We all had high hopes for a good showing at the famous Top Gear circuit. The Pod Movement were hoping to improve Y-Pod?!'s standing in the F24+ championship, Team Fusion were hoping to improve their chances of qualifying for the final while Rotary Racer & R-PodS ssc were there to enjoy the day. The day dawned dry, but very cold - we had to clear ice off the car before leaving home so it must have been one of the coldest nights so far this autumn. The sun shone briefly as the cars were scruiteneerd & went out for practice but there was a strong cold wind.
After a successful practice to test the new headrest fairing, we managed to get Y-Pod?! on the front of the F24+ grid, ready for the race. As the carts left the grid, Y-Pod?! was left stranded with no drive & had to be pushed back to the paddock. We quickly managed to re-attach the chain, but by then we were a lap & a half down on the leaders. Y-Pod?! started putting in some fast laps to catch up lost ground & very quickly managed to un-lap him self & revitalize hopes for a win. Our hopes were fulfilled when at the half way mark, Y-Pod?! overtook the leading Jaguar-Landrover car & claimed the lead. At this point we all expected Y-Pod?! to slow down & conserve the batteries but the lap times stayed amazingly consistent & it wasn't long before we were a lap ahead. There was a fairly frightening incident when the recovery truck pulled out, just as Y-Pod?! was overtaking a slower car, thankfully the recovery truck held it's line & the two cars passed on opposite sides with horns blaring. Y-Pod?!'s driver must have been enjoying himself when he lapped Jaguar-Landrover for the second time but the track marshals didn't agree & he was black flagged for over-aggressive driving - you can judge the validity for yourself as the event was captured on film - see our Picasa album. Luckily we managed to rejoin the race in the lead & after that, didn’t put a step wrong as Y-Pod?! powered to a three lap lead & joint first place in the championship.
As the F24 grid formed, the sky was darkening & people were watching the sky for rain - thankfully it held of for a time & the race started with a dry track. Rotary Racer took an early lead but R-PodS ssc was challenging & managed to overtake a few times on the back straight. Team Fusion were running well and holding a good position, mid field. The race had started well with R-PodS ssc now leading, but there then followed a series of unfortunate black flag incidents due to overtaking under a yellow flag - I am still not sure if it was driver over-exuberance or inexperienced marshalling but both Rotary Racer & R-PodS ssc were pulled in several times. During all this confusion, the lead changed numerous times & we were all resigned to just enjoy the race & get more driver experience. As the afternoon wore on, the rain started - at first it was intermittent, but as the last hour started, it had settled down to rain steadily. All this time, Team Fusion had been putting in steady laps, Rotary Racer had avoided any further incidents & were now leading the race, & R-PodS ssc was just out of the top ten due to suffering more black flags & then having a tyre bead fail, requiring a trip to the paddock. The rain poured & the race carried on, with & R-PodS ssc now the fastest car on the rapidly thinning track, near the end of the race, R-PodS ssc was barged out of the way into one of the cones, but after a brief stop to check all was well, was back on the circuit. As the flag came down, Rotary Racer had just been beaten to first place but amazingly R-PodS ssc had managed to climb back up to take third. Team Fusion achieved their best mileage this year with 73 miles in a very respectable 18th place & we now have all three teams qualified for the final.
