Page 3 (2004 - June 2005)

Larkhall S1 - Fastest Lap

Andy was looking forward to round 5 of the S1 series, held at Larkhall In Lanarkshire, Scotland. Many good things had been said about the track and although he had never driven the circuit before, Andy was confident about his chances.

Some very tough heats, where Andy was forced over the back of Micky Higham at the start of heat 2 by Barnaby Pittingale, resulted in finishes of 13th and 18th in the first 2 heats. Heat 3 was somewhat better for Andy, coming from grid 18 he set 2nd fastest lap and moved up to 10th position followed closely by Paul Janes, both drivers within a hundredth of each other with Janes taking fastest lap, 40.54. Showing some very good pace in the heat 3, Andy was very optimistic for the 'A' final, although he was starting 19th.

The usual S1 'A' final start got under way, with Duxbury, Caudle and others coming off at the start, and after the end of lap 2 Andy was in 8th place and catching Josh Mulholland for 7th!
A hard but fair move on Andy by Adam Rodgers saw Andy drop back to 9th, but Andy was soon going with him and they both caught Mulholland. Coming into the infield section, Andy carried considerably more speed into the left hairpin, and tapped Mulholland. This slowed both drivers down and Scott Malvern took advantage and got past Andy into the next corner. Onto the next lap though and Andy took the place back from Malvern, but immediately the Project 1 driver drove into Andy's rear bumper and pushed him off the track onto the grass, costing Andy masses of time and dropping him to 13th. Andy kept pushing though, and caught the group containing Rossi, Malvern, Newell, Pittingale and Roche with about 4 laps to go of the 16 lap final. Andy made his move past Roche and got right behind Pittingale on the last lap. Making his move coming into the infield section, Andy took the place from Pittingale, and with 3 corners to go looked set for his best ever S1 result. Pittingale, however, tried to put a move at the next corner and took Andy out of the race. Furious, Andy restarted and finished the race 41 seconds back in 23rd position.

Ryan Cole took the win with Micky Higham 2nd and Shaun Carter 3rd, but it was Andy who took the fastest lap of the race, and of the day, with a 40.38, almost a full tenth quicker than the next quickest, Adam Constable (40.47).

Denied of his best ever S1 result, Andy was still pleased that he could be amongst the quickest TKM drivers in the country, and now looks forward to returning to his home circuit, 3 sisters, on the 28th of August.

August 21st
Larkhall Super 1