Snetterton Race Report
10th October 2004
Fuel surge again (winter project) resulted in couple of whacks in the rear bumper and poor qualifying time, but entertaining front row for heat, beside John Townshend. Paul Sheehan had problems in qualifying too, and was on the row behind. Gareth Wright at the back of the grid as reserve an expected threat.
Race start and I spin the wheels, entering the first corner beside Townshend. I leave plenty of room at the apex, but Townshend runs wide and we make contact, Sheehan takes his opportunity and goes past. Townshend and Sheehan both go wide in next turn, and I re-take the lead, but chaos behind has resulted in red flag and we re-start.
Townshend is evicted from the grid for leaking fuel, and Andrew Muggeridge is unable to re-start after the accident, so I have plenty of space for the re-start. We're off and I have a clean getaway, but cannot compete with Sheehan down the long back straight, despite forcing him to go around the outside of me. I follow through the chicane but cannot close, and a few laps later the orange Peugeot of Wright is looming. I place the car through the chicane but am helpless as he cruises past up the start/finish straight. Sheehan is equally inconvenienced, although concedes the race by less than half a second. By this point my mechanical gremlins have forced my to retire, so Anthony Cooper makes up the top three.
Fantastic racing in final, none of it troubled Craig Shepherd, who led from lap 1 convincingly to win the Stock Hatch Championship in some style, from Pete Morgan and Andy Burgess. On the track Maurice Hayden and Richard Kingsnorth made up the top three, Stewart Nind's credible forth was not enough to take class B honours, which went to Stuart Pearson from Ian Laughton, with Nind third.
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