Heading into my first race I really didn’t know what to expect. Mo said he would give me one of his mechanics to guide me through everything which was more reassuring than I can describe in words. I had everything planned, sort of. I planned to drive the car down on Friday morning for testing in the afternoon. Having never driven the track before (this will become a familiar story I imagine as next season progresses) it would be a chance to learn the track as the last thing I want to do is learn it with 25 other MR2s. I had also arranged with a guy through PistonHeads to transport the car back home Saturday evening so I could drive it without worrying about how I was getting home. Plan set in stone, what could go wrong?

Well the first alteration to the plan was Ian’s schedule, as he was working on the Friday morning so wouldn’t be able to join me until late Friday afternoon. While I had confidence to do everything myself it is always nicer to have an extra pair of hands from someone you know to help out, especially seeing as everything was new. Thankfully this plan changed a little as I received a text whilst sat in a service station from Ian saying his work on the Friday morning had been cancelled and he was on his way. After a bit more texting by some miracle we were actually only about 30 minutes apart, so we arranged to meet up at the service station and travel down in convoy. This is when I discovered one the impracticalities of driving a race car on the public road – no sun visors. My makeshift sun visor was my hand, for over two hours. Oh how it ached afterwards…

We arrived at the track, the weather was sunny and we had a while to prepare for the first session, swapping the tyres and fitting my newly acquired front strut brace. Nothing however would prepare me for the first time through Paddock Hill Bend. My ARDS instructor had told me it’s actually much worse to walk than drive, which was reassuring because I have walked the track before and it is really, really steep. What a load of bollocks that was. My first trip down was a case of ‘bloody hell!’, and then you get the compression at the bottom which is like having an elephant sat on your shoulders. The chances of me escaping this weekend with a spine that isn’t 3 cm shorter are slim. Maybe that’s why most racing drivers are so short?

One thing I picked up from testing is just how fast the other cars arm. I was constantly moving over, not because the MR2 was slow in the corners, but because it lacked the power on the straights. I can now see why people who race slower cars tend to learn circuits at track days and not test days as you do spend a lot of time moving out of the way from some very quick and scary machinery. Thankfully the only dramas in testing were an MR2 that was axle deep in gravel (not mine for the record), and in the second session a Renault Clio Cup who went nose first into the gravel/tyres at Paddock Hill Bend, probably because his spine collapsed.

Testing over, it was time to remove the permanently implanted smile on my face from having so much fun and settle into the evening whilst been constantly fed and watered from Mo’s BBQ and Coke supply. I wasn’t expecting this, but it was very welcomed!

I had spent the day hammering around on the Toyo Proxes R888s I bought before the Oulton Park track day but these were no good for the MR2 Racing Series as Silverstone Competition Tyres are required from Service and Sport who turn up to all the races. Once the truck arrived in the paddock I was exchanging wads of cash for four black rubbery things fitted to four round shiny metal things. It was dark by then so we were fitting wheels in the dark, but Mo brightened Ian’s day by lending him his impact gun. He felt like a proper pit mechanic

In the morning we woke up in a Travelodge to the delightful sound of rain. Not just any old rain, very heavy rain. I’d never driven the car in the wet before so this would be interesting. We arrived at the track and met up with Jon who had driven across in the morning to see the car being raced. Jon and Ian went into the paddock while I went to hire a transponder and sign on, before returning to the paddock to a rather panicky Mo. While I was working to the timetable and thought I had loads of time in hand, Mo was working to reality where everything happens much sooner than the timetable. I quickly got changed and jumped in the car where Simon, one of Mo’s mechanics, took us to scrutineering. Thankfully it passed without any problems. We fitted the transponder, in a place I know realise was a pure fluke it actually worked at all and then set about fitting the Silverstone Tyres banner. Sounds each huh? Nope! You try fitting a windscreen banner in the rain! We got it on, but it was almost a foregone conclusion it would peel itself off by the end of the day.

Before qualifying we had taken some advice from Ross Stoner (Mo’s son if you haven’t guessed) on tyre pressures and another trick to running the car in the wet. I took my first tentative steps on track and down a wet Paddock Hill Bend trying to feel the grip. Yep, there wasn’t any. My first aim was to get three laps under my belt so I could start the race, and after that just keep lapping as I slowly built up confidence. It didn’t feel quick so I was rather astonished to find I was lining up 13th out of 26, but in weather like this having the full tread from new tyres would have helped.

Next was nervous time. Going out in qualifying was OK because I just had to drive the car. Lining up on the grid so close to many other cars made me utter the words ‘what the hell am I doing?’ I’d never done a racing start before, so all I knew is the approach that Ross told me. The speed of the start sequence caught me out a bit as there is more to do in that short period of time than you realise. The result was I got a terrible start, but being on the inside meant I could stay right and keep out of everyone’s way. Only a few laps of the race had passed when the race was red flagged meaning the grid was reformed and I had another crack at the start. This time I was more prepared, and probably more from luck than judgement got it right. Again I clung to the inside like the scared newbie I was, but by just keeping it on the track I finished 8th in my first race. To say I was happy was an understatement as the conditions were treacherous. The rain kept coming and you really couldn’t see the front of your car, let alone the corners. This presented a problem in that you couldn’t see the ever growing puddles and rivers. I found the best strategy was just to follow the lights of the car in front and hope for the best, and it seemed to work quite well.

Thankfully the rain eased off about an hour before the second race and you could see the track drying, but the race would be just as nervous as I had received a call from the guy who was suppose to be transporting the car back. His wife had gone into labour and he wouldn’t be able to pick the car up meaning I would be driving the second race knowing this car was my transport home. Gulp.

I lined up on the grid, this time feeling a bit less nervous and looked at the drying tarmac. I thought I’d get away with a few more revs this time, but as the lights turned to green I learnt the hard way that you couldn’t. I sat there with wheel spin watching cars flying past. I was down in 13th and quicker than Matthew Smith who was in front of me, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get past. Unless I went for a move into Paddock Hill Bend which was still a bit slippery. I’d discovered this after a couple of significantly sideways lines into the corner a few laps before. A lunge down the inside was the obvious place, but well aware in the back of my mind how I was getting home I left that one alone. Still, 13th wasn’t anything like a bad result and I took the chequered flag a happy man, but the drama wasn’t over yet. Ross Stoner had crashed on the last lap at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend. I saw his car on the in lap but wasn’t expecting the car in front of me to swerve so suddenly to avoid… a bit of Ross’ car, namely his side skirt. The noise it made as I ran over it sounded very expensive, with the pennies counting up as I heard a scraping noise all the way back to the track. Ian also experienced this first hand as he was stood opposite where it happened too. Back in the pits I got out to have a look to find it was only a bit of plastic under tray which had come loose. It took Ian less than five minutes to remove it for the time being for the drive home.

Weekend over, how was it? In all honesty you can’t write down how much fun racing in real life is. The racing is surprisingly similar to online racing but on a whole new level of fun, and dare I say it makes track days seem a bit dull.

While most people set about loading their car onto a trailer we set about putting the road tyres back on the MR2 and filling the boot and spare wheel well with tyres and bags for the journey home. My parting memory from Brands Hatch was the expression on a number of peoples faces as they realised what we were doing. That’s competing in budget racing on a budget for you.