16/07/06 » Cadwell Park » Pole, win and fastest lap in round 7 of the championship

The last rounds disastrous blow up meant morning testing was to be spent running in a new engine. Despite having this exercise consuming the majority of Brett’s valuable testing time, he set the pace immediately once able to put his foot down.

The team went into qualifying one on Saturday morning with high hopes after being quickest in the previous days testing, only to be hampered by fuel pressure problems, putting Brett back to P4.

Undeterred for the race, and the problem from qualifying now solved, he instantly moved up to 3rd off the line, and by lap three he had made light work of second place. After quickly reeling in the leader, a heated battle developed for the win. With never more than half a second between the two drivers, and the difficulty of lapping backmarkers, it was a fantastic race from a spectator’s point of view. Unfortunately for Brett however, the leader was able to match his pace, and managed to keep him behind until the flag. The team were still delighted with the second place finish, until dismal news was released from the scrutineering bay that the car had been found to be under the minimum weight limit. Despite their protests (which were thought by all in the paddock to be valid) against the accuracy of the scales, Brett was disqualified from the race and had 24 points taken from his championship total as a punishment.

This had undoubtedly put paid to Brett’s title hopes, but he went into race two furiously determined to make amends. This was clear when he qualified on pole, with a very comfortable 0.8 second gap back to second position. Dropping back to second going into the first corner, he again had a battle on his hands to regain the lead. The move came on lap 6 when he made a fantastic dive down the inside on the brakes into turn four. The defensive line of the leader meant Brett had to take to the grass to pull it off! Another brilliant illustration of his hard charging driving style. By the end of the race Brett had pulled out a six second lead and taken fastest lap on the way to his first win of the season. Everyone involved in the running of the car was ecstatic and the disappointment of race one was quickly forgotten.

Sights are now set on the remaining four rounds, with second position in the championship still a possibility, and six race wins up for grabs.