With no opportunity to take part in free practice on the Friday, it was straight into qualifying this morning with one clear objective – to beat my fastest lap time. And I did so – by 2.46 seconds.

But Race 1 (the first of three this weekend) so nearly ended in disaster before I’d even started – I managed to stall the car on the grid. This is a first for me – and not an experience I’m keen to repeat! The Brands start/finish straight is not level and with many of the starting positions, with your foot off the brake the car will roll. This will attract a penalty if noticed, so I was keen to avoid this but with no handbrake you are forced to use your right foot to hold the car on the brake – meaning you cannot rev the engine – meaning when you drop the clutch you’re more than likely to stall!

Fortunately all the guys behind me were switched on and avoided me but it meant I had to start from the back and play catchup – which is exactly what I did! Pretty soon I was chewing through the tail end of the 924s, then Class B newcomer Michael Goodacre, then more 924s and finally Bernie Printy, the other Class B driver. In fact I passed all but the two fastest 924s and finished 16 out of 28 starters – not bad, I think!

Two more races to come tomorrow – lets hope they are as enjoyable, but not so scary!