It was a wet and wild night at SimHookUP’s Brands Hatch Indy last night. The crew was out in Mini-Coopers in a terrible thunderstorm. But, good troupers they are, they carried on their brave fight to the finish . . . . line.

Surge, Hbomb and I showed up early to practice and it was a battle to see who would break the one minute lap time first. Round and round we went. Down to 1:02 and change, but no one was able to do a sub-minute round. Eventually, we had to leave the server so it could be rebooted with the password.

I went off to practice offline and eventually ran a 1:01.550, but I forgot to write down the setup I used. I remembered I had forgotten it when I went to practice after the server was back up; typical slash-type move! But I did finally run a 1:02.3 and took the pole. I was on the pole! Great. I’m a terrible starter; I have no clutch and have to depend on clicking into gear at the right moment with the right amount of revs to get a good start, otherwise everyone passes me by like I’m going backwards or something!

So there we were: Slash, Sur6e, Hbomb, Beerzerker, Humphery, and Lazyacer, sitting on the starting grid at Brands Hatch Indy in the pouring rain, ready to race our Mini Coopers in a mad dash to see who was King of the Wet!
We got off to a good start. I got bumped off the track on the first corner of the second lap (racing accident) and had to wait for the field to go by. I got back on behind the pack, dead last. It was raining, so anything could happen. Sure enough, it did.

People started to slide off the track here, then there. I worked my way up to fourth and ended up in a terrific battle for third with Beerzerker. Lap after lap we went, trading position for third and fourth. I’d dive for the corner and make a pass for the position, and Beerzerker would take it back coming out of the corner. A titanic, epic struggle ensued, as two mighty speed warriors battled the rain, the track, and each other.

Meanwhile, up ahead, were Sur6e and Hbomb having as serene a race as possible in the pouring rain. I saw them briefly once, I though I saw them texting each other as we drove on and on.

Eventually, I passed Beerzerker and set my sights on Hbomb for second place. But time was running out on me, and Hbomb proved too good to catch, much less pass. Besides, I could barely see him in the sheets of rain pouring out of the sky above.

And so the race ended, Sur6e the winner, Hbomb in second, with me a distant third.

On to the second race . . . .

I started 5th or 6th, I don’t recall which, cuz we were sitting on the grid waiting for the red lights, and all of a sudden, we were rolling! The race was starting, and I was still sipping my cappuccino!

Off we went, cars screaming at the redline, tires squealing on the pavement, rain cascading around us like we were at Niagara Falls. Again, people started to slide off the course. I stuck to my own race of just staying on the track and suddenly found myself in first place! Very odd place for me, really. But we still had more than half the race to go, and I, more than anyone, realized that anything could still happen.

I had a brief scare when I went off course at Paddock Bend (the first corner) with Humphery close behind. I just close my eyes, whispered a prayer, and went for it. I skidded through Druid’s Corner and came out still ahead.

Lap after lap . . .time running out . . .
All I had to do was keep it on the road. Finally, one minute to go, one lap left. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the corners seemed to speed up in front of me. The finish line seemed to be on the other side of the world.

And then there it was: the pit straight and the checkered flag! I sped past the line and won my first race of the Mini Cooper Rain season! A crowbar was used to help pry my hands from the steering wheel and I headed straight for the restroom with a very urgent need.

Kudos to all those who braved the wet and wild night at BH Indy. A challenging race, and a heroic run by all.

On to Monza Junior!