Gail Hill: Season Finale
The season finale saw me go to Snetterton with a chance of winning the overall Jaguar Championship. I was already class B and Saloon champion and Chris Palmer was heading for the XJ-S title and was leading overall by 4 points. I needed to max out on the points and for him to drop some.
With two ex saloon champions in my class it was going to be tricky weekend but there was one XJ-S racer, James Ramm who was capable of taking points from Palmer so that would have to do.
Qualifying went perfectly with a 6th place for me, and crucially first saloon so I picked up three points. Palmer was 4th but 2nd in class so he dropped a point; gap down to three! Ramm was in 2nd just ahead of Palmer and Rich Dorlin my main competitor was 8th, right behind me on the grid. The race would be close and tense with all four of us keen to begin the weekend with a win.
Twenty-eight cars were on the grid, one of the best entries of the season so it was quite busy on track. The race on Saturday began well as Ramm held off Palmer and I did the same with Dorlin. As usual it was very frenetic with so many big Jaguar’s vying for position. Early on Palmer got past Ramm, bad news for me but there was plenty of time left. I held Dorlin off for four laps until his lighter and more powerful S1 Coupe took me on the outside of Brundle. It was not to last however as he missed a gear exiting the next corner, Nelson.
I went into the back of his car in an unavoidable shunt. Luckily relatively superficial damage resulted to both cars though the front of mine did look a bit tacky for the final race the next day. I held him off for the next five laps as the V12 of Coppock tried to mix it with us. Things continued to look up when Palmer was forced into a slide at Riches to avoid contact with Lyddall’s V12. This was enough for Ramm to regain his lost place and if we finished like that the point’s tally would be even for the final round.
Then it all began to go pear shaped. Dorlin got me again at Brundle where I just could not brake as late without risking an off. This time he didn’t miss a gear and worse followed when Coppock split us for another lap making it even harder for me to fight back. Really close racing ensued and then Coppock was past Dorlin giving me just one lap to get back on his tail. It was not enough and was crossed the line 7th and 8th so I didn’t get the win I needed. Worse still he pipped me to fastest lap by one tenth of a second.
Palmer had also regained his place from Ramm and fastest lap by a similar margin so his lead was up to six points. I could still win the next day but I would need some misfortune to drop Chris back to third in his class and I would need to win to do it.
The final race of the championship season saw me surrounded on the grid by V12 XJ-S’s with Dorlin on the inside line. I got left out to dry at the first two bends unable to get across the pack and onto the inside for the hairpin at Montreal.
For the next ten laps, frustratingly I had to battle with two V12’s that split Dorlin and I. With just two laps left and having taken to the grass on one occasion in an attempt to get past Coppock I was finally up behind Dorlin. With half a dozen car lengths to make up though I ran out of time as we crossed the line 6th and 7th. I did have the consolation of registering fastest lap in class but with Palmer taking his second win of the day after his main rival Ramm retired with engine failure the season and my championship hopes were over.
I can’t complain, it’s been a great year. Fourteen races, eight wins, six-second places and five fastest laps. The saloon and class B title and runner up overall, which I guess if someone had offered at the start of the year I might have taken.
I will just have to get a lighter, quicker car for next season!
One race remains and that is the 6-hour Birkett team relay race this weekend at Silverstone. Chris is in my team along with four other top-notch Jaguar racers so we will be hoping to emulate the ‘Six Potters’ success of two years ago when we won the handicap event.
Watch this space next week for a final report, unless you happen to be at Silverstone this Saturday in which case come and say hello.
