22/07/07 » Rockingham » Brett blitzes the outright circuit lap record

Friday testing was again rendered useless due to regular downpours. The little dry running time the team did have went well though. Brett posted a laptime nine tenths quicker than any other car.

Qualifying was run in yet another downpour. Lap three saw Brett bang in a respectable lap, but he couldn’t get a clear run for the rest of the session, and failed to beat that time. This put him in an unimpressive fifth for race one.

The rain had stopped for the race but the track was still wet and was deemed to be dangerous, so it began under the safety car. On lap two the safety car pulled in for the grid to commence a rolling start. Brett got a good run out of the final bend and by the time he had reached turn one he had moved into third. The top three then circulated at an incredibly close pace. It wasn’t until lap ten when Brett managed to capitalise on a mistake from the car in front, moving him into second and releasing him to try and catch the leader. He began closing in at a rate of three tenths a lap but it was too late. The flag dropped with Brett trailing by half a second. This would put him on P2 for the second race.

The weather made a turn for the better for Sundays race, the circuit bone dry. Brett made a bad getaway from the line and went into the first corner in fifth. Frustrated but still very quick he made a steady fight back, instantly taking P4 back by the end of lap one. Third place proved to be a more difficult task, taking four crucial laps, by which time the two leaders had pulled a significant back. Despite difficulty with incompliant backmarkers, he got close enough to mount a challenge for second by lap twelve. After trading places three times in as many corners, Brett came out on top continued to reel in the leader, setting a blistering pace. Again, he had run out of time and had to settle for second, but on his way he had smashed the outright circuit lap record by half a second. This meant he would gain an extra championship point. Another fantastic addition to Bretts C.V, the fastest man ever to drive around the Rockingham circuit in any car. He had also closed the gap in the championship to just five points.