.00 am on Sunday morning. The night heater had dried all our gear out and we were ready to go again. We were in two minds whether to do the warm up as the track was still a bit wet. At the last minute we did a lightning change to intermediate tyres and nipped out. It was good experience of slidey conditions but not as enjoyable as the dry. In the first race we tried to keep up with Colin and Ian but they got away with the race leaders and we couldn’t quite keep to them. Instead we had a scrap with Alan Warden #27 who showed his nose into the hairpin but couldn’t keep up with our Stuart Johnstone tuned engine. Scott Laurie lost oil onto the passenger’s chair!! and pulled out leaving us in 4th position.

The second race went all together better we got another excellent start leading Colin and Ian.

Leading sidecar #99 into the chicane. Photo courtesy of ‘Tiggy’

Unfortunately Scott Laurie caught the edge of the track going towards Railway corner and rolled his sidecar. Luckily he and his passenger Jimmy escaped with minor injuries but significant body work damage. This meant a red flag and restart for the rest of us. The race was re run over 7 laps. Kerr got an excellent start again and we led Colin and Ian until they finally out manoeuvred us in the Esses and pulled a short lead leaving us 4th over the line. This was the best buzz yet, close racing with the sidecar sliding and driving out of corners as it should be. We seem to have taken a step forward in the last two race meetings and it feels good. We are really looking forward to returning to East Fortune on 18/19 August for the next round of the Scottish Championship.

Thanks to Bob and Carol for their support over the weekend and to Tiggy whose photos we have pinched.

Best wishes to you all

Kerr and Jen

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