12
PRO ANNUAL 2018
‘Overall the car handled beautifully and was a
Gavin Gough talking mind set with Ben Whibley before going out in his first session at Brands Hatch
After the last session, I still had around one second a lap to find, but as we still had old rubber and had begun to work on the car setup, I knew there was plenty of time available. Having said that, overall the car handled beautifully and was a testament to Boss Racing who have created a perfect and well-balanced car. The C400 had me wanting more and after watching Darren Burke’s lap on the VBox, I could see how much harder I could push, albeit a few hundred tenths a corner. Of course, I was never going to be a race winner by having an hour’s practice, but I moved into race day with the right mindset and solid lap times from my practice sessions. This gave me the
confidence I had so desperately been looking for at the start of the week. We started with the usual essentials – driver briefing, scrutineering – and then got ready for qualifying. We warmed up the car and setup and I soon got myself up to a comfortable seventh on a drying track. This wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to push it now, get closer to the top of my class. I felt that I had returned to where I belonged. All the preparation from the previous days was paying off, the car felt comfortable, the track was dry, my lap times were good and I wasn’t last! After about five laps disaster struck. My run of confidence was over. The engine failed in quite
spectacular fashion, which resulted in a DNF and an abrupt end to my comeback. I cannot praise Rob and Collin of Boss Racing highly enough though; they worked tirelessly to get me back out in a different car, but it just wasn’t possible. To be honest, it didn’t feel right either after all my preparation in the C400. So my race weekend was over, but what an experience those last few days had been. The bug was well and truly back and I am now more desperate than ever to get back on track.
SIM to REALITY