Sunday 1st March was the penultimate round of the 2019/20 Motorsport News Circuit Championship, the Lee Holland Memorial Stages at Anglesey in Wales. Following 80mph winds the day before luckily the weather had calmed down and it was dry but still windy.

We had a good start to the day, leading the class after stage 1. The rest of the morning went well and we were sitting 2nd in class until stage 4 when the gear stick snapped and we were stuck in 4th gear! It was a challenging end to the stage having to get through chicanes and round a hairpin in 4th gear but we made it back and the team welded it so we were ready for the afternoon.

We had dropped back to 4th after that and were trying to make back time in the afternoon. Stage 7 caught us out, we went out on medium tyres then it started to rain and hail as we were on the start line! We lost a bit of time but most people in the class were in the same position, and we were still 4th in class going into the last stage. We had to make a quick decision on tyres – the rain had stopped but the stages were now damp so we went out on intermediate tyres on the front, with full wets on the rear.

Chris Ruck and Steve Harris had been leading the class but unfortunately for them they had mechanical issues on the final stage and we passed them on stage. We managed to set a really quick time on the last stage (14th overall) and clawed back time on the competitors in 2nd and 3rd to take the class win!

We are absolutely delighted, especially after going into the stage 4th in class. We also finished 16th overall in a very competitive field. It was crucial to us to go well here so we are pleased to have taken away maximum class points ahead of the final round at Donington on 15th March. There are 5 of us who could technically take the class win so it will go right down to the wire!

Thanks to Jamie for keeping me right on what were really challenging stages, and to FJ-RS Engineering for looking after the car. Thanks to MacWhirter Motorsport for lending us a lender, to our sponsors Cirrus Research, Morris Lubricants and Real Systems Controls Ltd. for their support.