TKM Festival - Elite Final 16th
Andy managed a respectable 16th place in the Elite final of the Maxxis Formula TKM Festival held at the Kimbolton Circuit in Cambridgeshire on 13/08/06.
Over 90 drivers were entered in Andy's class, TKM Extreme, so some fierce competition was definitely on the cards.
Strong heat positions on Saturday plus a 7th in timed qualifying put Andy comfortably in the Elite Pre-Final on Sunday afternoon, albeit 18th on the grid after struggling in his Sunday morning heat in wet conditions.
A very lucky start saw Andy jump up to 8th place within 2 laps, and although struggling with some setup problems, looked good for a top 10 finish for a top 10 start In the Grand Final. However, a knock from behind across one of the chicanes and also a last lap shunt fom another driver, slipped Andy back into 18th position, 1 place behind team-mate Sam Wilson.
Andy then had a fairly uneventful Grand Final, pretty much staying in 16th position throughout the 15 laps, struggling heavily with understeer which is very unusual for the Tec-Mec chassis. A couple of incidents between other drivers saw Andy placed as the highest Tec-Mec driver, however, and also the 2nd highest driver from MBKC, Paul Monks taking 14th place and top MBKC driver.
'I had a very enjoyable weekend, It was definitely good to come back to top level competition after such a long time out due to Uni commitments. Although not Super 1, there were still the top TKM drivers entered and that makes the competition that bit more fierce.There was a chance to finish higher but unfortunately incidents and setup problems do happen and I guess it's just a part of racing!'
Andy is unsure when he will be able to make a return to racing, as racing funds are currently running low.
Official results can be seen here: TKM EXTREME ELITE FINAL
