Oulton Park: 22nd & 24th March

Oulton Park at the end of March was extremely cold and windy. It was far too windy to put up the familiar red gazebo and to set out our usual display.   With the car in it’s new HOPE 08 livery local churches joined us over the weekend to explain what the HOPE initiative is all about. Many people either recognised the logo or asked about it.            Hector Lester qualified the Ferrari in 11th for race 1 and drove a steady stint before handing over to Allan Simonsen. Allan promptly put in some stunning laps and was soon running in 3rd place but with two Ferraris ahead of him it was just not possible to get past. We had to make do with 3rd place at the chequered flag.   For the second race Allan qualified on pole and quickly built up a strong lead. But we missed the pit window by six seconds and Hector had to come in from the lead for a stop/go penalty. This dropped us down to 5th place at the end of the race.   It proves how competitive the whole team is when a 3rd and a 5th from a weekend is a disappointment!

Knockhill: 12th & 13th April

Still cold, but not as cold as Oulton Park and certainly not as windy. With it being the cars local circuit (Prepared by Road & Track in Edinburgh) John was able to get hold of a garage to work in. It was all very tight and we could find nowhere for the red gazebo. But we were able to set up all the displays alongside the garage.       Representatives from HOPE Scotland attended on both days and we were able to chat with a lot of Christians over the weekend and meet with some of our Scottish members!   Hector qualified in 5th for race 3 but dropped several places at the start. He was then pushed wide onto the gravel at the hairpin but was able to rejoin near the back of the field. Just as you think it can’t get any worse . . . a Ginetta dropped oil over the far side of the circuit and several cars, including the leader and Hector, were left sliding off into the gravel. The safety car came out and the undamaged cars were dragged back onto the track and were able to continue – including us but now we were several laps down and even Allan was unable to bring us into the points from there.   Allan again qualified on Pole for the next race. On such a short, twisty circuit he was unable to pull out a very big gap but just after he pitted the safety car came out and bunched the field up again anyway. Hector did a good job defending on the restart but eventually the hard charging Ascari of the Jones brothers got past and we finished in 2nd place.   We leave Knockhill with 2nd in the championship just five points behind.   Rockingham is next at the end of May. If your church is involved with HOPE08 and you would like to promote your events through us at the race track please email us via the contacts page on this website.

Snetterton

Photo courtesy of www.widerviewphoto.com Snetterton was a busy event for Christians in Motorsport. A camera crew and reporter were in attendance on the Saturday reporting on the HOPE08 coverage on the Ferrari for UCB and on Sunday we had a photographer and reporter from Top Gear Magazine to do a piece on Christians in Motorsport. The Top Gear team stayed with us all day and seemed very interested in what we were doing and were intrigued by the way we didn’t fit the stereo-typed picture of “Christians”! Also with us for the day was the national co-ordinator for HOPE08 and several Street Pastors, some of whom were familiar faces from the event last year. Qualifying was a mixed bag, only 15th for race 1 (which was quickly turned into back of the grid anyway due to a fuelling irregularity) and P3 for Sundays race. Considering P1 was taken by a guest Ford GT about a second clear of everyone, a pretty good position. This was after some hasty repairs after an off into tyres during practice . . . Saturdays wet race was an up and down affair, from last position Hector got into midfield by the time the safety car came out, everybody pitted on the same lap causing absolute chaos in the very tight pit boxes. Back on track Allan got into a big tussle with a couple of Lamborghinis whilst the Ford GT was monstering them all from behind (extra 30s in the pits due to their 2 pro drivers put them down in midfield) and was then taken off while overtaking and subsequently recovered to 9th place with a series of blistering laps. On Sunday the sun shone. From P3 on the grid, CIM finished P5, good points and a good race. Allan led briefly and Hector was P1 for a few laps after the stop. There was quite a tussle in the closing laps as P3, 4 and 5 fought it out and much entertainment for the big crowd. Lots of photos and leaflets were given out and plenty of wide eyed children (and Dads) after a look inside the garage at the 430. See you at Thruxton!