Sunday 17th June 2018 the #legend114 team headed to Aldershot for round #6 of the National Points Championship which also included the Arthur Bright Trophy and round #1 of the South of England Championship Shield, so plenty to play for.
Aldershot however is a bit of a strange track, it’s a single tarmac area with the “in-field” marked by painted lines and large yellow tractor tyres dotted around it, the drivers describe it as racing around a car park. It also has an adverse camber at the bends meaning grip plays a big part, and as the surface is also rather harsh it’s tough on the tyres and tough on the drivers.
Damian has not had much success here before, so this was another “let’s go and see what happens / hope we come home in one piece” endeavour, much as Hednesford was last week.
As Damian is graded “Red” in the Legends formula, which is one step down from the top grade, he starts from quite far back on the grid in the 2 heats used to decide placements for the Final. UK Oval Track Legends use a grading system based on past performances and points scored. White is the starting grade, and starts at the front of the grid, followed by Yellow, then Blue, then Red, with the top points scorers in a “Superstar” grade behind Red. Right at the back, if there are any, are the season’s “Rookie” grade, although anyone only stays Rookie for their first 3 races whereupon they’re assigned to one of the other grades.
So heat #1 Damian started on row 8, and heat #2 on row 7, with only the joint championship leaders, #161 Dan Holden and #61 Jon Hoggarth, behind him. In heat #1 Damian finished 4th, although to put that in perspective, #61 and #161 finished 1st and 2nd, having come right from the back.
In heat #2 Damian went one step better, finishing 2nd ahead of both #61 and #161.
The Final was a suitably eventful affair, Damian made good ground but was overtaken by #161, only for Dan to then be disqualified as his rear bumper had become dislodged and was deemed to be in a dangerous condition. Damian was also being hotly pursued by #395 Tom Sutton, last week’s winner at Hednesford, when the 2 bumped wheels, #395 lost speed and was then spun by the car behind him, ending his hopes of a 2nd win in as many races.
The hugely experienced, and quick, #61 Jon Hoggarth won the race and the Arthur Bright Trophy, with last year’s champion, #49 James Hyett coming in 2nd. Damian hung on for a superb 3rd place, and goes home with his first silverware of the season!
The video of the race is on YouTube :-
