A new 14 round season opened for Gail at Snetterton over the weekend of 8th/9th April. In a new format the Jaguar saloons have been combined with XJ-S's, including the big V12's, which would undoubtedly mean the generally heavier saloons would struggle to qualify near the front, or so everyone thought. In these hard economic times however it should ensure good grids and plenty of battles between the various marques of saloons and XJ-S's.
Last season Gail qualified on pole (in a saloon only race) then crashed rolling her car at Sear. No danger of that reoccurring mainly because Sear no longer exists on the new, challenging '300' circuit which has extended the length by a mile. Gail had tested a few weeks previously in a Saker GT so knew the layout and a late session on Friday afternoon allowed her to readjust in her 4 litre XJ6 which at 1445kg was twice as heavy as the GT car.
'I was hoping that a bit of testing would improve my chances against main rivals Rich Dorlin and Dave Bye of West Riding racing. Their series I coupe's put out similar BHP but are 120 kg lighter than my car so I always have to drive the nuts off mine just to keep up!' commented Gail just before going out in qualifying. She went out last just so that they would not follow her lines and it proved to be a good move. She moved rapidly through the field but was more than surprised, as were just about all observers to discover that she was on the front row ahead of some much quicker opposition.
Her only frustration was that pole man Dorlin was still four tenths quicker!
In another change this year all races will begin with a rolling start. Neither Gail or Richard were entirely confident about how best to handle this new experience.
As they led the 25 car field round it was Gail who got away quicker than Dorlin as they approached the start line, at turn two, the tight right hand hairpin beckoned she managed to clear the front of his car and move over to cover the inside line. For the next two laps a mighty scrap ensued as she defended at every corner and took a defensive line down the long straights. Dorlin was literally all over her like a rash but then as he made a dive inside at Murray Gail was tagged slightly compromising her exit. It paid off for Dorlin as they sped up to Riches for the third time.
The two cars were side by side with Gail again defending like mad, mid track. A moments lapse and she missed her brake point sufficient to take her too wide on the exit. That was all the opening Dorlin required and he cut back inside to relegate Gail back to second. Then she had to fend off Chris Palmer in his highly modified 4 litre XJ-S. An impossible task bearing in mind his extra 30bhp and 130kg lighter car.
Inevitably she dropped another place back to 3rd but allowing herself the luxury of looking in the rear view mirror, for the next challenge, she was delighted to see a huge gap back to 4th and 5th men (both in big V12's). Luckily they really struggle on the more technical new infield sections and she held on to take 3rd overall and 2nd in class. Dorlin held off Palmer though they did swap places twice before the final flag.
'A great start to the new season, especially after last year, though I can't help but be a little despondent too because I'm not sure how I can beat Rich and winning is what I really want to do', said Gail later.
Round two the next day saw Gail line up behind Dorlin and with two 6 litre V12's around her she was not confident of finishing there. 'I was hoping that the quick XJ-S's might trip Rich up and open things up for me', but when the lights went out it was Palmer leading on the back straight then Dorlin and then Gail. She managed to successfully defend the inside line and latch onto Dorlins tail pipes.
It didn't last though. She held off the V12's for nearly two laps before their huge advantage in BHP and torque allowed them both to power past. Two laps later Patrick Doyle's engine deposited fluid on track which he duly span on allowing Gail to regain 4th spot.
Dorlin battled manfully with Palmer but he hung on to take the race win with Dorlin 2nd. Gail was slowly pulling in Coppock's V12 which had developed a slight problem on exit from Murray but a 4th overall and another 2nd in class for Gail made for a solid start to the new season.
'It is going to be really hard to beat Rich again this year, she said later,'all I can do is tweak things on the car, keep driving my pants off and hope for a little good fortune but compared to last years disastrous start I'm more than happy with how competitive I have been especially against a lot of lighter and quicker cars'.
The next two rounds are at Brands Hatch in early May.
