"I really need to work on my starts", that's the lesson that I left round 5 of the Gulf Radical Cup with. Having qualified on the front row alongside Baharini hotshot Salman Bin Rashid I found myself mugged as the lights went green for the rolling start of the day's first race. A big sideways moment into turn one added to my misery as I emerged in 8th place with it all to do over the race distance. Not exactly the way I envisioned my day starting off. Five hard fought overtaking manoeuvres later, including one Mika on Michael at Spa style move (you tube it if you've never seen it!) and I found myself on the bottom step of the podium. Not exactly a disastrous result, but it was my worst finish of the season so far. Until the very next race that is. A bit overeager to make up ground quickly at the start of the second race I once again made a mess of it, this time spinning and stalling into turn one. By the time I got the car restarted I was dead last, almost half a minute behind the leaders with nothing but fresh air in front of me. Red mist filling up my helmet I then went on a maniacal charge to make up lost ground. For several laps I was the fastest man on the track and quickly reeled in the back markers. One by one I was able to get past all the way up to 5th place. If I had two more laps I think I would have been on the podium so a pretty decent recovery, but I left the Autodrome that weekend with the empty feeling that I had badly dropped the ball. On the bright side I did get to practice my overtaking, putting in a seasons worth of manoeuvres in one day.

Three weeks later it was time for round 6 of the championship, and I was determined to make up for the previous rounds disappointing showing. Qualifying went well with me comfortably on pole by nearly a full second, although this was mainly due the mechanical misfortune that relegated Salman's SR3 to the back of the grid. A good start (finally!) put me ahead, where I was able to quickly build a solid lead. Meanwhile Salman was rapidly making his way through the field. Four laps into the race and the balance of my car seemed to disappear and my lap times immediately reflected it. Combine this with being badly compromised while lapping back markers and next thing I knew my mirrors were full of a white SR3. I thought I had enough to keep my stalker behind me but Salman squeezed by on the final lap leaving me distraught that I had let what had seemed to be a secure win slip away at the last moment. The second race of the day was even more eventful. Another quick start saw me momentarily take the lead from Salman until Maurits Knopjes overtook us both under braking for turn one. The flying Dutchman, who had uncharacteristically been off the pace throughout the weekend seemed to have some new found urge as he was proving very difficult to get past. Our battle was momentarily interrupted by a safety car period brought on by an accident at turn 16. At the restart I was caught napping and promptly dropped to 3rd as Salman cruised by me on the straight. The next few laps saw a titanic battle with the three cars running nose to tail. Salman was obviously becoming impatient at being unable to get past the defensive driving of Maurits and on the penultimate lap made a lunge for the lead. As both cars ran wide I opportunistically drove past both to snatch the lead, which I would keep till the chequered flag (a controversial move that lead to much debate afterward due to my liberal use of the track). I punched the air jubilantly as I crossed the line. What a high after the earlier low!

On the reliability front the carbon creation has been remarkably well behaved. Last months oil leak was put down to a tiny crack in the differential casing and was a relatively inexpensive fix. Other than that it has been the regular maintenance and running costs associated with a highly-strung racing car. I continue to keep my fingers crossed that it will stay that way.