Saturday 12th March 2022….. the journey down to Brands Hatch in Kent was a relatively smooth one, Ben, John and Helen had the long haul trip from the Isle of Man to join us on our first outing of 2022. Parked up next to Rob Hancock and Shaun Parker, their first time out together too, prepping for the TT.

Saturday morning was a little bit damp out on circuit but no water lying and it was drying out quickly. Wayne and Ben went out and had a good qualifying session, finishing 5th on the grid and first F2. Some top teams out there this weekend so we were looking forward to some excellent racing.

Our good friend Phil Bridge came along to help with race preparation of the outfit and to keep Wayne calm…… it worked most of the time! Phil was an excellent passenger to the late great Bill Currie and has a huge passion for hill climbs in his little Morgan, who he had many great times with his late wife Margaret. What a team they were!

Race 1, a full grid, great conditions, F1’s and F2’s. Wayne and Ben got a good start and made their way up through from 5th on the grid. Times were looking good and the pack were spacing out now, following a couple of retirements from some of the teams and after 10 laps, the boys came in with a fastest lap time of 53.308 and finishing second - first F2. Ben has never been to this track before, so for us, it was even more of an achievement for the first time out! Very happy, outfit running sweet and the team had gelled well together again after the winter break.

Race 2, Good line up again, starting on the 3rd row, Wayne and Ben were set for another exciting few laps, and they didn’t disappoint! a nudge from a long bike tucked them onto the turf but Wayne managed to bring the outfit straight back out only for the race to be halted due to an incident on the next lap. The race was restarted for a 5 lap dash and they had a cracking race, finishing 5th, 2nd F2, with the fastest F2 lap of the race at 52.944.

Overall a fantastic day and great team work from Wayne and Ben, A tyre change, re fuel and minor suspension adjustment was all that was needed, engine sweet and everything else good. Awards evening at the Hexagon which is always a good craic and look forward to another well run BEMSEE race day.

Sunday…….. Rain!!! Track wet from night rain, slightly drying out in places but the clouds were all around, the team got up to the grid for the first race of the day, only for the heavens to open and as they left the startline for the warm up lap, Wayne and Ben both felt the track was getting greasy and pretty wet so they decided to pull up. Following that the race was red flagged due to the rain and they called lunch to see if it would pass. The race continued after lunch break, but the track was still very wet and it was very poor conditions for a fast race, so having nothing to prove in the rain and slicks on, it was going to be a race day for the team. We felt really bad that Ben came so far and didn’t get to race on the Sunday, but its like he said,’ you wouldn’t want to go out and wreck yourselves or the outfit just for the sake of it’, so we packed up and headed home.

The whole weekend was absolutely brilliant, the team worked so well together, Wayne and Ben have really gelled on the outfit, making a first class team in preparation for the British Championship starting back at Brands Hatch in April. A huge thank you to the organisers, orange army and medics, you were really up against it at times! Thank you for everyones’ help and support. we look forward to the next meeting.