We left on Thursday afternoon for the long 6hr road trip to the North East of the country, eventually arriving at one of the lesser known UK circuits - Croft nr. Darlington.
With a new restaurant, proper toilets and a resurfaced track it looked to be a nicer experience than our only other visit in 2015.
Around 7pm - just as darkness descended, we unloaded our car and kit into the paddock and headed to the local Holiday Inn which was to be our home for the long weekend.
Friday testing was busy, with over 40 cars in each of the four sessions.
We were quick initially, but the oversteer in our setup meant we lacked confidence through the fast back section. In the second session we spun and ended up dropping off the infield grass 8" down onto the farmers field, damaging a radiator in the process.
We managed to get a radiator from another competitor (replaced by euro car parts the next day) and change it within a couple of hours. We completed the final session of the day. This time with a less twitchy setup andlooking forwards to a series of races over the weekend.
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Saturday (Qualifying and 1x Race)
Qualifying was uneventful, with us lapping quickly, but not getting the full potential out of the car or a clear lap. We qualified in P10, a few positions down from where we should have been.
Garry started the first race, and managed to somehow avoid two slow starters.
Croft lines up cars in 2 lines astern on the grid, rather than in staggered rows, so there is very little time for you to react if the car infront doesn't move when the lights go out!
He had a good first lap, but was under severe pressure from a 987 Cayman (faster on the straights) and missed a turn point around the back of the circuit which left the door open into the Sunny (in and out) double right.
After a brief safety car he challenged to retake the position, but once the cars in front spread out we found our limit, finishing in P8 overall and another 4th in class.
Sunday (2x Races)
Mike got a great start maintaining position over the first lap. The cars behind (Cayman and 3x Boxsters) were having their own battles with everyone slowing each other down. Mike defended the obvious overtaking spots and got clean exits onto the straights to stay ahead.
The safety car was out again, and when it went green the pace was faster. The Cayman got past on the start/finish straight but Mike confidently held off the rest to finish P8 overall and P4 in class - a best ever personal result!
The final 40min pit stop race started well with Mike getting an incredible start and moving from 8th to 5th by the first corner.
It didn't last though was he was clattered side on into the 2nd and pushed out wide.
With no wing mirror to judge the position of cars trying to overtake several cars came past, and several more later in the lap. We kept dropping positions and were lapping several seconds down on race 2 pace.
Pitting as soon as the window allowed (15mins +1 lap) - the less said about our driver change the better.
When Garry eventually got himself strapped in and going he had clear track to attack and his lap times got faster and faster eventually setting ourfastest lap of the weekend in a series of laps all within a few tenths of each other.
We recovered from 14th back up to 9th by the chequered flag.
Indidual Race Video Link
Race 1 --> https://youtu.be/V2UfOKS8g6o
Race 2 --> https://youtu.be/vZuSsMPYhSA
Race 3 --> https://youtu.be/cI6TPP2GjeE
Full Timing and Resultes --> https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=750MC/2024/243836pot.pdf
We will assess the damage repairs and servicing the car needs in our usual winter overhaul. We are also in the middle (rather than the top) of the power/weight band for our class so will want to address that somehow if we are to convert our consistent P4s into podiums next year.
