Neil’s Podium.

A select group of just seven drivers turned up to race DTMs and celebrate Neil’s 65th birthday. What the group lacked in numbers, it more than made up for with enthusiasm. Just as well, because Simon had a shocker, Alex’s night was even worse and Mario mysteriously lost three tenths a lap between practice and the race, but with Neil’s birthday to celebrate, everyone was, almost, as happy as Larry. Happiest of the lot was Neil, who scraped onto the podium for the first time this year.

With the exception of Alex whose car was inexplicably hopeless despite Team Bryant trying to fix it, and Josh blitzing everyone while trying to set new lap records, the racing was pretty close, especially in Group 1 between Neil, Chris and Mario, crashes proving decisive.

Simon spent most of practice and the first three heats with a bouncing car and complaining that something was out of balance, so Team Bryant looked at it during the tea break and diagnosed a crooked crown gear. Despite liberal use of a flame, Josh couldn’t get the gears to mesh properly, and with no spare 23-tooth offset gears available, Simon ran a 24 for heat 4. It was a bad choice and robbed him of straight-line speed, so for the final two heats he risked a standard 23 and hoped it would last 30 laps. It did and got him back his straight-line speed, but it graunched and rattled like the world’s worst slot car, and the time he’d lost in heat 4 plus a crash in the final heat cost him 3rd place, Neil taking 3rd instead. Woo hoo!

Happy birthday Neil!