Anglesey has got to be one of the prettiest race tracks I get to go to. That is when its sunny, which admittedly isn’t all the time. Somehow across the entire weekend, the rain managed to hold off and only come inbetween the sessions and races. It might have been a bit more fun if it hadn’t, but at least I was dry!
Testing was solid, Anglesey has some cracking corners. The corkscrew is unlike anything anywhere in the UK and always makes for some fun in the dry. We achieved what I thought was a solid balance early in the day and experimented some more with the different rear aero balances. Mittell cars have been awesome so far this year and Dad/Tod have been working hard getting the car setup for all the meetings this year.
The next day and Qualifying was a challenge. We went out and immediately tried to set some solid times, the car was very oversteery which is opposite to the normal balance that we aim for and in places slightly unpredictable. I managed to set two decent times before going off at turn one after a large snap oversteer mid corner and never managed to go any quicker after this point as the tyres got hotter. Luckily the prior laps where good enough for both poles.
Before the first race we measured the different suspension heights all around and found some inconsistencies, because of this we last minute threw in a “flat” setting and went to the grid. I knew we would have a better car for the race after the change but didn’t have a feel for the car. I got another solid start and began to pull away from the rest of the field, car feeling great again. About half way through the race as the tyres continued to rise in temp I struggled to keep the pace as high and slowly Richard Morris began to reel me in. I managed the gap decrease and tried to drive around the tyre as much as possible for the rest of the race, eventually winning by just over a second.
We made a few changes to try and limit the tyres overheating, but race two was almost a carbon copy of the first one. I pulled away early and then drove the car managing the tyres and pace to prevent Richard from being able to catch back up in time to make any moves. Winning by just under a second in this race.
I have come away feeling like we got away with it a bit. We didn’t have the best car or setup for the weekend but still managed to eek out a solid result for myself and the team and we currently lead the championship by a decent margin after 3 rounds.
