It was the penultimate round of the 2007 Le Mans Series for the Embassy Racing Radical SR9 and a pattern is emerging. Every round we get better. Every round we get stronger. Every round we get closer. And every round our improving fortune is dashed by a frustratingly trivial mishap.
So having completed 5 hours of faultless racing and running in second place with just a handful of laps to go, the right front wheel came loose and spun the car into the gravel at Priory. Limping back to the pits, the problem was rectified quickly and it was possible that we might make it back out in time to compete for a podium finish. That was until the car failed to start. And failed to start, and failed to start. Eventually it did start, but by then there were four laps to go and our union jack nose had 8th place written all over it. There was a collective “oh dear” or words to that effect, as once again Embassy missed out.
At this point it might be usual to provide a lap by lap account of our race – but to be honest, after revealing the events described above, there seems little point. In fact, had the wheel not come off, almost literally, this report would probably have read:
“We started well, had a great middle, and finished strongly. We came first.”
Alright, it might have been second, but you get the idea.
So rather than dwell on what might have been, or talk you through a clinical, professional and rather uneventful textbook performance, apart from the obvious, it may be interesting to point out one or two alternative aspects of the Le Mans Series weekend that came to our attention.
- The Embassy Racing Radical is the best looking car on the Le Mans Series grid…
- Embassy Racing know the best celebrities
- Cooking and keeping 30, inch-thick, steaks to perfection using a field kitchen is possible…
- We set a world record for the most number of people in a Silverstone pit garage at any one time
- Over 70 children loved seeing their names adorn a racing
- Over 40 dads loved meeting the Embassy Girls
- Over 40 mums loved chatting to Tracy Barlow, Frankie Baldwin and Becky Granger
- Darren Manning’s new Embassy overalls were indeed made to measure (when he was 10 years old)
- Jonathan France’s new motorhome racing circuit retreat, has been named Excalibur Cottage after the residence of his TV hero Alan Partridge. But be warned, he saves his invitations for those whose ear require a flea and not a nice cup of tea…
Actor Peter Falke turned down the part of race engineer Pablo Cangini for this weekend’s race. - Team technical director Alastair Macqueen declared that he wouldn’t recognise a celebrity if he tripped over one, and upon turning round, promptly tripped over one!
- Due to a room shortage at the hotel, team communications director, Myles Schofield, had to bed-share with a1000KVa generator capable of powering the whole of Northampton. His most persuasive address of the weekend was saved for the morning duty manager but it cannot be printed here.
