4: CRASHING HURTS, IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

Even the slightest shunt can have big ramifications for the club driver. Turns out I don’t like Donington Park. Well, I do… actually, I love it, but I don’t seem to have much luck there.

After my accident last year, I was running second when contact in a group of cars on lap two left Penny and I pretty bashed up and in the Redgate gravel. I might finish a race at Donington by 2035…

The impact caused front and rear damage. We had to jig the chassis legs straight and buy another Puma – again from the Johnson family – for spares.

Sims and Crocker did the repair brilliantly, but after the next-day aches of the impact wear off, you’re still left searching for plan B.

My racing was done on a shoestring with no financial sponsorship, but the cost of the repairs to the engine after Combe, now coupled to this heftier bill, looked to have ended my year.

Fortunately, a little help from Nick Bailey at Elan PR helped me get back out for the finale, and produce probably my best drive of the year – going from seventh on the grid to third during my opening stint before the race was redflagged and Brandon took over shortly after the restart.

We finished the season with a hard-earned podium, which was unquestionably the sweetest of the year after the uphill battle to even get out in what was the biggest Puma entry of the season.